Chapter: UltrasoundThe next morning we’re sitting in the waiting room at the hospital and my leg won’t stop bouncing, knee jumping up and down in this nervous tic I can’t control.Jeremy reaches over and rests his hand on my knee, gentle pressure that stills the movement.“Breathe,” he says quietly.“I’m breathing.”“You’re holding your breath. I can tell.”I let out the air I was holding and he squeezes my knee once before pulling his hand back.When they call my name we both stand and follow the nurse back to the exam room.Doctor Kent is already there, pulling up my file on her computer. “Camille, good to see you again. And Jeremy, right?”“Yeah,” he says, taking the chair beside the exam table.“Alright, let’s take a look at this baby.”She has me lie back and lifts my shirt, squirting the cold gel on my stomach that makes me flinch.Then she presses the ultrasound wand against my skin and the monitor flickers to life.For a few seconds there’s just static and blurry shapes and my heart is in my thr
Last Updated: 2026-06-13
Chapter: Sixteen Week AppointmentI’m off the bed before I even realize I’m moving, phone clutched in my hand, every beat of my heart feels loud in my ears.Jeremy’s asleep on the couch and I need to show him this, need him to see what I just found, but I freeze halfway across the living room because waking him up feels selfish when he barely gets enough sleep as it is.I’m turning to go back to the bedroom when I hear the couch creak.“Cam?” His voice is rough, groggy. “What’s wrong?”“Nothing, I’m sorry, go back to sleep.”“You’re a terrible liar.” He sits up, rubbing his eyes. “What happened?”I hesitate, then walk over and sink down onto the couch beside him, holding out my phone.“Look at this. The photo from eight months ago. In the background.”He takes the phone and squints at the screen, zooming in on the image, and I watch his expression change as he spots what I’m talking about.“That’s Ryan,” he says quietly.“Sasha knows him. They’ve been to parties together. Which means—”“Which means she might recognize
Last Updated: 2026-06-09
Chapter: She KnowsAt the far end of the aisle, looking at granola bars with a guy I don’t recognize, is Sasha.She hasn’t seen us yet but my whole body goes tense anyway.“What’s wrong?” Jeremy asks, following my line of sight.“Sasha’s here.”His expression shifts, becomes more alert.“Do you want to leave? We can come back another time.”Before I can answer, Sasha turns and her eyes land on us and her whole face lights up.“J! Hey!”She walks over with the guy trailing a few steps behind, and I force myself to smile even though every muscle in my body is screaming at me to run.“Fancy running into you here,” she says, then her gaze shifts to me. “Oh. Hey. You’re staying at J’s place, right?”“Yeah. Hi.”The guy with her is looking between us with mild curiosity but doesn’t say anything.Sasha’s eyes drop to our grocery cart and I watch her take inventory—the three jars of pickles, the ginger tea I grabbed without thinking, the crackers that are supposed to help with nausea.I notice her face tighten,
Last Updated: 2026-06-05
Chapter: The RoutineWeeks pass and we fall into something that feels almost like a routine.Mornings start the same way—I wake up to the smell of coffee brewing and wander out to find Jeremy already up, standing at the stove with two mugs waiting on the counter.He makes mine first, oat milk and honey measured out with the kind of carefulness that suggests he’s done this enough times now to have it memorized no matter how many times I complain, then pours his own black and hands me the one with the lighter color.“Morning,” he says, voice still rough with sleep.“Hey, morning.”We don’t talk much in those first few minutes, just exist in the same space while the caffeine kicks in and the day starts to feel real.I’ve shifted to working remotely—the bookstore manager was surprisingly understanding when I explained I needed to process online orders from home for a while, and it means I can stay in the apartment instead of being on my feet all day.Jeremy paints in the corner by the window, easel set up whe
Last Updated: 2026-06-02
