Novels by clarachioma343

00:04:58. The red numbers burned into my eyes.The cathedral had turned into hell in 10 seconds. Screams. Chair falling .A baby crying somewhere in the back. The priest dropped the bible,clutching his chest like he was having a heart attack. And through it all, cameras. Dozens of them. Live-streaming the moment “the broken wife” chose between her husband and her lover. In all these, David didn't move an inch. His hand was still locked around mine. The whole building was surrounded by the FBI. And he was smiling at me. Like this was exactly what he wanted. “Get your hands off her,” an FBI agent yelled, shoving between us with a gun pointing at David.David raised his cuffed hands in surrender, but he didn’t let go of my fingers right away. He squeezed it twice. “5 minutes, Sarah. That's all you have to save him." A code. Our old code. " I’m here. I’m not leaving you.”The same squeeze he gave me on our first wedding day. I wanted to vomit. David leaned in with his lips a

SARAH'S POVThe TV kept looping it. *DAVID BLACKHAM ESCAPES FROM PRISON. CONSIDERED ARMED AND DANGEROUS.*Ethan was already shouting into his phone. “I want every exit sealed. Now.”My hands wouldn’t stop shaking, because 30 seconds ago my phone buzzed showing a photo. Ethan. Asleep in his own bed, bare chest, mouth open. And in the doorway behind him, a shadow of a man watching.“He was here,” I whispered. “Last night. While we were kissing downstairs.”Ethan threw his phone. “Call security!”But it was too late. The front door buzzer went off. Not the building. The penthouse door. The door bell rang. All of us froze. Ethan pulled a gun from his drawer, the two security guards drew theirs too.“Who is it?” Ethan yelled toward the door.A voice muffled through the wood sounding calm and familiar. “Delivery for Ms. Miller.”It wasn’t a delivery. Ethan motioned to the guard. The guard looked through the peephole. Then he shook his head. “No one there.”Ethan opened the door anyw

The photo wasn’t me. But it looked like me. Same coat. Same hair. Same slump on the courthouse steps. Except my eyes were closed. And there was blood on my shirt. “BREAKING: SARAH MILLER COLLAPSES OUTSIDE COURTHOUSE. RUSHED TO HOSPITAL. PREGNANCY COMPLICATIONS SUSPECTED.”The comments were already there. “See? She’s hiding it.”“Poor babies.” “David deserves to know.” I was sitting in Ethan’s car. Alive. Breathing. 4 hours from the hearing. And the whole internet thought I was in the ER losing twins. “Who took that?” Ethan said. His voice was low and Angered.“David,” I said. “Has to be. No one else benefits.”Ethan threw the phone in the backseat. “We’re going in early. We’re going to the judge’s chambers. Now.”“Will that help?” I asked. “It’ll help if we do it before they arrest you for faking a collapse,” Ethan said. I laughed like a sob. Then we drove. People were looking at their phones and then at me. Whispering. When we got to the courthouse, reporters were already

I stared at the text until the words stopped making sense. “48 hours, Sarah. Come to the hearing and admit it’s mine. Or I release the sonogram of the twins.”Twins. David was in prison. In cuffs. And he was still doing this. Ethan’s arms were still around me from five seconds. I pulled back. “I need air,” I said. “Sarah—” “I need air.” I walked to the window of his penthouse. 40 floors up, the night looked like a field of stars. None of them felt like mine. My phone buzzed again. Ms. Reyes. Then the board. Then a reporter. Then my dad’s old lawyer. I silenced all of it. Ethan came up behind me but didn’t touch me. “We’ll fight it,” he said. “The sonogram is fake. We can prove it.”“How?” I said. My voice sounded flat. Even to me. “He used my name. My insurance. A real hospital. Someone on the inside took his money and now I look like a liar who’s trying to hide her pregnancy.”“It’s not your fault,” Ethan said. “It is,” I said. “Because I married him. Because I was stupid

I didn’t sleep. I tried,but it wasn't forthcoming. I laid in Ethan’s guest bed for 4 hours staring at the ceiling. Counting the cracks. Counting my breaths. Counting all the ways David could still get to me. The note was still in my bag. “You think it’s over? It’s just starting.” -DAnd the photo. Me asleep in bed. while I was at the hospital with Nina. He was in my apartment. He knew where I slept. He knew when I was gone. At 3:17 AM I gave up. I walked out to Ethan’s living room. It was all glass and cold light. The city below looked peaceful. Like none of this was happening. Ethan was already there. On the couch, shirt off. Laptop open. He looked up when he heard me. “Couldn’t sleep?”“Obviously,” I said. I pulled his blanket around me and sat on the other end of the couch. Not too close. “You want tea? Water? To burn something down?” he asked. I almost smiled. “Water.”He got up and came back with two glasses. Handed me one. His fingers brushed mine. “You’re shaking,

*9:57*The countdown was burning into my eyes. Ethan was already running. He had my hand in his and we were flying down the hallway of Blackwood Tower. Behind us, his PR team was screaming into phones. "Get me the address!" Ethan barked at one of his guys. "Trace the livestream. Now!" I could barely breathe. Nina,tied up with a knife. And 10 minutes. "Where is she?" I said. My voice came out cracked. "We’ll find her," Ethan said. He shoved me into the elevator and hit B3. The parking garage. "We have to." The elevator doors closed. For three seconds it was just us and the red numbers counting down. *9:55*"Did you see her?" I asked. "Did she look hurt?" "No," Ethan said. But his jaw was tight. "Not yet." The doors opened and we ran. His car was already idling. Two guards jumped in the front. "Drive," Ethan said. The car screeched out. I had my phone in my hand. I refreshed the link David sent but nothing showed. Just blank. "He cut the stream," I said. "Good," Ethan sa