Colton's POV. Damn! It's just my imagination. My mind went too far while looking at Lisa with the knife in her hand, she was trying to make a self defence. Derek rushed toward me, and I moved before he could land a punch. I caught his arm, twisted it behind his back, and drove him to the ground. I had spent years working on a farm, lifting heavy sacks, carrying equipment, wrestling with broken machinery when there was nobody else to help. I was not a trained fighter, but I knew how to use weight, movement, and whatever strength I had.And right now, I had plenty of anger to work with.I looked at Derek, then Lisa. The sight of them standing together dragged something out of me that I had spent months trying to bury.Felix in the wardrobe. His small voice telling me he had been left there.The hospital. The empty bottle of medicine.Lisa walking away with another man while our son could barely breathe. All those memories crowded.Derek became every humiliation I had swallowed because

CHAPTER 13COLTON’S POV******Felix had never liked unfamiliar places, but I had hoped the school Maita chose would be different. The moment the car stopped in front of the enormous building, I knew I had been too hopeful. The school looked more like a private university than a place filled with children. Tall glass windows reflected the morning sun, neatly trimmed gardens surrounded the entrance, and students in expensive uniforms moved between the buildings with their parents and teachers. Felix stared at everything from the back seat without making a sound.When I opened the door, he did not move. His small hand stayed wrapped around mine, and when I tried to guide him out, he held on tighter. I looked at him through the open door and crouched beside the car. "You do not have to be afraid. I will stay with you until you are comfortable." Felix did not look at me. His attention remained fixed on the school entrance, as if he were trying to understand what waited beyond those door

Chapter 15Lisa's POV. Everything had changed after Maita removed Derek from his position. He kept telling me it was temporary, that he had connections and would recover soon, but I watched those connections disappear one after another. People who used to answer his calls suddenly became unavailable. The expensive dinners became less frequent. The gifts stopped arriving. Even the apartment that once made me feel like I had finally escaped poverty had started feeling strangely quiet.Derek came home late that evening, dropping his keys on the table before walking past me. “You're back,” I said. He barely looked at me. “I'm tired.” I waited for him to say more, but he simply headed toward the bedroom. “You didn't tell me you were coming home late.” He stopped and glanced over his shoulder. “Lisa, I said I'm tired.” Something about his tone made an old memory surface before I could stop it.Colton had come home tired too. There were nights when he returned from the farm with mud on h

Chapter 015Maita POV The moment I stepped out of Colton's office, I regretted leaving.Not because I wanted to apologize. I had no intention of doing that. If anything, I was still angry. What irritated me most was that I could not explain why. Colton watching Lisa should not have mattered to me. Lisa was his ex-wife, the mother of his child, and someone he had every reason to keep an eye on.Still, the image of him sitting there with his phone in his hand would not leave my mind.I reached my office and pushed the door open.Janet looked up from the files on my desk. “That was quick.”“What was?”“You just left Mr. Colton's office.”“I know where I came from.”She studied my face. “You look angry.”“I am not angry.”“You slammed the door.”“I did not slam it.”Janet glanced toward the hallway. “The door almost shook the wall.”I ignored her and walked to my desk. “Do you have the financial reports from the Sterling Group?”“They are here.”“Good. Leave them.”She placed the files i