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Night on the water
Last Updated:
2025-08-10 01:39:48
Latest chapter
A Love Forged In Ruins No turning back
Layla's POV The house felt wrong that evening.Too still.Too quiet.Like even the walls were holding their breath.I paced the length of the kitchen, my socked feet barely making a sound against the hardwood. The clock over the stove ticked louder than it had any right to. Every time I passed the counter, I caught sight of the half-empty coffee pot and thought about refilling my cup, but my hands were shaking just enough to make me worry I’d spill it.The board meeting earlier had left a sour taste in my mouth. Their polite words had been knives wrapped in silk—image, reputation, donors. Not once did anyone say “truth” or “justice.” They spoke about the accused teen like he was a stain they needed to scrub out quickly.The air shifted when Damian walked in. He didn’t say a word at first, just crossed to the coffee maker, poured himself a mug, and leaned against the counter across from me. His tie was loosened, his hair slightly mussed, but his eyes—those steady, unflinching eyes—wer
A Love Forged In Ruins The choice
Layla’s POVThe conference room felt colder than it should have. The AC hummed quietly, but the real chill came from the people around the table. Damian sat at the head, his expression set in stone, and across from me, the board members shifted in their seats, their eyes avoiding mine.This wasn’t a friendly meeting.“Let’s be blunt,” Howard, one of our longest-serving board members, said, tapping his pen against the table. “The media storm is getting worse. Our donors are nervous, parents are calling with questions, and if we don’t make a statement soon, The Amara Initiative could lose half its funding.”I clasped my hands together, forcing myself to keep my tone calm. “We can’t abandon him.”Howard’s jaw tightened. “It’s not about abandoning him, Layla. It’s about protecting the other kids. One boy’s future cannot outweigh the safety and reputation of the entire program.”Damian’s gaze flicked to me—steady, unreadable—but I could see the tension in his shoulders. He was letting them
A Love Forged In Ruins The weight of truth
Third person's POV The pen in Jaden’s hand hovered above his notebook, unmoving. The hum of voices around him in the community center classroom felt distant, muffled, like someone had pressed his head underwater. The other teens in the mentoring session were laughing, trading jokes with one of the volunteers, but he sat rigid in his chair, eyes fixed on the same blank page he’d been staring at for fifteen minutes.He wasn’t hearing any of it. Not the tapping of sneakers against the tile floor, not the soft strum of an acoustic guitar from the music room next door. All he could hear was the echo of that night. The shouting. The shove. The way the truth had twisted before it ever reached daylight.His stomach knotted. Everyone thought Malik—the tall, easygoing seventeen-year-old with the crooked smile—was guilty. The media had already carved him into a villain in their headlines. But Jaden knew better. Malik hadn’t started that fight. He’d been defending someone. Someone who didn’t wan
A Love Forged In Ruins The spark
Layla's POV The smell of fresh coffee filled my office, sunlight spilling through the wide windows of The Amara Initiative’s headquarters. I was halfway through answering emails when I heard laughter echoing from the main hall—one of our younger mentees chasing another in a game of tag before class.It felt normal. Safe.My phone buzzed on the desk. I didn’t think much of it until I saw the name flashing on the screen. Sienna, one of our senior mentors.When I picked up, her voice was already shaking. “Layla… have you seen it?”“Seen what?” I asked, frowning.She exhaled hard. “Go on social media. Just… check. Now.”Something in her tone made my stomach tighten. I opened the app she meant, scrolling through the trending topics.And there it was.A grainy video, less than thirty seconds long, already with thousands of comments. The caption read:Teen from ‘The Amara Initiative’ caught on camera assaulting man outside convenience store.My throat went dry as I hit play. The video was s
A Love Forged In Ruins Only you tonight
Layla's POV The city hum fades behind us, swallowed by the low, golden glow of the hotel suite. The world outside is a blur of headlights and distant horns, but in here, time feels slowed, heavy with something unspoken.My heels are still on. My pulse is already uneven.Damian stands so close I can feel the heat radiating off him. It’s not just his nearness—it’s the way his gaze moves over me, slow and deliberate, like he’s committing every inch to memory before he dares to touch.When his fingers reach the small of my back, I stop breathing. The faint whisper of metal sliding against fabric—my zipper—feels loud in the hush between us. Each slow pull sends a shiver down my spine.The satin loosens, falling away from my shoulders in a slow cascade, brushing against my skin on its way down. His breath catches—just slightly—but I hear it. His lips follow the path the fabric leaves behind, warm and patient, as though he’s tasting the silence between us.“You’ve been killing me all night,
A Love Forged In Ruins Night on the water
Layla's POV I was closing my laptop when I heard the front door open. The twins were already asleep upstairs — a small miracle after the chaos of the day — and I’d been looking forward to a quiet shower and bed. But when I turned, Damian was standing in the doorway, his hands in his pockets, that unreadable half-smile on his face.“Put on something nice,” he said.I blinked. “Nice? For what?”He shrugged, stepping inside, his gaze sweeping over me like he was checking if I’d argue. “Something special.”I folded my arms. “Damian, I’m tired. What is this about?”“You’ll see.” His smirk deepened. “I promise, you’ll like it.”I wanted to ask a dozen questions, to remind him we weren’t exactly in the middle of some fairy-tale phase. But there was something in his voice — not playful exactly, but intent — that made me pause.“What about the twins, we can't possibly leave them…” I wasn't done talking when he caught me off, but in a lovely way.“Don't worry about them, I already told Jaden t
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