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Chapter 7: Done Waiting

Author: Fanny S
last update Last Updated: 2025-09-25 18:33:32

Alicia's POV

The room felt impossibly large in the quiet of the morning. Light filtered through drizzle-smeared glass, the rain now behind it. The city beyond looked washed clean, but it didn't reach me. Inside, the room smelled of antiseptic, stale coffee, and exhaustion.

They'd been up once before, yet still sat, curled close together, faces slack with sleep. Their hands stayed entwined, my father's arm around my mother's shoulders. The thin jacket I'd given her and the scratchy hospital blanket I'd tucked around my father kept them warm.

I crouched beside them, adjusting the blanket. My mother's hand was cold. She stirred but didn't wake. My father's breathing was shallow and tired. They had waited through the night while I paced, while my mind went wild with Elena's words.

Edward was at the Avalon with Lucy. They weren't just talking. How he stared at her.

I ran my hands over my face. My hair clung cold to my neck, eyes red and raw. I hadn't slept. I couldn't shake the thought—Edw
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    Edward's POVThe door clicked shut behind me. I leaned against it, chest tight, fingers digging into the bridge of my nose. The frame wound cold into my spine. It was the only thing holding me together.I had just been beside her. Watched the blood drain from her face. Watched her hand pull away from mine, small, final. She had drawn a line between us, and I had stood there. Frozen.I took a shallow breath. My knees locked to keep from buckling. Muscle memory. Instinct. The same precision I relied on in boardrooms when deals went sideways.But this wasn’t a deal.This was failure.Complete, unmitigated failure.I pressed my forehead against the window. Outside, the city moved on. Cars streamed past the hospital entrance. Traffic lights cycled through their patterns. People walked bundled against the cold, absorbed in their own small emergencies. The world didn’t stop. It never did.Inside this corridor, silence bore down like a physical weight.Her image came back in fragments. The di

  • Beneath His Cold Vows   50: Gone

    Darkness felt thick.Heavy in a way that wasn’t sleep. Heavy like sinking, like something pressing me down while sounds brushed the edges of my hearing.A soft beep.A soft hiss.Footsteps.A curtain shifting.Someone said my name, or maybe I imagined it. The sound drifted too far away.A warm touch slid across the back of my hand. A thumb. Hesitant. Leaving, coming back.“Alicia.”Edward.Even half-conscious, I could hear the strain in his voice.I drifted in and out. Light dimming, brightening, dimming. A nurse murmuring something about vitals. A chair scraping. Someone’s breath shaking.That warmth returned to my hand, careful, as if he feared he would hurt me.I followed it through the fog.My lashes fluttered.Light stabbed in.The ceiling.The dim panel light.Muted walls.A deep ache curled low in my abdomen. My mouth tasted metallic. My limbs felt pinned to the mattress.A breath, unsteady, exhaled near my pillow.I turned my head.Edward sat beside me.Hair disheveled. Shirt

  • Beneath His Cold Vows   49: Shattered Balance

    Alicia's POV My foot didn’t land where I thought it would.The floor swayed. Or maybe I did.I was going down now.But before I hit it, A hand closed around my arm.Firm. Warm. Anchored.A man’s voice, deep, close, said something I couldn’t understand. The words were just shapes. Muffled. Like he was speaking through water.I tried to lift my head.Couldn’t.All I saw was black fabric. A suit. Someone tall. His grip tightened as my weight sagged.Another voice rose, farther away, sharper.Was that Edward?I blinked hard, trying to focus. The room pulsed in and out of light. My stomach twisted. Something warm slid down my thigh.The man holding me shifted, supporting more of my weight.He said my name.Or I thought he did.“Alic—”Everything rocked again.People gasped. Someone shouted for help. Footsteps hammered toward us. Fingers touched my face, checking something. My ears rang like a scream held inside my skull.My body curled inward without my permission. My arm pressed against

  • Beneath His Cold Vows   48: Too Late

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  • Beneath His Cold Vows   46: Eyes That Don't Blink

    Edward’s POV The applause faded unevenly, tapering off as if the room couldn’t decide whether to stop. Lucy dipped her head one last time while Carrington brushed a practiced kiss near her cheek. Vivienne pulled her close, wearing the sort of smile she saved for cameras. Flashes burst across the stage. I didn’t bother looking at anyone else. My attention stayed on Alicia. She hadn’t shifted at all. No blink. No hint of a smile. Her hands lay relaxed in her lap, posture held with practiced ease. Her expression revealed nothing: irritation, weariness, interest—gone. Something in it didn’t land right. A server passed with a champagne. I took a glass purely for show. “We’ll leave once this wraps,” I murmured near her ear. She didn’t even turn her head. The space between us thinned, sharp as glass. Around us, chairs scraped, people stood, and conversations picked up in small bursts. Perfume drifted with the movement. Lucy’s laugh rang over the crowd, bold and very Lucy. Alicia rose

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