ログインThe rain had stopped sometime before dawn.By morning, the city looked washed clean through the tall windows of Derek’s Airbnb, rooftops still damp beneath pale sunlight while droplets clung stubbornly to the glass. The storm had left behind a quietness that made everything feel slower, serene.Anne woke up tangled in unfamiliar warmth, for a few seconds she didn’t remember where she was until the scent of Derek’s cologne reached her faintly from the blanket he had placed over her during the night, and memories returned all at once.The power outage that left both of them in an unexpected gloom, Derek moving around the apartment with his phone flashlight trying to make her comfortable.She blinked at the ceiling slowly. Her body still carried traces of last night’s cold. Anne turned her head toward the other side of the living room, the couch where Derek had fallen asleep was empty.A soft clinking sound drifted from the kitchen area.She pushed herself upright carefully and immediat
“How did it go?”The question came from Jasmine the second Anne entered the back seat of Kelsey’s car. The door had barely shut before all three girls turned toward her with restless curiosity written across their faces.Anne leaned her head against the seat and released a long breath. The restaurant lights still lingered in her eyes, along with the image of her father sitting across from her looking painfully ordinary… Not miserable.And somehow that disturbed her more.Kelsey pulled the car out of the parking lot carefully, one hand resting on the steering wheel while the other pushed her red hair away from her face. “Did he say something stupid? Because if he did, I can still reverse this car and commit a felony.”Yvette snorted softly from the passenger seat. “That is not how emotional support works.”Anne smiled faintly, the girls relaxed after seeing the expression on her face soften.“I said everything that needed to be said,” Anne finally answered quietly. “At least I didn’t k
The hospital corridor still smelled faintly of disinfectant and late night panic when they finally wheeled Anne out.Derek held the wheelchair handles carefully, moving at a steady pace as though any sudden motion might break her further. Anne sat wrapped in a light hospital blanket, her body still weak but no longer burning with fever. Her hair had been tied back loosely by Jasmine, though strands still fell across her face in uneven pieces.Jasmine walked on her right side, clutching Anne’s bag. Kelsey stayed close on the left, occasionally leaning in to check her breathing out of habit. Yvette followed behind them, quieter than usual, eyes still heavy with guilt.Orson walked a few steps back, hands in his hoodie pockets, not inserting himself into the cluster but not leaving either.They moved toward the exit slowly, and there he was. John Moore sat near the waiting area, posture rigid as though he had been there the entire time without moving. The moment his eyes landed on her, h
“Anne?” Jasmine’s fingers paused over her phone screen.At first she thought the sound came from outside the room. A weak murmur, barely audible beneath the hum of the ceiling fan and distant chatter from the hostel hallway. But then she heard it again, shaky and strained.“Anne?” Jasmine immediately sat upright on her bed.The room was dark except for the pale light from her phone illuminating half her face. Anne lay tangled beneath her blanket, her breathing uneven, her body shifting restlessly against the mattress.Jasmine frowned and climbed down quickly. “Anne, wake up.”The second her hand touched Anne’s forehead, panic exploded inside her chest.“Jesus Christ.”Anne’s skin burned beneath her palm, scorching.Jasmine dropped her phone onto the bed and switched on the lamp beside Anne immediately. The sudden light revealed Anne’s face flushed deeply red, strands of damp hair sticking against her skin while faint tremors ran through her body.“Anne,” Jasmine called again, louder t
The cheque remained untouched for days. It stayed on Anne’s bedside table beneath the folded letter, both of them resting there like a quiet disturbance no one in the room wanted to acknowledge too loudly. Jasmine had dusted around it twice already without moving it an inch. Even she seemed to understand that touching those papers felt too personal, too invasive, as though shifting them carelessly might send Anne into another spiral.Anne had refused to cash it immediately.“No amount of money changes what he did,” she had said the first night after receiving it, her voice dry from crying. “If he wanted to be my father, he should have been one twenty years ago.”No one argued with her.Teri had returned to the gallery two days later and one look at Anne’s face had been enough to make him stop asking questions. She had requested a leave with calm politeness, and he approved it without hesitation, even insisting she take more time if needed.Now her days blurred together inside the host
Anne’s fingers trembled around the envelope as Kelsey and Jasmine guided her toward the chair behind the front desk of the gallery. The room suddenly felt too stuffy, the air too heavy for her lungs. Her heartbeat pounded against her ribs so violently she could hear it in her ears.John Moore…The name would not stop echoing in her head.She stared at the cream colored envelope in her hand like it carried poison.The girls remained quiet around her, watching carefully without forcing questions out of her. Even Kelsey, who usually spoke before thinking, stayed still for once in her life.Yvette quickly grabbed a bottle of water from the mini fridge beside the counter and crouched in front of Anne.“Drink some water first,” Yvette said softly.Anne blinked at her before taking the bottle with shaky hands. Her throat burned painfully after crying, but even swallowing felt difficult.“He remembered me,” Anne whispered after a long silence.Her voice sounded hollow even to herself. “He act
By 12:46 Cassius was already parked outside the school building waiting for Annelise, cars were trooping in and out as some students came out of the building.Cassius checked his wrist watch for the time, five minutes had passed since he arrived, he sighed and rested his back on the chair as his ey
CASSIUS VALE POVAfter about four rounds of sex, we lay on the bed panting for breath, I turned to Annelise and she was staring at the chandelier dropping down the ceiling, smiling with satisfaction.“That was amazing…” she said and turned, staring into my eyes with so much… Need? Then she pecked m
CASSIUS VALES POVOne week later…I stood by the kitchen counter, watching Annelise who was standing at the balcony, with the glass partition closed separating me from her. She looked hollow, lost… Confused, she’
ANNELISE POVMy eyes slowly tore open from perceiving a soothing familiar scent, my first sight after waking up was a blurry view of the ceiling then a masculine silhouette at the periphery of my eyes, my heart skipped as I quickly turned in shock, and there







