Mag-log inMom 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 POVI sat frozen long after Jonathan left, the front door closing behind him like the lid on a coffin. His words echoed in my mind—Lucy is in Thailand with Albert.Lucy. My ex-mother-in-law. The woman who had glared at me from across dinner tables, who whispered to her friends that I was ben
Jonathan’s POVThe city had gone dark, the skyline lit only by the red pulse of stoplights and the ghostly shimmer of wet pavement. My tires hissed over the asphalt as I drove, one hand gripping the wheel, the other clutching my phone. The call had ended minutes ago, but my heart was still racing.C
Charlotte’s POVThe first thing I heard was the soft hiss of the IV drip and the rhythmic hum of the air conditioner above me. My eyes fluttered open slowly, the harsh white light of the hospital room blurring into focus. For a moment, I forgot where I was — then the weight of it hit me. The hospita
Jonathan’s POVThe laughter between Delilah and me drifted above the noise of the bar, light and warm, the sound of two people who had somehow stumbled into something easy. It had been a long time since I’d felt that kind of ease—genuine, unguarded. We sat at a small corner table of the little taver







