THIRD PERSON’S POV

The new villa Damien bought for Tiffany and Tasha was quiet that night.

The house looked beautiful from the outside. Golden lights glowed softly through the windows while expensive flowers decorated the front garden neatly. Everything about the place looked luxurious, peaceful, and perfect.

But inside the villa... Ashley Stone cried nonstop.

The sound of her sobbing echoed through the large living room while Franca stood nearby looking exhausted and helpless. Ashley sat on the couch, clutching her small blanket desperately against her chest.

Her little face was completely red from crying. Tears soaked her cheeks while her small body kept shaking.

Franca sighed tiredly before kneeling carefully in front of her.

“Sweetheart, please calm down.”

“No!” Ashley cried louder immediately. “I want Mommy”

Franca’s heart hurt watching her like this.

Meanwhile, Tasha’s patience was disappearing.

She sat in one armchair, looking at Ashley with disgust. Ashley’s crying had continued for almost two straight hours now.

Two hours.

Even Tiffany looked emotionally drained already.

“Ashley,” Tiffany said softly “Come here.”

Ashley shook her head. “No.”

“Ashley,” Tiffany repeated more gently. “You’ll make yourself sick crying this much.”

“No” Ashley cried.

The words finally snapped something inside Tasha.

“Enough!” Tasha screamed.

Ashley flinched in fear and shock.

The entire villa became silent. Even Tiffany looked startled.

Tasha stood up while glaring at Ashley with anger.

“Do you think the whole world revolves around you?” she snapped harshly. “People are trying to take care of you and this is how you behave?”

Ashley’s crying stopped immediately, not because she calmed down, but because she was scared.

Ashley shrank deeper into the couch cushions while staring at Tasha with wide eyes

Franca frowned “Miss Tasha”

“No,” Tasha interrupted “I’m serious.”

She pointed toward Ashley angrily. “You’ve been crying all night like a spoiled child.”

Ashley’s lips shook. Tears still rolled silently down her cheeks, but now she no longer dared crying loudly anymore.

Tiffany stepped forward to her mom “Mom, calm down.”

Tasha inhaled deeply before forcing herself to sit back down again. The atmosphere inside the villa turned tense.

Ashley remained completely silent on the couch now, too silent.

Her small body still shook while tears continued slipping quietly down her cheeks, but she no longer made a single sound.

Franca’s chest went tight watching her. The child looked terrified.

After some minutes, Tasha finally realized she overreacted. Her expression a bit.

She stood again before walking toward Ashley. Ashley went stiff when she saw her.

Tasha crouched in front of her this time with a softer expression forced onto her face.

“Ashley,” she said gently.

Ashley said nothing.

Tasha reached forward to touch her hair.

“I didn’t mean to scare you.” She said.

Ashley didn’t say anything, still. Tasha forced out a smile.

“You understand Auntie was just tired, right?”

Ashley nodded weakly. Franca hated that reaction. The little girl looked like she was trying desperately not upsetting Tasha again.

Tasha gently wiped Ashley’s tears “But don’t tell anyone about tonight, okay?”

Tasha’s smile remained soft.

“If you tell your daddy I shouted at you, they’ll think you were being naughty.”

Ashley looked confused.

“You don’t want them upset with you, right?” Tasha said

Ashley shook her head nervously. “No...”

“Good girl.”

Tasha softly patted her hair again before standing up.

From nearby, Franca watched with shock.

Something about it felt wrong, very wrong. But before she could speak, Tiffany quietly interrupted.

“I’ll take Ashley upstairs.”

Ashley immediately looked frightened again. But this time...she didn’t protest.

-

The next morning, the atmosphere inside the villa felt very strange.

Ashley sat quietly beside Franca while picking at her food without appetite. Dark circles remained under her small eyes from crying most of last night. She avoided Tasha completely.

Every time Tasha moved closer, Ashley shifted nearer toward Franca instead. Whenever Tasha spoke directly to her, Ashley answered nervously without looking up properly.

Tiffany began noticing too.

“Ashley,” she said gently after a while. “Why are you so quiet today?”

Ashley froze slightly. Her small fingers tightened around the spoon.

“Nothing” Ashley whispered.

Tiffany frowned. Normally Ashley spoke a lot during breakfast.

This silence felt unnatural.

Tiffany reached toward her forehead. “Are you feeling sick?”

Ashley quickly shook her head. “No.”

But her eyes kept moving nervously toward Tasha. Tiffany noticed that too.

Later that afternoon, Ashley hid quietly inside the upstairs playroom while coloring silently by herself.

