LOGINMia The doors swung open, and for the first time in my life, I looked at a workspace and felt my heart swell with pride.My office.Located on the top floor of a sleek, modern architectural building in downtown, the space was a dream come true. Floor-to-ceiling glass windows wrapped around the perimeter, flooding the open-concept room with bright morning sunlight. The minimalist white walls, concrete floors, and clean lines gave it an airy, inspiring vibe. There were no corporate overlords peering over my shoulder, no malicious whispers echoing down the hallway, and no toxic superiors trying to steal my ideas.Here, I was the boss. The Zenthros Project was officially my company, and the blank canvas of my future was finally mine to paint.I stood by the window, holding a steaming mug of coffee, watching the distant, bustling flow of the city below. A profound sense of liberation washed over me, chasing away the last lingering shadows of the nightmares I had left behind at Vane Ent
MiaThe penthouse kitchen was very much silent except for the soft hum of the refrigerator and the drip of the coffee maker.I sat down, wrapped in an oversized knit sweater, staring down at my empty mug. My hands were wrapped tightly around the warm ceramic, but I couldn't shake the chill deep inside my bones. Just hours ago, I had resigned from Adrian’s Enterprise, from the toxic corporate wars, and from the last remaining anchor of my old life.I was officially unemployed.For the first time in years, I didn't have a desk to report to, an email inbox full of demands, or a malicious boss plotting behind my back. I was free. But sitting here in the morning light, that freedom felt vast—like standing at the edge of a sheer cliff with no map.Soft footsteps padded across the floor. A moment later, the familiar, comforting scent of chocolate musk filled the air as Damon stepped up behind me.He didn't say anything right away. Instead, his hands settled gently onto my shoulders, his th
Mia The thin, polite veneer that Adrian had worn for years shattered into dust right before my eyes.His chest heaved, his eyes bulging with a manic fury that made him look like a stranger. The desperate panic he had felt a moment ago melted away, replaced by a deep, toxic, boiling poison."You look at me like I'm a monster," Adrian spat, his voice trembling with a hateful, ugly shriek as he slammed his fist against the mahogany desk. "Like *I'm* the bad guy here! But you don't know anything, Mia. Damon is nothing but someone that got everything on a silver platter."I didn't cower. I didn't step back. I just stared at him with cold, unblinking eyes."Damon didn't just inherit his life, Adrian—he earned it through a hell you couldn't survive in a lifetime," I answered, my voice dripping with quiet contempt.That single sentence was the final match dropped into a powder keg."Shut up! Just shut your damn mouth!" Adrian screamed, losing his mind. He paced across the office, waving hi
Mia The next day, I decided to go to work early.I hadn't been able to sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, the image of those toxicological reports flashed across my mind—the way Mara and Marcus had poisoned Damon’s father, slowly draining the life out of him while smiling in his face. The crucial board vote was only days away. We had pieces of the puzzle, but Mara was a cornered beast, and a cornered beast was unpredictable. Driven by a restlessness, I had left the penthouse while he was still trapped in a light, exhausted sleep.I pulled my coat tighter around myself, stepping quietly toward my office.As I passed the halfway mark down the corridor, a thin line of warm light spilling onto the carpet caught my eye. It was coming from Adrian’s office. The door was cracked open just an inch or two.I paused, my brow furrowing in confusion. *What is Adrian doing here this early?*Before I could move past, an agitated voice cut through the hallway, making me freeze in my tracks."I di
DamonThe rain continued to hammer relentlessly against the high glass windows of Dr. Harrison’s private, off-the-grid medical suite.Dr. Harrison had been my father’s most trusted physician before Mara systematically pushed him out of the family's inner circle three years ago. He was a man of integrity, someone who owed nothing to the empire and whose silence could be bought only with the truth.Mia sat right beside me, her small hand tightly wrapped around mine beneath the table. Her presence was the only thing keeping the roaring, murderous storm inside my chest from breaking out and burning the entire city to the ground.Dr. Harrison adjusted his wire-rimmed glasses, his face growing paler with every single page he turned. He spent nearly forty minutes studying the daily toxicology charts, the blood panel printouts, and the unredacted autopsy notes from my father’s final thirty days alive.The silence in the room was suffocating, heavy enough to drown in.Finally, Dr. Harrison
Mia My hands trembled as I scrambled away from the dark, wet smears on the pavement. The cold wind howled through the barren trees of Oakridge Park, but the ice settling in my veins had nothing to do with the weather.I fumbled with my phone, my bloody, wind-chilled fingers slipping across the glass. I dialed Damon’s private line.*Pick up. Please, God, Damon, pick up.*"Mia?"The sound of his voice—deep, steady, and attentive—broke through the deafening roar of panic in my ears. The low hum of chatter in the background told me he had just stepped out of the board meeting."Damon..." My voice cracked, a ragged sob tearing from my throat. "She took her. Mara took her.""Mia? Where are you? What happened?" The background noise on his end vanished."Are you hurt?""I'm at Oakridge Park. Athena called me—she was crying, Damon, she was terrified. She said she had the original physical ledgers, the ones signed by Marcus and Mara. She wanted to turn them over to us in exchange for an escape
Mia“Congratulations Mrs Nova, you’re pregnant.”The words made my mind go blank. In the walls of the company’s restroom, only a light buzzing sound remained. Pregnant…“Mrs Nova?” “Yes,” I blurted out, my voice deceitfully calm despite the blood roaring in my ears, “I'm sorry. Please continue.”
MiaI felt the gazes of my co-workers trailing me as I moved towards my office. Some looked away once I met them. Others remained, offering small smiles. They both held the same thing.Sympathy. Pity.By now I was sure the entire company was aware. There was nothing I could do about it but ignore i
MiaDamon’s voice cut cleanly through mine. I turned to him.On his usually impassive face was something I couldn't read, but perhaps it was my imagination. Soon after he looked at me harshly.“Don’t be unreasonable Mia.” he said, “Athena is staying. Why would she need to leave when her family is h
MiaIt felt like I'd been dunked in an icy bath, chilling my bones into reality. She leaned closer to Damon holding his arm and looking up at him with a smile. But all I could focus on was the jewellery adorned on her neck. The necklace I thought he'd bought for me.Laughter arose, forcing me to r







