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Chapter 28
publish date:
2026-09-24 09:42:57
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Avery Cole Epilogue
EPILOGUEEVERY DAY AFTERWHITNEY“Whitney, if you cry again, I swear to God I’m starting your makeup over.”“I’m not crying.”Aurora stared at me through the mirror.A tear rolled down my cheek.She pointed.“What is that?”“An allergy.”From the sofa behind us, Enzo snorted.I twisted around.“Why are you in here?”He looked offended.“Security.”“You are sitting on a pink sofa eating strawberries.”“Security requires calories.”Aurora spun toward him.“Those are mine!”Enzo looked down at the bowl.“Were.”“Get out!”She threw a makeup sponge at him.Enzo caught it.“Violence on a wedding day.”“OUT!”He stood.“Fine.”He grabbed three more strawberries.Aurora gasped.“You asshole!”The door closed behind him.I started laughing.Which made me cry harder.Aurora looked at the ceiling.“I hate this family.”“No, you don’t.”“No.”Her expression softened as she looked at me in the mirror.“I really don’t.”Neither did I.That still surprised me sometimes.Family had once meant fear.
Avery Cole Chapter 30
CHAPTER THIRTYONE YEARAVERYThree hundred sixty-five.I stared at the number on my phone.Then stared at it again.It didn’t look impressive.Three digits.That was all.No fireworks.No fucking choir.No voice from the sky announcing that Avery Cole had somehow managed to go an entire year without putting cocaine into his body.Just—365 DAYSI sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed both hands over my face.One year.One year ago, I couldn’t imagine thirty days.At seven days, I wanted to leave treatment.At thirteen, I told Bennett he was a manipulative bastard and threatened to fire him.He reminded me he didn’t work for me.At twenty-two, I spent half the night walking because the craving wouldn’t stop.At thirty-eight, Whitney was kidnapped.At thirty-nine, I went back.At seventy-six, I came home.At ninety-seven, Whitney and I finally slept together again.At one hundred fourteen, I nearly relapsed.Nobody knew about that one except Whitney, Enzo and Bennett.I had been at a b
Avery Cole Chapter 29
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE COMING HOME WHITNEY Day seventy-six. I knew because Avery sent me the number every morning. Nothing else. Sometimes it arrived at six. Sometimes seven. Once, after what he later admitted had been a particularly bad night, it didn’t arrive until almost ten. That one had scared me. 76. I stared at the message while standing barefoot in Avery’s kitchen. Then smiled. Nearly eleven weeks. It wasn’t forever. It wasn’t a guarantee. Dr. Bennett had made that painfully clear during one of the family sessions Avery had invited me to attend. Recovery didn’t have a finish line. Treatment did. Addiction didn’t. That distinction mattered. Today, Avery was coming home. I set my phone on the counter. “You’re doing it again.” I looked over my shoulder. Aurora sat at the kitchen island eating strawberries. “Doing what?” “Staring at the driveway.” “I wasn’t.” “You’ve checked the window six times.” “Three.” “Seven.” I narr
Avery Cole Chapter 28
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT THE ORIGINAL LEDGER WHITNEY Avery had been gone for forty-seven minutes when Clara said, “We should open it.” I looked up from my phone. The last message Avery had sent me was still on the screen. Boarding. One word. Nothing romantic. Nothing dramatic. But I had stared at it for nearly five minutes. Because he had actually done it. He had left. Not me. Not us. The crisis. He had walked away from Hawthorne, from Elias Vale, from the original ledger, from every instinct telling him he needed to control what happened next. And he had gotten on the plane. Back to treatment. Back to Dr. Bennett. Back to day thirty-nine. I locked my phone. “Open what?” Clara reached beneath her coat. When her hand emerged, the silver key rested against her palm. Chase Aspen’s key. My stomach tightened. Dwayne straightened. “You have it here?” “I told Avery I did.” “I assumed you meant somewhere safe.” Clara looked at him. “I
Avery Cole Chapter 27
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVENEIGHT YEARS AGOWHITNEYHospitals had a particular kind of silence.Not real silence.Machines beeped.Shoes squeaked against polished floors.Phones rang behind nurses’ stations.Doors opened and closed.Families whispered.Somebody cried behind a curtain three rooms away.But beneath all of it was another kind of quiet.The kind created by waiting.Waiting for someone to wake up.Waiting for a doctor to come through a door.Waiting to find out whether the person you loved was going to live.I hated it.I sat in a plastic chair with Avery beside me and stared at the double doors leading toward surgery.Daniel had been inside for three hours.The bullet had entered below his shoulder, damaged a lung, and caused enough internal bleeding that the surgeon had used the phrase critical but potentially survivable.Potentially.I hated that word too.Avery’s knee touched mine.He hadn’t moved away.Neither had I.His hand rested between us, palm up.I had been holding it
Avery Cole chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX THE FIRST CHILD WHITNEY Daniel Cross began screaming. Not yelling. Not calling for help. Screaming. The sound ripped through Hawthorne so violently that every hair on my arms stood up. Avery spun toward the exit. “Enzo!” Gunfire answered him. Three shots. Then silence. My stomach dropped. “Avery—” “Behind me.” He raised his weapon and moved toward the corridor. I followed. For once, I didn’t argue. Because the voice we had heard from somewhere deeper inside the building had said Clara’s name. Not mine. Not Daniel’s. Clara. And there were only so many people who should have known she mattered. Three knocks came again. Slow. Deliberate. Avery stopped. The hallway stretched ahead of us, swallowed by darkness beyond the weak emergency lights. “Who’s there?” Avery called. Nothing. Then— “Clara?” That voice. Weak. Male. Older. Avery glanced at me. I shook my head. I didn’t recognize it. “Come out,” Avery ordered. A broken laugh drif
Avery Cole chapter 17
Chapter 17 “This is my Fiancée, Whitney Martago,”Nikolai introduced me and I smiled and shook the two short Men's hands.“Nice to meet you both,”They eyed me and looked over at Nikolai. “это не тот рыжий, о котором ты нам говорил.”[ this isn't the redhead you told us about]“Я достану ее, не волнуйся,
Avery Cole Chapter 3
“What’s the meaning of this? Do you know who the hell I am?” Sierra exclaimed, grabbing her purse when the man with the dark brown man-bun grabs her wrist. “It’s protocol to check everyone,” He said, his foreign accent strong. He released her hand, Sierra murmured a few curse words and how she was
Avery Cole Chapter 2
Dwayne refunded Sierra’s money for the tickets he doesn’t want me on a plane full of people but I know the truth he’s afraid I’ll flirt with a man and stir up rumors again that he’ll have to silence like he’s done many times before. So he’s letting us use the jet and I must say I prefer it because t
Avery Cole Chapter 1
I obeyed the rules, Never stepping out of line, I knew my place. I was a good girl, until he ripped my heart from my chest and stomped on it and never looked back.I haven’t been the same since.My father makes sure he pervades me around to potential suitors, someone that will benefit his business.
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