Mag-log inDaniel's PovI read the article standing at the kitchen island while Rosa sat very still across from me.Every line fabricated. Photos staged. Documents clearly manufactured. An unnamed source quoted eleven times claiming Rosa had been my father's private companion for months before Vegas.I knew it was a lie because I knew exactly what my father had been doing during every one of those months.I also knew exactly whose name appeared in the article's fine print as the source's legal representative.Johansson's lawyer."Daniel." Rosa's voice came out flat. "Say something.""None of this is true.""I know that. You know that." She pressed both hands flat against the counter. "That's not what people are reading right now.""I'm going to handle this.""How? Sophie said it's already trending." Her voice cracked slightly. "They're saying I slept with your father. They're saying the baby might not be yours." A shaky breath left her. "That is the most disgusting lie anyone has told about me a
Rosa's PovThe apartment was still dark when I gave up on sleep entirely.Four forty-five in the morning. Daniel's office light still on under the door. I'd been lying in bed staring at the ceiling for two hours since our conversation, his voice still in my head.I don't regret the kiss.I got up. Wrapped the robe tighter around myself. Knocked twice on his office door before pushing it open.He looked up from his laptop, something startled moving across his face before his expression settled back into careful control."You're still up," he said."So are you.""I have work.""At five in the morning?""The Singapore team doesn't respect time zones." He leaned back in his chair, studying me. "What do you want, Rosa?""To talk." I crossed to the small couch along the office wall, the one I suspected he slept on sometimes when work ran this late. "Just talk. No fighting, no accusations. Two people having a conversation.""About what?""Anything." I tucked my feet beneath me. "Tell me some
Daniel's PovThe office light stayed on until four in the morning.Spreadsheets I'd already memorized. Reports I'd read three times. Anything that kept my hands busy enough that they couldn't reach for my sketchbook. Because if I opened the sketchbook right now, I would fill every page and not sleep at all.My phone buzzed on the desk at half past midnight.James's name on the screen, which meant it was either important or he'd lost a bet somewhere."You're up late," I said."So are you." A pause on his end. "Security flagged something from Johansson's team."My hand tightened on the phone. "What now?""She sent a message through her lawyer. Formal letter, very careful language, designed to sound like a warning without technically being a threat." James's voice flattened. "She's saying she has information about Rosa's background that she'll release publicly unless you agree to meet with her by the end of the week.""What kind of information?""She didn't specify. That's the point. Del
Rosa's PovThe couch caught us both when my knees buckled.Daniel's hands stayed in my hair, mine gripped the front of his shirt, and neither of us came up for air for a long time."Rosa." His voice came out rough against my mouth."Don't stop.""I'm not stopping."He kissed me again, slower this time, one hand sliding from my hair down to the curve of my jaw, tilting my face exactly where he wanted it. I let him. My fingers uncurled from his shirt, spread flat against his chest instead, feeling his heartbeat hammering hard beneath my palms.It was nothing like the first night in Vegas. Frantic and desperate, driven by tequila and grief. This was something different. Something that knew exactly what it was doing."Tell me something real," I said against his mouth.He pulled back an inch, just enough to look at my face. "What?""Anything. Tell me one real thing right now.""I've wanted this every day since Vegas." His thumb traced slowly along my jaw. "Every single day, I've wanted thi
Daniel's Pov"There's something else," I said."What?"I opened the safe behind my desk, the one only James and I knew the combination to, and pulled out a folder I'd kept hidden since the morning after Vegas.I set it on the desk between us."What's this?" she asked."Open it."Rosa opened it slowly. I watched her face as she processed what she was seeing.The annulment papers stared back at her. Every line filled out except for one. My signature, the final line, completely blank."You never signed these," she said."No.""Then what was the point of the note? Telling me they were coming, that they'd be couriered?""I told my lawyer to draft them. I told you they were coming because I believed that's what I
Rosa's PovI could feel the warmth of his breath against my mouth.Then he pulled back."I can't," he said, stepping away, his voice rough with something that sounded almost like panic. "Control. I need control.""Daniel…""I should go to bed." He raked a hand through his hair, refusing to meet my eyes. "We both should.""You almost kissed me.""I know what I almost did.""Then why did you stop?""Because if I start, I don't know if I can stop." His jaw tightened, the wall sliding back into place faster than I could process what had just happened between us. "And that terrifies me.""Everything terrifies you, Daniel. Everything that matters.""That's not true.""Then prove it." I stepped closer. "Stay







