LOGINAva’s POV Luckily for me, the investigation had finally pointed to someone. Daniel Brooks, one of the junior employees from the Finance Department, had been taken in for questioning after evidence placed him inside the building the night the acquisition proposal disappeared. I didn’t know everything he had confessed, but judging by the determined look on Noah’s face every time he walked past my desk, I knew the investigation had finally begun moving in the right direction. Adrian hadn’t shared many details with me, and I understood why. Whoever was behind the attacks had managed to stay hidden for months, sabotaging Aurelius deal after deal without leaving much behind. If Daniel had truly been working for someone else, then whoever had hired him was still out there, and Adrian wasn’t about to show his hand until he knew exactly who he was dealing with. For the first time in weeks, I allowed myself to believe this nightmare might actually end. I caught myself smiling at the thoug
Adrian’s POV With everything happening at Aurelius Group, one truth became impossible to ignore. Whoever was orchestrating this chaos wasn’t trying to destroy Ava alone—they wanted to punish me too, as though I had committed some unforgivable crime against them. Every stolen file, every calculated move, every carefully planted doubt carried the unmistakable scent of revenge, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was only seeing the surface of something much darker. Ethan had resented me since we were children, so discovering he had been communicating with Serena wasn’t exactly shocking. What kept gnawing at the back of my mind was the question of who had manipulated him into taking things this far because Ethan had always been impulsive, but never strategic. Whoever was standing behind the curtain understood exactly how to exploit old wounds, and being family wouldn’t spare Ethan from the consequences of the choices he had made. The truth was, I didn’t have many enemies. If an
Adrian’s POV I had told Ava she could go home if she wanted but knowing her, I was sure she was somewhere now trying to figure out where the file had gone. The moment the meeting ended, I turned to Noah. “My office.” He gave a single nod and fell into step beside me. Neither of us spoke as we crossed the executive floor. Employees looked up as we passed before quickly pretending to be busy. News traveled fast inside a company, especially after a board meeting delayed without explanation. By the time we reached my office, I already knew half the building would be speculating about what had happened. Noah shut the door behind us. I walked straight to my desk without sitting down. “Have Marcus from Security, Olivia from IT, and Human Resources meet me in my office.” I paused. “Five minutes.” After hanging up, I looked at Noah. “Until we know who’s behind this, the fewer people involved, the better.” He understood immediately. “If there’s a mole…They’re already watching u
Ava’s POV For a second, nobody spoke. I wasn’t sure what shocked the room more—the missing acquisition proposal or Adrian believing me without asking for proof. The silence felt louder than any accusation. Adrian turned toward the board as though nothing extraordinary had happened. “We’re delaying the meeting by twenty minutes,” he announced calmly. A director immediately protested that investors had flown in from Zurich, but Adrian simply replied, “I know.” “The proposal is the foundation of today’s discussion,” another director insisted. Adrian met his gaze without raising his voice. “We’re delaying the meeting.” No one argued after that because no one challenged Adrian Blackwood twice. The boardroom erupted into controlled chaos as assistants called investors, Legal searched for backups, and IT rushed to investigate. I remained frozen beside the conference table, staring at the empty folder on my laptop. It wasn’t possible. I knew my routine by heart—draft, review, save, uploa
Ava’s POV Monday arrived whether I was ready for it or not. I must have woken up four different times during the night. Every time I managed to fall back asleep, my mind carried me to the exact same place. The Blackwood Estate. The long dining table. Aunt Margaret laughing so hard she nearly spilled her wine while Adrian sat there looking like he regretted ever introducing me to his family. Despite everything, a smile tugged at my lips. Rebecca. Whoever she was, she’d managed to embarrass Adrian Blackwood so thoroughly that his family was still talking about it years later. The memory warmed me. Then, almost instantly, it disappeared. Replaced by another. “You don’t spend years tracking someone you don’t care about.” Ethan’s voice. Followed by Adrian’s. “You weren’t invited because of Victoria.” Then the one sentence that refused to leave me alone. “I can’t answer that.” I groaned quietly into my pillow. “This has to stop.” I said but talking to myself wasn’t helping and pr
Ava’s POV For several seconds after Ethan walked away, I remained, pacing back and forth. It shouldn’t bother me but unfortunately it did. The hallway suddenly felt too quiet. Only echos of laughter and hushed conversation from the dinner room filled it. I hated that he had gotten into my head, EBY as I knew that was exactly what he wanted. But another part of me couldn’t stop replaying everything he had said. Victoria. Adrian tracking her and destroying the life of the man she was with? The questions stayed with me all the way back to the dining room. The moment I stepped inside, I noticed the conversation had long moved on. Nobody had stopped talking or stared as I walked in. They had simply moved on without me and I wasn’t sure if that made me feel relieved or invisible. My eyes found Adrian instantly, I wasn’t surprised to find he was already looking at me. Waiting. As though he had been tracking the doorway since I left. The realization should have comforted me. Instead,
Ava's PovMia didn’t say anything at first. She just stared at me from across the kitchen, her fingers wrapped tightly around a mug of coffee that had long gone cold, like she’d forgotten it existed. Her eyes were locked on me—searching, calculating, waiting for me to say something that would make
Ava's PovI thought the sound of laughter coming from our bedroom was the TV I’d forgotten to turn off. But as I pushed the door open, I realized the sound was much deeper, much more intimate, and coming from a man whose voice I didn’t recognize, wrapped in the arms of the man I was supposed to mar
Ava’s POVThe door closes behind me, soft and almost weightless against the storm building inside my chest. I keep walking, one step after another, my heels striking the floor in a steady rhythm that doesn’t match the chaos in my pulse. I don’t stop in the hallway, not when the receptionist glances
Ava’s POVIt’s been one week working for him. One week pretending I don’t remember the night we shared. One week of acting like nothing happened when everything changed. And the truth is, pretending is getting harder.Adrian Blackwood doesn’t miss a thing. Not the way my focus slips, not the way I







