Mag-log inAnastasia Greene Johnson That was the final straw. No. Absolutely not. My senses snapped back into place, and I practically swatted his hand away.“It’s me! Look—Anastasia!” I said, giving his cheek a light slap in the hope of knocking some sense into him. “The woman who broke your phone this afternoon! The one who nearly poisoned you with peanut butter yesterday!” Alexander blinked at me, his glassy eyes struggling to settle on my face. Then, to my complete bewilderment, he started laughing. And as if the night hadn’t already taken several ridiculous turns, he asked—“A-are you dead, too? Are we in. . . hell?”“What? No!” His brow furrowed, confusion swimming through whatever remained of his sober reasoning.“No. . .? Why not? I thought. . . I thought you were. . .” I shook my head vigorously. “I am very much alive. And so are you.” His expression faltered. His lips parted as though the words required considerable effort to process.“I’m. . . alive?” he repeated, almo
**WARNING****THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS DEPICTIONS OF SELF-HARM AND MAY BE UPSETTING TO SOME READERS, SO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK**Anastasia Greene Johnson The cab jolted violently before grinding to a halt somewhere in the Lower East Side. I frowned, looking out through the window. Of all the places to break down. I’d been on my way back to Brooklyn after spending the afternoon in Manhattan, visiting my mother’s and brother’s graves and leaving flowers there. I wished I could do the same for my father more often. His grave was in Canada, and years had passed since I’d last stood beside it. But with work, bills and Ruslan’s school fees constantly eating into my time and money, travelling to Canada simply wasn’t realistic. Right now, though, the dead weren’t my immediate concern. The cab was. The driver swore under his breath and climbed out to inspect the damage. A moment later, his head appeared through the open door.“Shit. Looks like we’ve got a puncture.”“Do you have a
**WARNING****THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS DEPICTIONS OF SELF-HARM AND MAY BE UPSETTING TO SOME READERS, SO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK**Alexander Finnegan Robertson The photographs glaring back at me were brutally clear. There I was, crouched beside Dubois’s barely conscious body, my hands near his bloodied head. The framing was perfect—perfectly misleading. Anyone looking at those images without context would see a monster rather than someone who had tried to keep a dying man alive. And Sarah’s caption delivered the final blow.“I’ve had these photographs saved for years. This happened at a party in Paris two years ago. I never had the courage to share them—until now. It’s time the world knew the truth about a man who has been so undeservingly adored. Some people simply don’t deserve the love they receive.” My stomach dropped. Why? Why the hell would she do this? Is this her revenge because I told her the truth? Sarah, you fucking crazy bitch. My thoughts spun faster and faster,
Alexander Finnegan Robertson[Six Months Ago] Paris was incandescent with Fashion Week. The grand finale belonged to René Moreau, one of the industry’s most celebrated designers, and his afterparty was the stuff of whispered legend—a gilded playground where models, actors and industry heavyweights disappeared behind closed doors. Invitations were coveted. Discretion was practically part of the dress code. For me, none of it was particularly new. As the newest face of prestigious luxury brands, I’d been circling this glittering world since I was young enough to mistake it for normal. Still, I kept my guard firmly in place. The last thing I needed was another reminder that, to half the industry, I was simply a nepo kid wearing a famous surname like an expensive watch. My gaze wandered across the room until it landed on someone familiar. Sarah Popkins. I’d noticed her at the beginning of Fashion Week—a young London model with something raw about her. She wasn’t polished yet
Alexander Finnegan Robertson Daisy? The thought surfaced like a ghost I’d spent years refusing to name. Anastasia had been hovering over me, her wide brown, searching eyes fixed on mine, and something about her had unsettled me. The way her hair had spilled across my face. The concern in her voice. The strange familiarity buried beneath it all. For one ridiculous second, I had been looking at someone else. Someone from another time. Fuck. Why does my mind keep doing this every time I see her up close? Why am I comparing her to someone she could never be? She scrambled away from me as though she’d suddenly remembered she was sitting beside a live wire. But it wasn’t her embarrassment that stayed with me. It was the urgency in her voice when she’d asked whether I was alright. Warm. Genuine. Almost painfully familiar. By the time she disappeared into the crowd, I had managed to pull myself together. Mostly. I looked down at the wreckage of my phone and sighed. Perha
Anastasia Greene Johnson“And then he actually dropped to one knee and proposed!” Brynn practically sparkled with excitement as we sat in Nick’s car on the way to the restaurant. Nick, apparently incapable of letting her have the spotlight for more than thirty seconds, chimed in with an exaggeratedly shrill imitation.“Aren’t you going to tell her about how you nearly gave me a heart attack with, ‘Oh, my gosh! This is not happening!’?” I laughed.“I was caught off guard,” Brynn protested, pulling a playful face.“You certainly caught me off guard,” Nick replied. “For a second, I thought you were about to run.”“Why on earth would I run? I love you, Nick.”“Well, now I’m convinced,” he nodded solemnly. “Better late than never, I suppose.” Brynn swatted his arm. “You mean you actually doubted me? I hate you!”“Bit late for that now.” Grinning, Nick lifted her hand and kissed the finger bearing her engagement ring.“You’re stuck with me, baby.”“Right, that’s quite enough of th







