April's POV The terminal lounge smelled like old money and overconfident men. Even the air-conditioning felt smug. Jeez! I am so damn tired! I shifted my weight from one heel to the other and glanced at Sinclair, who was too still. Tense, jaw locked like his teeth were having a fight with each other. The silence between us wasn’t companionable. It was coiled. Waiting like my life depended on it. Then the doors opened, and the golden boy walked in. Who’s this? Cassian Hale. Sinclair had done me the favor of briefing me about who we were going to pick up. Thankfully. And the man? He didn’t just enter a room. He arrived. Shoulders back, coat draped over one arm like some Italian prince of Wall Street, tailored to sin and cut with entitlement. His hair looked art-directed, the kind that cost more than my first car. He walked like he owned the runway and the tarmac outside it. Funny how I already had a nickname for him in my head. Proud peacock. Real! Proud peacock, i

I wanted to scream.I wanted to punch him. Hit him till he bled. I wanted to collapse into the pavement and disappear.But all I did was... stare. That was the only thing I was good for. Sinclair stepped forward, jaw tense, the vein in his neck pulsing like it was ready to burst. “Say another word, and I’ll break every bone in your mouth.”My brain slowly processed the whole scene. “Oh?” Nathan snorted. “Rich boy’s mad. What are you, her daddy now? Or is this some savior complex thing you’ve got going on?”Sinclair didn’t respond.He just moved with speed, landing another punch. It sounded with a loud, sickening thud. Nathan staggered, hitting the alley wall as he swore as his hand flailed for the blade again.Sinclair kicked it away before he could even bring it up. “I did tell you not to breathe anywhere near her again, didn't I?"Wait.What?My heart stuttered.He did what?“Just so you know, I'm aware of every report she filed and withdrew. Every ER visit, she tried to lie ab

The least I should've felt was pride or happiness....I think. That was the appropriate emotion, wasn’t it? Expected of me. A proud smile, a firm handshake, a toast raised in congratulations. But all I felt was the slow grind of fury that was speedily clawing up my spine as it left behind nothing but smoke and resentment.Standing at the edge of the grand executive atrium of Hale Corp, I watched the champagne flutes clink as laughter bubbled through the polished air. The crowd buzzed around Cassian like he was a newly crowned king. The announcement had just been made: Chief Operating Officer.That position had belonged to my mother, as she was a genius in business. Cassian now got to sit on her chair. Her name was still engraved on the office door. And now, it had all been handed over to Cassian in a box wrapped in tiny golden bows that reeked of fancy bThe applause still lingered, thudding against my temples like a drumbeat I couldn’t shut out.Cassian looked the part, I’ll give him

Sinclair's POVI watched Cassian grin like a man who thought he’d already won.Stepping out of the private elevator, I walked into the thirtieth-floor boardroom, the glass doors parted like the jaws of a trap. The air felt too still, the tension was too curated. I could smell it the moment I walked in. It was fake calm, like perfume on a corpse.Everyone was already seated, a little too comfortably.Veronica was seated next to Cassian at the oval table with her legs crossed as her face tilted in a performance of concern and poise. She looked radiant, and it truly disgusted me than when she’d looked smug. Because this version of her, the doting wife, the loyal second-in-command bullshit, wasn't exactly something I liked.And Cassian? Oh, he practically sparkled with misplaced confidence. The bastard never failed to amaze me."Morning, everyone," I said flatly as I ignored the chorus of fake greetings that flew past my ear. Walking slowly to the head seat at the table, I pulled it out.

April’s POV. My heart had no business behaving like this. Not after everything. Not for him. Shutting the door to Sinclair’s office with a little more force than necessary, I silently prayed the sound didn’t carry that much. I didn't have cash to pay for a broken window or something. My breath was in a hitch as I walked down the hallway, as my heels clicked with every step. Even my mind was becoming stormy. Turns out seeing my boss shirtless and dripping with water with a towel on his neck and his hair curling from steam wasn't exactly good for my health. Because can someone explain why the image refused to stop burning in my fucking mind? He looked too gorgeous not to even be acknowledged. Beauty did run in the Hale family after all. No. No, no, no. “In the name of Jesus, stomach, you will rest.” I held on to my tablet tightly as if my life depended on it. Because it kinda did since it was the only thing that kept my hands from shaking so bad. Come on, April. You're no