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
Charlotte’s POVI come back to consciousness the way a drowning person breaks the surface—desperate, disoriented, and furious that the world hasn’t stopped spinning while I was gone. My eyelids feel glued shut, and when I manage to pry them open, the world lurches sideways. Everything is tilted, swi
Charlotte’s POVI lie on the floor for three breaths after the guard rotation shifts. Three breaths to steady the dizziness still gripping my skull from whatever they pumped into me. Three breaths to gather myself before I move. Three breaths to remember that I am not going to die here. I am not goi
Jonathan’s POVThe moment Schwartz’s scan pings Lucy’s device on my screen, my pulse jumps hard enough to bruise my ribs. I lean over the laptop like it’s a confession booth, watching the little red dot blink in the exact same hotel where we are staying. Of course. Of course she’d be close. People l
Emily’s POVI keep telling myself that tonight is supposed to be joyful. I keep arranging plates and adjusting garnishes as if beauty alone can scrub dread out of the air. My parents sit at the corner table near the open kitchen, laughing about something my father read online, and I smile at them as







