LOGINMaya’s POV
The lounge door stood open. Liam filled the entrance with his tall frame. His sharp eyes burned with anger as he stared at us. Julian’s hand still held the back of my neck. His lips were inches from mine after that aggressive kiss. I pulled away fast. My heart slammed hard against my ribs.“Liam,” I said quickly. My voice shook. “This is not what it looks like. We were just talking about Sarah. About the diary.”Liam stepped inside. His fists clenched at his sides. “TalMaya’s POVI stood there in my small apartment with my arms crossed tight over my chest. Liam’s words about reporting on Sarah still hung in the air like heavy smoke. My heart felt torn between the man in front of me and the memory of my sister. He looked at me with those sharp eyes full of regret. I wanted to believe him but doubt kept whispering in my head.“Liam, you reported on her,” I said slowly. “You watched my sister and told them where she was. How can I forgive that so easily?” Liam took one step closer but stopped when I did not move. “I know it sounds bad, Maya,” he replied gently. “It was early in my mission. I thought I was doing the right thing by gathering information. I did not understand how dangerous Mr. Havisham was back then. After I saw what happened, I tried to help her. I swear I did.”I wiped fresh tears from my warm brown skin. The pain from Chloe cutting contact still burned inside me. Now this. “I want to trust you,” I whispered. “You held me through my bre
Maya’s POVI stood there in my small apartment with my arms crossed tight over my chest. Liam’s words about reporting on Sarah still hung in the air like heavy smoke. My heart felt torn between the man in front of me and the memory of my sister. He looked at me with those sharp eyes full of regret. I wanted to believe him but doubt kept whispering in my head.“Liam, you reported on her,” I said slowly. “You watched my sister and told them where she was. How can I forgive that so easily?” Liam took one step closer but stopped when I did not move. “I know it sounds bad, Maya,” he replied gently. “It was early in my mission. I thought I was doing the right thing by gathering information. I did not understand how dangerous Mr. Havisham was back then. After I saw what happened, I tried to help her. I swear I did.”I wiped fresh tears from my warm brown skin. The pain from Chloe cutting contact still burned inside me. Now this. “I want to trust you,” I whispered. “You held me through my bre
Maya’s POVChloe stood frozen at the office door. Her eyes moved from me to Mr. Havisham’s hand still resting on my thigh under the desk. I quickly pulled my dress down and stood up straight. My face burned with shame. Mr. Havisham leaned back in his chair with that calm, amused look on his face.“Chloe, sweetheart,” he said smoothly. “This is not a good time. Maya and I were discussing work matters.”Chloe’s hands shook at her sides. Tears filled her eyes fast. “Work matters?” she repeated. Her voice cracked with pain. “I saw your hand on her again, Dad. Under the desk. After everything I told you yesterday. Maya, how could you let this continue? I thought you were fighting. I thought you were sorry.”I stepped toward her with my hands open. “Chloe, please listen,” I begged. “It is complicated. Mr. Havisham promised protection for the children if I obey. The council wants to take them away. I am doing this for them. For Sarah’s kids. I hate it but I have no choice right now.”She sho
Maya’s POVThe news from Elena hit me like a heavy stone in my chest. I sat on my small bed early the next morning with my phone pressed to my ear. Tears already filled my eyes as I listened to her explain the situation again. The children. Sarah’s children. They were the only real family I had left and now the Cross family council wanted to take them away.“Elena, please tell me there is something we can do,” I said with a shaking voice. “I cannot lose them. They are all I have from Sarah. I promised to protect them.”Elena’s voice came through steady but worried. “I am working on an emergency filing, Maya,” she replied. “We have a hearing in two days. You need to show you are stable. The scandals are hurting your case. Victoria is pushing hard with evidence of your connection to Mr. Havisham. You must be careful at the office today.”I wiped my tears and stood up. “I will try,” I answered. “But I have to go back to work. He will get suspicious if I stay away. Thank you for fighting
Maya’s POVThe days after the bug felt heavier. I woke up early and dressed carefully for work. A fitted black dress this time. Not too short but enough to catch eyes. Mr. Havisham liked when I looked professional yet tempting. I arrived at the office before him and started on the emails. My hands moved fast but my mind stayed sharp. The scandal still whispered around me. People looked at me differently now. I used that to my advantage.Mr. Havisham walked in at nine sharp. He closed the door and gave me that familiar cold smile. “Good morning, Maya,” he said. “You look ready for the day. Come here for a moment.” I stood up and walked to his desk. He pulled me onto his lap without warning. His hand rested on my thigh under the dress. “You have been distracted lately,” he added. “I need your full attention. Schedule the board meeting for tomorrow and prepare the reports.”“Yes, sir,” I replied softly. I shifted on his lap. My body pressed against him just enough. “I will do everything
Maya’s POVI held the tiny black device in my palm. The small blinking light made my stomach twist with fear. Liam stared at it too. His face changed from soft after our passionate moment to hard and alert. We stood in the quiet lounge. My clothes still felt messy from what we just did.“What is that?” Liam asked. His voice came out low and worried. “Maya, where did you find it?”I showed him the small tracker again. “It fell from under my collar,” I replied. “Someone put it on me. Maybe Julian during the kiss. Or earlier in the office. I feel sick, Liam. Someone is always watching me.”Liam took the device carefully. He turned it over in his fingers. “This is professional,” he said. “High quality. We need to destroy it but not here. They might have backup signals.” He crushed it under his shoe. The plastic cracked. The light went dead. “There. It is gone now. But you are right. Someone is always watching. We must be more careful from now on.”I nodded slowly. My
Maya’s POVThe first thing I heard when I stepped into the office is his voice. “You are late.”I looked at the clock on the wall. It said 8:55am. I was five minutes early. “I… I am sorry, sir,” I whispered. My voice shook.He was sitting behind his huge desk. He looked up from some papers. His eye
Maya’s POVMorning light came through my small window too soon. I forced my eyes open after a night of broken sleep. My hand still hurt from the glass. Liam had left early with promises to check on the children. I stood up slow and looked at myself in the cracked mirror. My warm brown skin looked p
Maya’s POVMy phone kept buzzing on my pillow like it is angry at me. I opened one eye and see five missed job application emails.All of them say the same thing. “We are sorry. No vacancy at this time.” I sighed loudly and roll over on my bed.“Why does survival feel like homework I cannot finish?
Maya’s POVMidnight is rude.It removes logic. It removes fear. It removes clothing in your imagination before you can stop it. And unfortunately, my imagination has a favorite victim.My next door neighbor is tall, unfairly attractive, and has the kind of voice that could convince a nun to sin wit







