LOGINThe engines went quiet at six. The hull met the pier. The crew moved above us. River light came through the porthole, grey and silver, crossing the ceiling in slow panels. She was on her side facing me. Her hair across the pillow. Her mouth softly parted in the way that belonged only to sleep. I
Edward’s POV The hull rose and settled with the slow pull of the river. I lay in the dark with my jacket on the floor and my shoes beside it and listened to the boat. The timber. The joins. The engine below running its low faithful count. The porthole showed clouds. The moon behind it traced the
"I fell off a bicycle when I was seven," I said. "Broke my arm. The left one." "You're afraid of the dark," he said. "You sleep with the curtain open so the street light comes in. You never told me directly but I worked it out in the third month." I set down my wine. "You remember that." "I remem
Alicia's POV The dress arrived at four. I found the box on Elena's table. Black paper, no ribbon, his handwriting stark on the card: The water. Inside, folded in tissue, was the black silk from the wardrobe at the estate. The one I had left hanging there. I showered. I pinned my hair up. At seve
Edward's POV The grey light filled the room. Alicia's leg lay across mine, heavy with sleep. Her hair spread on my shoulder, across the pillow. Her palm rested on my chest, rising and falling with my breath. The arm beneath her had gone numb hours ago. I flexed my fingers until the pins and needl
Alicia's POV He was on the floor. I looked at him until the silence found its shape. He looked back. The full version of him. Just Edward on the floor, his eyes on mine, waiting without arranging what he was waiting for. "We never chose each other," he said. "Let me choose you." "Then start,"
Edward's POV The hallway was a tunnel of expensive silence. I stopped ten feet from Philip’s door, my lungs refusing to take in a full breath. I reached for my tie, my fingers clumsy and trembling. I tightened the knot until I could feel the pulse thumping against my windpipe. I checked my cuf
I watched Edward's hand rest against the edge of the table. His knuckles pressed down. His presentation folder sat open in front of him. The one with the Singapore projections. He'd come in prepared. Confident. Ready to walk this board through a plan he'd built piece by piece. And now he was standi
Edward's POV The silence was unbearable. Edmund's pen hovered. David Park stared at the table. Priya's arms crossed. Vincent looked at his hands. Everyone waited. Alicia's hand stayed flat on the table. Fingers spread. Unmoving. I watched her face. Nothing. No tells. No hints. Just that same
The silence extended. Longer. No one defended her. No one spoke. Mitchell leaned back in his chair, someone who'd heard enough. Catherine's attention had already moved elsewhere. Edmund wouldn't even look in Margaret's direction. It was over. Whatever Margaret had tried to claim, whatever po







