روايات بقلم essenceink002

Daniel's Pov"You're serious about this," James said, eyeing me across the boutique's small waiting area. "You're actually here.""She needs something for the gala.""She could've gone alone with your credit card.""I wanted to make sure she had what she needed.""Sure you did." He smirked and settled into one of the velvet chairs scattered near the fitting rooms. "This has nothing to do with wanting to see her in things.""Drop it, James.""I'm just saying. You've never gone dress shopping with anyone before.""She's my wife.""Contract wife.""James."He held both hands up, said nothing else, though the smirk didn't fully disappear.Rosa emerged from behind a curtain a few minutes later. The stylist trailed behind her w

Rosa's PovThe waiting room chairs were the uncomfortable kind. Hard plastic with thin cushions that did nothing for anyone.I sat alone, checked my phone for the fourth time in ten minutes, and told myself I didn't care whether he showed up.I cared."Rosa Park?" A nurse appeared in the doorway, clipboard in hand."That's me." I stood and smoothed my shirt down over a stomach that barely showed yet."Right this way."I followed her down a hallway lined with framed photos of smiling families. Strangers holding babies. Husbands with arms wrapped around wives. Every single one of them looking like the easy version of what I was attempting.The exam room was cold. I changed into the paper gown, sat on the table, and waited.The door opened twelve minutes later, not the doc

Daniel's PovSecurity called my office at twelve fifteen the next day."Mr Gosling, there's a situation in the lobby.""What kind of situation?""Ms Theron is here. She's refusing to leave."I was already standing, jacket half on, before the man finished the sentence. My heart pounded in a way it hadn't in years, a mix of anger and something I didn't want to name."Tell her I'm on my way," I said. "And tell security to stay close.""Yes, sir."The elevator ride down felt longer than usual. I rehearsed exactly nothing, because there was nothing to rehearse with Johansson, only damage control. She'd been a part of my life for years, a constant thorn, a reminder of obligations I'd never wanted and alliances I'd never asked for.She stood near the front desk when I stepped off the

Rosa's PovHe stopped close enough that I could feel the warmth coming off him. Neither of us said anything for a long moment. The kitchen light hummed above us, and somewhere down the hall a clock ticked too loud in the silence."This is a bad idea," he said finally."Probably.""Rosa.""I know." I didn't step back. "Doesn't mean I want you to leave the kitchen."His jaw tightened. He stayed exactly where he was, but his eyes kept dropping to my mouth and then snapping back up again, like he was fighting something he didn't want to fight."How's the baby?" he asked, his voice rougher than usual."Fine. The doctor says everything looks normal." I wrapped both hands around my water glass, needing something to hold onto that wasn't him. "Small for now. Apparently that's normal too.""Good.""You could ask me that more than once a week.""I'm asking now.""At midnight. In a kitchen. Because you couldn't sleep." I set the glass down. "Not exactly daily check-in material."He looked away f

Daniel's PovMy father's lawyer called at nine in the morning. His voice carried the particular smoothness of a man paid to deliver bad news politely."Richard wants this resolved quickly," he said. "The unfortunate marriage, specifically.""It's not unfortunate. It's legal.""Your father's exact words were unfortunate, ill-considered, and beneath the family name." A pause, papers rustling somewhere on his end. "He's prepared to offer a settlement for an expedited annulment. Generous terms for the woman involved.""There's a pregnancy now."Silence stretched long on the other end."Richard will want to discuss that directly.""Tell him I said no." I hung up before the lawyer could respond, my jaw already aching from how hard I'd clenched it through the entire call.James knocked twic

Rosa's PovThe library sat at the end of the hallway I'd never bothered exploring. Floor-to-ceiling shelves, a rolling ladder, the kind of room that existed in movies more than real apartments.I wandered in around two in the afternoon with nothing better to do. Books lined every wall, mostly business titles, biographies of men who built empires. Boring, predictable, exactly what I'd expect from a man who treated feelings like a liability.A leather-bound book sat tucked behind a row of finance texts on the lowest shelf. I pulled it out without thinking much about it. The cover had no title. Just worn leather, soft from years of handling, a small dent across the spine like it had been dropped a hundred times and picked back up just as many.I opened it.My own face stared back at me.Page after page. My jaw, my hands, the curve of