ログイン~ LENA ~ “What do you mean?” The question slipped out of me immediately in a voice edged with confusion.Julian realized I’d heard him. He blinked, as though he was pulling himself back from wherever his thoughts had gone, then let out a sigh.“Ashley…” he began, his tone slower now, careful. “She used to have this condition when she was younger. Something with her heart. It caused irregular—”He stopped mid-sentence, his gaze shifting past me. I turned to look, and I saw Nathan walking towards us from the doctor’s office.Everything in me stilled. I held my breath, searching his face, but it gave nothing away. He looked calm, like he had forced everything back into place before stepping out here.“Nathan—” I took a step toward him.As he reached us, he took the hand I held out and held it warmly. His eyes moved quickly over my face, then shifted to Julian, acknowledging him silently before moving back to me again.“She’s stable now,”
~ LENA ~Hospitals always made me nervous. It wasn’t just the clean, antiseptic smell that lingered in the air. Or the quiet tension that seemed to live in the walls. It was what they represented—memories. Too many of them.Too many nights spent sitting in stiff hospital chairs, waiting… worrying… my body aching—too tired to stay awake, but too afraid to go to sleep. Nights of clutching my hands together in my lap, whispering prayers over and over again because I didn’t know what else to do. Too many moments of holding my breath each time a doctor walked in, waiting for news I was never ready to hear.Sofia.Everything always led back to her.Growing up, hospitals had been like a second home I never wanted. In and out. Tests. Treatments. Long nights that blurred into mornings. Days that never really felt like days—just time stretching endlessly between one update and the next. Living with the constant fear that something could go wrong at any moment. Those fears were over now. At
~ LENA ~Nathan set me down quickly.As my feet touched the floor, my heart was still racing, my body still caught in the moment we had just left behind. The feel of his hands, his lips, the warmth of him still clinging to my skin.But Deborah’s voice—the way it had sounded—sent a chill through me as I wondered what could be wrong. “Ashley!”By the time the scream came again, Nathan was already moving, already rushing to the door.I hurried after him, my heart beating so fast, my thoughts scattered as we rushed down the hallway toward the guest wing.I couldn’t even begin to guess what the problem was, but a heavy and ominous feeling had already begun to settle deep in my chest. And I just kept praying—silently, desperately—that it shouldn’t be anything terrible.Deborah’s voice didn’t stop. It guided us to where she was. It was loud, panicked, desperate—the kind of sound you only made when something was truly wrong.It was clear that Ashley was in trouble. I just didn’t know what so
~ LENA ~The ride back home was strangely quiet, but it wasn’t because we were both silent.Nathan spoke from time to time beside me, his voice calm and attentive. Every now and then, he said something light—small, easy things meant to draw me out of my thoughts.He had noticed it. The way I had gone distant. The way my mind wasn’t really there with him.A few times, his hand closed around mine, warm and steady, his thumb brushing against my skin as if trying to pull me back.But I couldn’t help it. I was lost in my own thoughts.My mind was still back there. Back in front of that beautiful house, with the sound of the ocean rolling softly behind it. Back in the moment when Nathan had placed the key in my hand, as if giving someone a beach house in the Hamptons was the most natural thing in the world.Even now, my fingers kept brushing against my purse, where the key rested inside, just to convince myself it had actually happened.Earlier, it had been the necklace. A Harry Winston pie
~ LENA ~I stood in front of the mirror, studying my reflection for what felt like the tenth time.Late afternoon sunlight spilled into the bedroom. Outside the tall windows, the sky had begun its slow shift toward evening. The room was quiet, and for a moment I stared at myself.The dress Nathan had helped me choose earlier lay smoothly against my skin, the white silk flowing down my body in soft, elegant lines. It was simple in a way that somehow made it look even more beautiful. The fabric skimmed over my hips and fell all the way to my ankles, catching the light every time I moved.The straps were what had first caught my attention when I saw it. They weren’t made of fabric. They were tiny pearls. Two delicate strands of pearls resting lightly on my shoulders, glimmering faintly each time the light touched them. Against the warm tone of my skin, the pale silk and pearls stood out sharply. The contrast was very flattering.I turned slightly to the side, studying the way the dress f
~ ASHLEY ~From the moment Nathan first mentioned her name to me, I hated Kimberly Hayes.Seeing her standing in his room that day in that wedding dress only made the hatred burn deeper. And I hated her even more now, watching her stroll through the garden with his ring on her finger like she owned the place.Standing by my bedroom window in the guest wing with my fingers resting against the cold glass, I watched her walk around like a woman who had already won. She held a cup of coffee, strolling along the stone path leisurely. The morning sun caught in her hair as she paused near the rose bushes, breathing in the air and looking completely at ease.My jaw tightened. A bitter taste settled in my mouth. I had returned from Boston only days ago. The semester had just ended, and I had been looking forward to coming home more than usual this time. Being away at school for months had been exhausting, and the thought of spending the summer here again—of seeing Nathan every day—was the o







