Novels by All_about_me

RILEY’S POVThe apartment felt too quiet.Not the comfortable quiet Claire and I were used to, the kind where music hummed in the background and someone inevitably burned something in the kitchen.This quiet was different. Heavy.I stood in the kitchen doorway, staring at the clock on the wall. The second hand ticked steadily forward like it was mocking the way I kept glancing toward the front door.Aiden should’ve been home by now. He hadn’t told me where he was going earlier, just that he had “something to handle.” His voice had been neutral when he said it, but there had been tension sitting under the words.I noticed things like that, especially with him.I had tried not to ask questions. I had been trying very hard lately not to push him into corners he didn’t want to stand in.Still… something about the way he left had unsettled me. The lock finally turned.I straightened immediately, my heart jumping slightly.The door opened and Aiden stepped inside.The moment I saw his fa

RILEY’S POVThe apartment felt too quiet.Not the comfortable quiet Claire and I were used to, the kind where music hummed in the background and someone inevitably burned something in the kitchen.This quiet was different. Heavy.I stood in the kitchen doorway, staring at the clock on the wall. The second hand ticked steadily forward like it was mocking the way I kept glancing toward the front door.Aiden should’ve been home by now. He hadn’t told me where he was going earlier, just that he had “something to handle.” His voice had been neutral when he said it, but there had been tension sitting under the words.I noticed things like that, especially with him.I had tried not to ask questions. I had been trying very hard lately not to push him into corners he didn’t want to stand in.Still… something about the way he left had unsettled me. The lock finally turned.I straightened immediately, my heart jumping slightly.The door opened and Aiden stepped inside.The moment I saw his fa

ETHAN’S POVSilence is expensive. That was the first thing I learned.The anonymous posts had begun like a whisper and escalated into a roar. Allegations, screenshots, carefully worded accusations that never quite crossed into defamation but hovered close enough to burn.And then, just as suddenly as they’d begun, they slowed.The posts stopped appearing daily, then weekly, then not at all.The internet, fickle as ever, found something new to chew on. To the outside world, the crisis was fading.To me, it had already done its damage.Contracts were paused, Investors reconsidered their positions.Two long-term partners severed ties quietly, issuing carefully neutral statements aboutstrategic realignment.I lost millions in a quarter.Reputation doesn’t bleed publicly.It hemorrhages privately.Board meetings grew colder, conversations shorter and handshakes firmer but less sincere.My name, once associated with precision and growth, now carried a shadow of instability.And instabilit

RILEY’S POVI sat in the dining area after lunch, staring at the table.My resignation letter sat in my bag, printed, signed, folded neatly inside a cream envelope. I had rewritten it three times the night before, staring at the words until they stopped looking real.Kindly accept this as my formal notice. Too polite.In the end, I settled for something clean, professional, and detached.I would be concluding my role in four weeks, I appreciated the opportunities. I wished the company well.Aiden had watched me seal the envelope without saying much. Just a quiet, “You’re sure?” before kissing my forehead like he already knew the answer.Now I stood outside the company building, staring up at the glass exterior reflecting the morning sun.This place had once felt like ambition. Now it felt like survival.I walked in. The lobby smelled the same. Polished floors, subtle perfume, corporate neutrality. People nodded at me as I passed. Some smiled. Some didn’t. None of them knew.I press

RILEY’S POVBy the time the sun had started to dip below the horizon, casting a warm orange glow across the city, I was finally beginning to feel like I could breathe. Well… as much as I ever could these days.I had just finished tidying a few things in Aiden’s apartment, trying not to think about the broken lock, the handprint on my wall, or Ethan who might have been behind it all. My mind was already spinning with worst-case scenarios when the doorbell rang.I wasn’t expecting anyone, not at this hour of the day.I hesitated, then padded over and peeked through the peephole. Claire. Immediately, my chest tightened. She looked frantic, oversized sunglasses hiding her eyes, but the tight set of her jaw and the way she was tapping her fingers against her bag told me everything I needed to know.I opened the door, feeling a sudden jolt of guilt.“Claire?” I started, but she cut me off, stepping inside before I could finish.“You didn’t tell me,” she said, her voice trembling just e

RILEY'S POV The morning sunlight cut through the blinds, spilling pale gold across the floor.I blinked against it, my body still heavy with sleep, my mind hazy and slow. I swung my legs over the side of the bed, the sheets rustling around me. It was quieter than I expected. I hesitated for a moment, letting my feet touch the floor, toes brushing against the soft rug, before I padded toward the stairs.Half-asleep, I muttered under my breath, “Tea first… maybe I’ll survive if I get coffee first.”The living room was warmer than I thought. Curtains were drawn just enough to soften the light, and the faint smell of toasted bread floated through the air. My stomach reminded me rudely that I hadn’t eaten since yesterday, though the thought of food made me feel nauseous. I rubbed my eyes and yawned, still trying to shake off the fog.And then it happened, I rounded the corner into the kitchen and froze.Aiden coming out from the kitchen. Shirtless, lean, barely enough fabric left on h