Zara’s POV I should’ve known visiting my father would be a mistake.And yet, here I was, standing outside Leonard Windsor’s office like a condemned prisoner walking to the gallows. I had barely stepped inside when his sharp voice sliced through the air.“YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME.”Ah, yes. The warm Windsor family is welcome.I didn’t flinch as my father shot up from behind his massive desk, his face rapidly turning an interesting shade of red. His office, usually a cold, intimidating space designed to make people feel small, suddenly felt too cramped under the weight of his rage.I let out a dramatic sigh and flopped into the chair across from him. “Miss me, Father?”He slammed a newspaper onto the desk, his glare practically burning a hole through me."ETHAN CARTER & VICTORIA LEXINGTON – NEW YORK'S POWER COUPLE?"The headline was in bold, capital letters, as if it was personally taunting me. Beneath it was a photo of Ethan and Victoria walking out of some exclusive event, her

Victoria’s POVEthan was pissed. Not his usual brooding billionaire kind of pissed. No, tonight he was drunk-until-you-forget-your-own-name levels of pissed.And honestly? I couldn’t even blame him.Zara had just pulled the most spectacularly embarrassing stunt of the century at her own party, dragging me through the mud, calling me a husband snatcher, only for Ethan to drop the BOOM. We had dated for only three years.I mean, I knew she had issues, but that was next-level delusion.Now here we were, back at Ethan’s penthouse, and instead of just cooling off like a normal person, the man had grabbed a bottle of whiskey and was drinking like it owed him money.“Ethan,” I sighed, watching him from the doorway of the kitchen. “Maybe slow down?”He ignored me and poured another glass.I crossed my arms. “Drinking isn’t going to fix anything.”“It’s not supposed to fix anything,” he muttered, taking a long sip. “It’s supposed to help me forget how much of a circus my life has become.”I r

Zara's pov Veronica, bless her traitorous heart, immediately shot up and tried to play it cool. “Mr. Windsor! What a… pleasant surprise!”I shot her a look. Pleasant surprise?My father ignored her and fixed me with a stare that could probably shatter glass. “Zara,” he said smoothly. “What exactly are you hiding?”I laughed. Too loudly, too awkwardly and too very suspiciously.“Hiding?” I repeated, clearing my throat. “Nothing! What would I even hide? That’s crazy.”Veronica nodded way too fast. “So crazy.”My father’s eyes narrowed. Oh, we were so dead.“Dad, it's just about Ethan, we were just wondering how his son would eventually be if Victoria gets pregnant for him, I said, faking my best smile”.He stepped closer. “Then why did you go silent the second I walked in?”I faked a yawn. “I was just… tired and forget what to say.”Veronica chimed in, “Yeah, she’s been stressed…” I

Ethan’s POVI was going to kill her.Not literally, of course. But after three days of no calls, no messages, and absolutely zero explanations, Lisa was finally standing in front of me like she hadn’t just disappeared off the face of the earth.Victoria and I had been watching some terrible rom-com… her choice, obviously—when the front door swung open, and there she was, wearing sunglasses indoors, at NIGHT.The audacity, I shot up from the couch. “Where the hell have you been?”Lisa barely looked at me. She took off her sunglasses, tossed her bag onto the floor, and kicked off her shoes. “Not now, Ethan.”I scoffed. “Not now? Not now?! You’ve been missing for three days! I had people out looking for you! You weren’t answering your phone! What were you doing, huh? Running a secret operation in another country? Learning how to survive in the wilderness?”She yawned. Like Yawned. She wasn’t the reason I’d barely