Devyn's POV
What can I say? I found the love of my life - my safe place, my home. With Vaughn, I no longer have to hide behind the mask I wore for years. A mask that hid the pain, the memories, and the parts of me no one else could handle.

We've built a foundation together, brick by brick, with love and family at the center. Our life is for our children - our son, and the little one I now carry - but my cousin's case threatens to crack the peace we've fought for. It drags me back into the darkness I thought I'd left behind.

Court is hell. I try to be brave, but when his lawyer twists the truth, using my trauma against me, it's like being twelve years old again - small, powerless, and silenced. I was a child. He knew better. And now, she knows better, too, yet she still wields my pain like a weapon.

I don't want to go back to the mask. But this time, it's already fractured. Shattered. And I can't stop wondering - if Vaughn sees me breaking again, will he still love me the same? Will he still see me as strong? Because right now, I don't feel strong at all. I feel like I'm falling... and I pray my family catches me before I hit the ground.

Vaughn's POV
My wife. My children. My whole damn world. I would set fire to this entire city if it meant keeping them safe.

But Devyn is hurting, drowning in old nightmares the trial has ripped open. The mask she fought so hard to take off is back - cracked, shattered, and ready to break completely. And then I see her.
Vivian Cross. The defense attorney. My ex-fiancee. The woman I once thought I'd spend my life with - until she betrayed me in the worst possible way. I should hate her, and I do...but there's a part of me I wish I could kill that still remembers how it felt to love her. She knows it too, and she'll use it against me.

Now Devyn is looking at me like she's not sure where my loyalty lies. And Vivian... Vivian has brought secrets to court that could rip my marriage apart. Secrets she's been keeping for over a decade. I'll be damned if I let her - or anyone - destroy what Devyn and I have built. My wife is mine. My family is mine. And I will fight tooth and nail, burn every bridge, and bury every enemy to make sure nothing, not her cousin Quinton, not my ex, not the shadows of our past, takes them from me.

Devyn Mela Thornwood is mine. My Peaches. My heart. My forever.

Trigger Warning
This story contains intense themes, including sexual assault, betrayal, infidelity, strong sexual content, and explicit language. Please read the trigger warnings with care. This book is written for mature readers who can handle raw, emotional, and deeply personal subject matter. If these topics are not for you, please choose your next read accordingly. Zapphire Zucca cares about your mental health

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