Chapter: Shared MemoriesI really think about it.“I always felt responsible for my sister,” I say finally. “Iris. She's four years younger and our parents were always so busy with work that I ended up being the one who made sure she ate dinner and did her homework and got to school on time. And I resented it sometimes, being the one who had to be responsible when I was still just a kid myself. But I never told anyone that because it felt like admitting I was a bad sister.”Jeremy’s quiet for a moment, processing.“That doesn’t make you a bad sister. That makes you human.”“Maybe. I still feel guilty about it though.”“What about now? Are you two close?” He asks“We are. But she’s at college now, and I don’t want to burden her with everything that’s going on. She’s got her own life to figure out.”“Does she know about Ryan?”“No. Nobody does except you and Reina and yeah-his mom. And I want to keep it that way for now. Iris would drop everything to help me if she knew, and I can’t let her do that. She needs
Last Updated: 2026-05-28
Chapter: The QuietBack at the apartment I make it as far as the couch before my legs give out and I sink into the cushions, every bit of energy I had completely drained.The meeting with Patricia replays in my head on a loop—her cold eyes, her dismissive tone, the way she said that baby ties you to my son forever like it was a life sentence.Maybe it is.Jeremy disappears into the kitchen without saying anything and I hear the familiar sounds of him moving around—cabinet opening, water running, the click of the stove.A few minutes later he comes back with a mug and sets it on the coffee table in front of me.“Rooibos,” he says, settling onto the opposite end of the couch. “Same as before.”I pick it up and wrap both hands around it, letting the warmth seep into my palms.“Thank you.”He just nods and we sit there in silence, him with his elbows resting on his knees and me curled into the corner of the couch with the mug pressed against my chest.The quiet stretches but it’s not uncomfortable, just hea
Last Updated: 2026-05-24
Blood and Mercy
I’m caring for the man my brother paralyzed.
Kai Petrova doesn’t know that. He doesn’t know my real last name. Doesn’t know I walked into his mansion with a lie on my lips. Doesn’t know that five years ago, my brother drove drunk and killed his fourteen-year-old sister.
He just knows I’m the only caregiver who didn’t quit.
I needed the money. My mother is dying, and this job pays $135,000 for six months of work. I told myself I could do it.
All I had to do was keep my head down, stay professional, get the money and get out.
But then he started to trust me, he started to look at me. And I made the worst mistake of my life: I fell in love with him.
Now I’m trapped. Because every time he touches me, I think about the reason he’s on a wheelchair. Every time he smiles, I see his dead sister’s face on the walls of his studio.
When the truth comes out—and it will—he’s going to hate me.
But the worst part? The accident that destroyed both our families wasn’t an accident at all.
Someone wanted Kai dead. Someone made sure my brother took the fall. And someone is still out there, watching us get closer, waiting for the perfect moment to destroy us both.
I thought the secret I was keeping would kill me.
I was wrong. It’s going to kill him.
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Chapter: The FightCassieI wake up before sunrise, get dressed in the dark, and make my way downstairs to the kitchen where Mrs Rosalind has already left ingredients prepped for his breakfast. Eggs, toast, coffee. His morning medications lined up in the small organizer she showed me how to use.By seven, I’m standing outside his door with the tray balanced carefully in both hands.I knock twice, wait five seconds, then open the door without waiting for an answer.The room is dark, curtains pulled tight like he’s trying to keep the entire world out. I can barely make out his shape in the bed, just the outline of him under the covers, completely still.I set the tray down on the table by the window as quietly as I can, then walk over to the control panel on the wall and press the button.The curtains slide open with that smooth automated hum, letting pale gray morning light spill into the room.“Good morning, Mr Petrova,” I say without looking at him. “Breakfast is on the table. Your medications are next
Last Updated: 2026-06-13
Chapter: His RulesKaiI’m sitting by the window in my studio, staring out at nothing in particular, when I see her.She’s standing on the lawn near the driveway with her phone pressed to her ear, pacing back and forth in these small tight circles like she can’t stand still.I can’t hear what she’s saying from up here, can’t make out the words, but I can see her body language well enough to know it’s not a good conversation.She stops pacing and brings her free hand up to her face, wiping at her eyes with the heel of her palm.She’s crying.Or trying not to.Her shoulders curve inward and she turns away from the house like she doesn’t want anyone to see, like she’s trying to hold herself together and barely managing it.I watch for another few seconds, watch the way she keeps wiping at her face even though it’s clearly not helping.Then I turn away from the window.I don’t want to see this.Don’t want to know why she’s upset or who’s on the other end of that phone making her fall apart in the middle of
