LOGINEither the sender was toying with me, or this was something far uglier, and I was doing exactly what they wanted by standing around in the open. I walked toward the down escalator. Fast. Not looking back anymore. Not caring who saw me leave. I stepped onto the moving metal stairs. A figure rose
Sat down. Coil both hands around the cup even though the heat stung. Every sound felt too jarring: the espresso machine shrieking and hissing, a phone kept ringing somewhere nearby, over and over, with no one answering it. A child wailing somewhere on the first floor. Voices collided into a tangle
Alicia's POV The automatic doors whooshed open and I stepped through before I could talk myself out of it. Warmth rolled over me first, tangible as the floor beneath my feet. Then the layered smell, fresh espresso slicing through vanilla and the musty sweetness of old paper. The kind of smell that
"Nothing," I said. Lucy's smile widened a fraction. "Just navigating changes." Daniel watched us both for a long moment. Then his phone lit up. Just a flash of light on the table beside his plate. He glanced at it. Brief. Went back to his food. The conversation moved on. Vivienne asking about
Hearing it out loud, in this room, under Vivienne’s hawk-like stare, with Lucy watching knowingly across from me and Grandma Eleanor puzzling over us, the words felt heavier than I’d anticipated. Real in a way it hadn't been when it was just papers in Philip's office. "It's mutual." The words came
Edward's POV The estate driveway ran ahead, hedges trimmed to exact lines. I parked beside Lucy's black sedan. Three stories of stone and glass that had always felt too large, even full. I walked to the entrance. Marie opened the door before I reached it. "They're already at the table, Mr. Val







