LOGIN[Griffin]After I drop Elara back at the hospital, I walk her all the way to Cora’s room.I’m pretending to be normal, but I feel anything but that.Today, Elara expressed her desire to know more about me. My past. My childhood. My everything. And even though it shouldn’t feel that way—like a weight heavier than the earth itself—it still does. I feel like I was on the verge of being too exposed. Because if I hadn’t diverted the conversation and she hadn’t gone along with it, I would have told her everything, and that would have been like walking through damn fire.It would have hurt. Singed.Not because my past is the kind of wound that aches when mentioned, but because I don’t know how she would take it all in.Elara is kind and soft, and everything that’s good in the world. So, no doubt, she would pity me, feel bad for me, feel like she owes me something.And I don’t want t
I chuckle when he asks me if I’m jealous.I’m so NOT jealous.And why should I be? Of what?The fact that he has been with other women? Or that he might have slept with many more women before me?The idea never came to me before. But now that it has, it kind of sticks.Something tightens in my chest.I try to ignore it. It’s probably nothing.“I don’t think I have the right to judge your past relationships,” I say, trying to be honest and mean every word. “Mine is a mess, and you’re still here.”He is, isn’t he?So maybe it doesn’t matter. The past is in the past, and what matters is this very moment in the present and the future that still needs to be planned and built.He leans back, cocking his head, and looks at me as if considering my words, processing them. “Are you saying that if someday a woman walks into our life and claims to be my l
When we step out of the back exit of the hospital, very few people can be seen lingering about.The sky has turned dark, and the lampposts cast long shadows on the ground.In the moment, I’m very much aware of the man walking beside me. We haven’t spoken a word since we left Cora’s room, but the silence is comfortable. Easy. The cool evening air feels like a balm against my heated skin, and I can feel the tension slowly draining out of my shoulders.It’s only when, instead of entering the garden that I thought we were heading to, he leads us to the parking lot that I speak. “Where are we going?”“Somewhere I can take care of you.”I raise a brow, struggling to see the grin on his face that I know is there.He raises his hands as if to say, ‘Not like that’.
A fresh wave of tears fills Cora’s eyes as she reaches out for me, her little fingers closing around mine in a grip that’s both weak and desperate. I can feel the tremor in her hands—the faint, frantic flutter of her pulse against my skin.My heart aches with a deep, throbbing pain that’s almost physical. She worries about Vera. Of course she does. My brave, selfless little girl, who is fighting for her own life, is more concerned about the feelings of the sister who has barely spoken a word to anyone since she was rescued.“No, honey, of course not,” I say, my voice a low, soothing murmur as I gently wipe away her tears with my thumb. “Vera was worried, yes. But she doesn’t hate you. She could never hate you. She loves you very, very much.”“Are you sure?” Cora presses, her lower lip trembling. “I don’t want her to hate me. I don&rsqu
Suddenly, he lurches toward me. The flowers and gifts are abandoned, falling to the floor. Arms flying. Anger bursting through his eyes and spewing from his mouth.He swings wildly, trying to land a blow on my face, but his movement is sloppy and fueled by blind rage. I easily step inside his guard, grabbing his wrist with one hand and slamming him back against the wall with the other.He gasps, the air knocked out of his lungs, but I don’t let him go. I pin him there, my forearm pressed against his throat, just enough to make breathing a conscious effort.“Look at me,” I command, my voice low and dangerous. “Do you think I’m afraid of you? Do you think a temper tantrum from a washed-up heir impresses me?”He struggles against my hold, but it’s useless. He’s a child throwing a fit, and I’m the adult who’s had enough.
[Griffin]I don’t know what to do.Nothing has ever made me so damn torn before.I feel like I’m back in the woods, small and terrified, cowering behind my mom because everything around us scares me to my very soul. No matter where I look, there are eyes, real or just my imagination; it hardly matters. From the crunch of the dry leaves and twigs to the hoot of the owl, everything feels like they are out to get me. Eat me. Digest me.There’s no way out. Nowhere to run. Only impending doom waiting for us to gobble us down.I’m not irrational enough to think that something like that would happen again. And even if it did, I’m prepared now. I’m grown. I can kill whatever tries to kill me if not with my hands, then with my brain.It’s not fear—not completely—but the lack of choice that’s
[Damon]Sometimes I wonder how my life would have been if Hannah hadn’t run away on the day of our wedding. If she were my wife. If this morning were just like any other day—instead of me feeling guilty as hell for sleeping with her.I don’t know how to describe this feeling in my chest. It’s as he
[Elara]When I walk inside Cora’s ward, I find her already waking up.She looks confused at first, her gaze darting around the room—until her eyes land on me. Then, relief floods her tiny face.“Mommy,” she whispers, her voice so small and fragile it shatters me completely.“Hey, sweetheart.” I rush
[Elara]“Come on, I’ll show you to your room,” says Nora, already dragging me away from the couch and heading for the grand staircase. “You too, Cora.” She picks her up on the way, squeezing her cheeks. “I have personally designed your room. It took a while, but I think it turned out great.”“Reall
[Elara]The drive to the mansion isn’t a long one.Barely ten minutes have passed when the cars start circling the roundabout and pulling up in the grand driveway.“Mommy, this place is so huuuuuge,” Cora gasps, her hands pressed against the window, her face glued to the glass. Then, as if struck b







