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
Emily’s POVA silence settled between us, thick and trembling. My eyes locked onto hers, searching for the lie.But there wasn’t one.Her tears slid silently down her cheeks. She didn’t wipe them away.“You’re right,” I said finally, my voice sharp, low. “You are unworthy of forgiveness.”Maya nodde
Charlotte’s POVThe morning sunlight streamed through the tall windows of the mansion, draping everything in that soft golden glow that always made mornings feel more majestic than they had any right to. I stood in the kitchen, my manicured fingers curled delicately around the handle of a porcelain
Charlotte’s POVThere was something so outrageous, so deliciously reckless, about escaping to the mountains with Jonathan. I had told Emily it was just a little hiking trip, a detox of sorts after the whirlwind of Celeste’s collapse and the constant static in the air at the Augustus mansion. But the
Her eyes lit up, and she rested her chin on her hand. “That sounds heavenly. I’m jealous. I haven’t been anywhere that didn’t require a laptop in over a year.”“Well,” I said, suddenly bold and then immediately stupid, “you could come with me.”She blinked. My stomach twisted into origami. “I mean—i







