LOGIN"I don't want to go back to what we were," she said. "I'd burn it down before I let that happen." Her chin lifted slightly. "So whatever this is," she said, "it has to be something we've never been." "From the ground up." The air between us had changed. Nothing had moved to change it. My finge
Edward's POV A flight of stairs. Elena's door was ajar when I reached the landing. I pushed it open and stepped inside. She was at the window. Coat still on. I shrugged mine off and set it on the chair by the door. The click of the latch made her shoulders tighten once before they released. "Y
Thursday. The registry doors opened before I fully reached them, air still adjusting around the gap, carrying paper dust and ink heat and the low sound of decisions being processed without ceremony, none of it pausing for me. My name came almost immediately. Not because I was expected—because the
Alicia's POV Apartment light warmed the room before I crossed the threshold. Elena stood at the counter, spoon tracing slow circles through a pot resting on low heat. Steam rose in thin strands, breaking apart under the ceiling light before it could gather into anything defined. My shoes paused b
Edward's POV I didn’t remember walking into the estate. I remembered the gate. Then nothing clean after that—just fragments of motion stitched together without pause. Headlights fading into the drive. The slow roll of tires over stone. The way the house lights adjusted as if it had already antic
The car didn’t stop at the main entrance. It passed the glass frontage of the building, continued past the visible entry point, and turned into the service approach that only functioned as an entrance once the guard stepped aside. No signage. No announcement. Just controlled access. I didn’t que
Edward's POV The office was still dark when I arrived. Six-fifteen. Early, even for me. But I'd been awake since four, staring at the ceiling while my mind cycled through what was coming. Sleep had been impossible. I unlocked my office door, stepped inside, and closed it behind me with a quiet c
Edward's POV I stood exactly where she'd left me. My arm was still extended slightly, reaching toward nothing. The balcony elongated, and empty. Below, the city throbbed with sirens and traffic, uninterrupted. I did not move. My chest felt tight. I forced air deeper. Held it. Released it slowly
But the cab driver kept driving. My parents' house looked the same. Porch light on. The living room glowing. Everything familiar and solid and real. He parked. I sat there for a moment. Then got out. I asked him to wait and walked in. My father sat rigidly in his chair, his tablet resting forgo
Alicia's POV The apartment was quiet in a way that felt temporary, as if it were holding its breath between one thing and the next. I stood at the sink washing a mug I'd already washed. The water ran warm over my hands. I watched soap circle the drain and tried not to think about anything in part