Usually she loved being around Tiffany constantly lately. But today...she avoided both Tiffany and Tasha whenever possible. Especially Tasha.

Downstairs, Tiffany sat inside the kitchen drinking coffee tiredly while staring at her unfinished research notes. She looked frustrated.

Tasha entered quietly “You still haven’t solved it?”

Tiffany laughed bitterly. “No.”

Her fingers rubbed tiredly against her forehead. “The simulation keeps collapsing halfway.”

Tasha sighed “You should just quit.”

Tiffany looked at her in shock “What?”

“You’ve already secured Damien,” Tasha shrugged. “Why keep stressing yourself?”

Part of Tiffany understood what Tasha meant. Emotionally, Tiffany felt exhausted lately too.

Tasha leaned against the island “Honestly, I’ve hated pretending around Ashley for a long time anyway. I’ve always despised the little brat”

Tiffany blinked in shock.

Tasha continued coldly. “That child exhausts me.”

The bluntness in her tone surprised even Tiffany slightly.

Still...she didn’t disagree.

Because deep down, Tiffany also felt emotionally drained constantly handling Ashley lately.

Tasha snorted “There’s no reason pretending anymore.”

Tiffany stared quietly at her coffee. “She’s Damien’s daughter.”

“So?”

The harshness in Tasha’s response made Tiffany look up again.

Tasha’s expression remained completely indifferent now.

“We’re staying close to Ashley because Damien cares about her. That’s the truth.”

-

Meanwhile, across the city, Damien sat inside Professor Archer’s office with a dangerously cold expression.

The atmosphere inside the university office felt suffocating.

Professor Archer sat stiffly behind his desk while reviewing Tiffany’s failed research proposal silently. Several faculty members already rejected portions of the work due to inconsistencies in methodology and incomplete modeling.

Normally, the process would simply end there. But Damien wasn’t normal.

“You’re telling me she might fail?” Damien asked quietly.

The calmness in his voice felt far more threatening than shouting.

Professor Archer sighed heavily. ‘Alpha Stone, graduate research standards apply to everyone.”

Damien’s eyes went dark “Be careful with your wording.”

The older professor’s face tightened.

Honestly...he despised conversations like this. Powerful wealthy men interfering with academia irritated him deeply.

“She lacks proper support in this field,” Professor Archer explained. “Her proposal requires extensive reconstruction.”

Damien leaned back in his chair. “Then reconstruct it.”

Professor Archer frowned “That isn’t how academic integrity works.”

Damien stared directly at him afterward. Then calmly said,

“My company funds nearly forty percent of your research programs annually.”

Everywhere became silent.

Professor Archer’s jaw tightened.

Unfortunately...that was true.

Damien continued coldly.

“I’m sure you understand how difficult things could become if that support disappeared suddenly.”

The threat was clear.

Professor Archer looked furious now.

“This is abuse of power.” He said.

“No,” Damien corrected calmly. “This is me protecting someone important to me.”

The older professor nearly exploded from irritation.

For years he respected Damien professionally despite his ruthless personality. But this? This disgusted him. An Alpha was threatening academic systems for a woman.

It was absolutely ridiculous. Still...the university genuinely depended heavily on Stone funding. And Damien knew it.

Professor Archer slowly removed his glasses tiredly before rubbing his forehead.

Finally, he spoke bitterly.

“There is one person capable of redesigning this proposal properly.”

Damien nodded “Lance.”

-

An hour later, Lance entered the office looking confused.

“You called?” Lance said.

Professor Archer slammed Tiffany’s research file onto the desk angrily.

“Read this disaster.”

Lance blinked before picking it up. Meanwhile, Professor Archer paced furiously across the office.

“That shameless bastard actually threatened university funding over a woman.” Professor Archer said.

Lance frowned “Damien?”

“Yes, Damien!”

Professor Archer looked deeply irritated now.

“He wants Tiffany graduating smoothly regardless of qualifications.”

Lance quietly flipped through the proposal pages. His expression gradually became more serious.

The research truly was messy. It looked incomplete and rushed.

“This requires complete restructuring,” Lance said calmly.

Professor Archer scoffed angrily. “Exactly!”

He stopped pacing afterward before looking directly at Lance.

“You’re fixing it.” he said

Lance looked at him in disbelief “What?”

“I don’t care how,” Professor Archer interrupted “I refuse letting Damien bully this institution.”

Lance sighed quietly.

He already knew this situation would become complicated, especially considering Sophia’s connection to all these people.

Meanwhile somewhere else entirely, Sophia still had absolutely no idea how deeply Damien’s decisions were beginning to affect everyone around her.