INICIAR SESIÓNSerena's POVI clutched the cheap burner phone in my hand so tight my knuckles turned white. The motel room smelled like old cigarettes and piss, a far cry from the silk sheets and crystal chandeliers I'd grown used to. How the hell had it come to this? Me, Serena fucking Cross, hiding out like some scared little rat while that bitch Lauren played queen in my life.My reflection in the cracked mirror looked like shit. Dark circles under my eyes, hair messy from not sleeping. Vivian had promised me everything. Power. Revenge. Julian back under my thumb. But now? Now she was exposed, and the walls were closing in. Dante's sister. Fuck. Even I hadn't known the full weight of that until the pieces started falling. And Julian... God, he was coming for blood.I couldn't let it end like this. Not after everything I'd done to claw my way back. The poison in his drinks, the money siphoned off, the goons I'd sent after Lauren. All of it to keep what was mine. But that baby in her belly? That ch
Julian’s POVI stood there frozen, the tablet still gripped tight in my hand like it might shatter if I squeezed any harder. The hospital room felt smaller all of a sudden, the beeps from Lauren’s machines became louder in my ears. Vivian Moreau wasn’t just some scheming bitch pulling strings from the shadows. She was Dante Rossi’s fucking sister. Blood. The same blood that ran through the veins of the man I’d put in the ground months ago. “Julian?” Lauren’s voice came soft but sharp, pulling me back. She pushed herself up a little against the pillows, wincing but ignoring the pain like she always did. “Talk to me. What the hell is it?”Thomas shifted on his feet near the door, looking like he’d rather be anywhere else. His face was pale under the shitty fluorescent lights. “Boss, it’s all there. Birth records, old photos from back when Rossi was still building his shit. They hid it deep, but it’s solid. Vivian’s real name ties straight back to him. She changed everything after he we
Julian’s POVI stayed right there in that hospital chair, my hand wrapped around Lauren’s like it was the only thing keeping me grounded. The room had gone quiet except for the soft beeps of the machines and her steady breathing. She’d dozed off again after our talk, that small smile still playing on her lips even in sleep. My thumb kept brushing over her knuckles, feeling the warmth there. Fuck, she was alive. Our baby was hanging in there too. For the first time in what felt like forever, it didn't feel like my chest was about to explode.A nurse poked her head in after a bit, checking the monitors. She gave me a quick look. “Mr. Cross, you should get some rest yourself. She’s stable now.”“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered, not moving an inch. “I’m good right here.”Lauren stirred at my voice, her eyes cracking open slow. “Julian? Still here?”“Where the hell else would I be?” I leaned in closer, careful not to jostle her. “You think I’m leaving my girls? Not a chance.”She let out a tired l
Julian’s POV I stood outside that damn operating room like a man carved from stone, but inside, everything was crumbling. My hands still had Lauren's blood on them, dried and cracking under the harsh hospital lights. I couldn't stop seeing her face in the car, so pale, whispering my name like it might be the last thing she ever said. "The baby..." Those words kept ripping through my skull."Mr. Cross, you need to sit down," some nurse muttered, but I shot her a look that made her back off fast. Fuck sitting. I paced the hall instead, my boots leaving faint red smears on the white floor. Every second felt like a knife twisting in my gut. I remembered it all now. The flood of memories hit me hard while they wheeled her away–Lauren's real laugh, the way she fought me in the garage that night, calling me out on my bullshit without flinching. Not Serena. Never Serena. It was always her. My wrong wife who turned out to be the only right thing in my fucked-up life."Julian." Thomas's voice
Lauren’s POV "Julian..." I whispered, my eyelids feeling heavier than lead. The hallway was spinning wildly around us, the bright overhead lights blurring into streaks of yellow and white. A deep, agonizing cramp tore through my lower abdomen, and I gasped, clutching weakly at his sleeve. "The... the baby..."Julian looked down at my stomach, and the last shred of his sanity snapped right then and there. A terrifying, animalistic growl tore from his chest. His face changed into a mask of unbridled rage and terror."No, no, no! Stay with me! Do you fucking hear me?!" he bellowed, his voice shaking violently as he pressed his palm harder against my bleeding side, trying desperately to keep the life inside me from slipping away. He looked up down the empty hallway, his eyes wild and unhinged. "THOMAS! SECURITY! SOMEONE GET THE FUCK UP HERE RIGHT NOW!"Within seconds, heavy footsteps thundered down the corridor. Thomas and two security guards rounded the corner, stopping dead in their tr
Lauren’s POV I walked out of the office to clear my head, my mind spinning with everything Julian just said. The thought that he remembered everything, that he knew who I was all along, still sent a wild rush of heat straight through my chest. But the real world was still right out there, waiting with sharp teeth. Serena was gone, thrown out on her ass, but Vivian was still out there, pulling the strings. I needed air. I needed to walk this off before my brain actually exploded.The hallway was quiet, the thick carpet swallowing the sound of my sneakers. I pressed my hand against my stomach, feeling the slight, soft curve of it. Our baby. Julian's baby. The thought made my chest ache with a fierce, terrifying kind of love. I never thought I would get this. I never thought a life like this could belong to a girl like me, a girl who spent her teenage years dodging broken bottles and dealing cards in smoke-filled underground rooms just to stay alive."Going somewhere so soon, little sis
Lauren’s POV The rain started before I even reached Silas's building.Seattle didn't do light drizzles. It came down hard and heavy, soaking through my jacket before I'd made it half a block from where I'd parked. I'd told Julian I needed air. Just air. He'd looked at me the way he always did lat
Julian’s POVI stood at the window of my study, watching the rain platter on it heavily. The city lights blurred into nothing. Everything felt off. My wife—Serena, or whoever the fuck she really was these days—was slipping through my fingers, and I hated it.Silas had been waiting outside my door f
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO LAUREN’S POV I yanked my shirt up from the floor with shaking hands and glared at Julian through the mess he had made of me. “You disgusting bastard.” He set the gun down on the desk like it was nothing. “I’ve been called worse,” he said. “By people still alive?” Hi
CHAPTER THIRTYLAUREN’S POVThe car ride to Julian’s headquarters felt like a trap closing in slow motion. I sat in the passenger seat of his black SUV, fingers twisting the hem of the black pencil skirt Nancy had laid out for me this morning. Julian hadn’t said much since breakfast, just that one







