LOGINMom claps. “See? Good sense.”Dad groans, drops into a chair, and rubs his forehead. “Fine. Sparklers. But I get to choose the color.”“Deal,” I say, leaning over to kiss his temple. He pretends not to smile but I see it anyway.I never thought I would have this again—a father who tries, really trie
Maya’s POVFrance changed me. I did not expect it to. I thought all I wanted was revenge, a reckoning, a balancing of the scales that would make everything feel right again. But standing at the kitchen window of our townhouse with the late-morning sun warming the old stone, watching Oscar toddle aft
After a few minutes, Emma sits beside me, nudging my shoulder. “How are you really,” she asks, her voice softening.I smile. “Good. Really good. For the first time, everything feels... quiet.”“You deserve quiet.”I nod, my eyes warming. “He is different now. Softer. Present. You should see him read
Emily’s POVSix Months LaterI wake before the alarm, before the morning light even filters through the curtains, to a soft flutter beneath my ribs. A tiny kick, gentle but unmistakably there. I smile into the pillow, pressing my palm over the swell of my stomach. The baby is awake, stretching, gree
Damian’s POVI do not think I exhaled until the plane door shut behind us.No reporters.No blinking notifications.No family emergencies.No corporate disasters waiting like open jaws behind every email.Just Emily beside me, fingers loosely threaded with mine, her head resting on my shoulder as if
Emily’s POVThe morning light over the farm looks unreal, soft as milk, drifting across the grass in wide strokes that make everything glow. It is the kind of light you only see on days you remember forever. A gentle breeze carries the smell of lilac and fresh earth, the decorations swaying slightly
Madelin’s POVI could feel the house breathing. That was how it always felt when my mind started to spiral — as if the walls themselves inhaled and exhaled, the creaks and groans of the old farmhouse becoming the rhythm of something alive and watchful. I sat at the edge of the bed in the guest room,
Emily’s POVThe apartment was too quiet. The kind of quiet that presses against your chest until you can’t tell if the sound you hear is your own heartbeat or the panic clawing its way up your throat.I woke up shivering on the couch, the blanket twisted around my legs, the lamp still glowing dimly
Damian’s POVJonathan’s house looked like a hurricane had torn through it. The big stone mansion, once the quiet picture of old-money order, was now a battlefield of chaos — papers everywhere, open drawers, half-empty cups of coffee, and the faint, bitter scent of burned incense from the fireplace
Emily’s POVI barely slept. The sheets tangled around me felt like restraints, and the dim morning light did nothing to ease the unease coiling in my chest. The clock on the nightstand read a little after seven. I’d been staring at it since five.Damian still wasn’t home. No calls. No messages. Not