Last Updated: 2026-06-09
Chapter: Curtain DramaKaiThe light wakes me up.That’s the first thing I register, before I’m even fully conscious, before I remember where I am or what day it is. Just light, bright and sharp, cutting through my eyelids and dragging me out of whatever half-sleep I managed to fall into sometime around four in the morning.I open my eyes and immediately want to close them again.The curtains are open.All of them.Sunlight is pouring into the room, hitting every surface, making everything too bright and too clear and too much.I reach for the remote on my nightstand, the one that controls the automatic curtains, and press the button harder than I need to. The curtains start to close, smooth and silent, blocking out the light inch by inch until the room is dim again.Better.I drop the remote back on the table and stare at the ceiling, trying to remember if I opened those curtains last night.I didn’t.I never do.Which means someone else did.Someone came into my room while I was sleeping and opened the c
Last Updated: 2026-06-07
Chapter: This was a MistakeCassie The first thing I think when Mrs Rosalind opens the door and steps aside to let me in, is the room is beautiful.It’s bigger than the living room in my apartment. There’s a queen-sized bed with a thick comforter that looks like it’s never been slept in, a dresser, a desk and chair by the window, a door that leads to a private bathroom. The walls are a soft cream color and there’s actual art hanging on them, not posters or prints but real paintings in real frames.“I’ll let you get settled,” Mrs Rosalind says from the doorway. “Take your time. If you need anything, I’ll be downstairs.”“Thank you.”She leaves, closing the door quietly behind her.I stand there in the middle of the room with my duffel bag at my feet, looking around at a space that’s nicer than anywhere I’ve ever lived.I feel like an imposter.Like I’m playing dress-up in someone else’s life and any second now they’re going to figure it out and kick me out.I drop my bag on the bed and sit down next to it, the
Last Updated: 2026-06-05
Chapter: First DayCassieThe car is black and spotless, the kind where you’re afraid to breathe too hard in case you mess something up.I’m sitting in the back seat, watching the city fall away through the window. We’ve been driving for thirty minutes now, moving further and further from everything familiar until we’re surrounded by trees and open roads and houses that sit so far back from the street you can barely see them.The driver hasn’t said a word since he picked me up.I check my phone for the fifth time in ten minutes. No new messages. Mara didn’t text me back this morning when I told her I was leaving. Jonah sent a single thumbs up emoji that made my chest ache.I should call them.I will.Just not right now.The car slows and I look up.There’s a gate ahead, tall and iron and imposing, the kind that makes it very clear you’re not supposed to be here unless someone specifically invites you. Stone pillars on either side with the name ‘Petrova’ carved into them in elegant letters.The gate st
Last Updated: 2026-06-02
Chapter: Before HerKaiI’m sitting in my studio with a blank canvas in front of me, the kind I used to fill without even thinking. Back when my hands knew what to do before my brain caught up, back when drawing was as natural as breathing.Now it’s sitting here, white and empty, like it’s mocking me for even trying.I press the charcoal to the surface anyway, try to make a line, any line at all. But my hand won’t move the way it used to and the stroke comes out shaky and uncertain, nothing like what I’m seeing in my head.I lift the charcoal away and stare at the mark I just made.It looks like nothing.I used to draw Lily every day. Different versions—laughing, concentrating, hair falling over her shoulder. I filled dozens of sketchbooks. But I can’t anymore. The lines don’t come. My hand forgets what she looked like halfway through and I’m left with something that’s almost her but not quite, something that makes my chest ache because it’s wrong and I can’t fix it no matter how many times I try.So I
Last Updated: 2026-05-30
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