FAZER 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,"
The video started. Sound on. No warning. No mercy. Moans. His voice. Her voice. Skin on skin. The rustle of sheets. A laugh—hers, breathless and satisfied. My throat closed. My pulse hammered so hard I thought my ribs would crack. "You see?" Lucy's voice cut through, soft and venomous. She leaned
Alicia's POV I didn't remember most of the drive to Elena's. Just pieces of it. A red light I almost ran. A turn that came too fast and made the steering wheel slip through my hands. The way my vision kept blurring at the edges. By the time I pulled into the small lot beside her building, my hand
Edward’s POV The house was silent when I got home. Not the comfortable kind. The kind that pressed in from all sides. The halls stretched too long. The floors gleamed too brightly, reflecting nothing but me walking through them. Empty. Practiced. Hollow. It struck me now how much space she'd fill
I grabbed Elena's spare key from the counter and left. The street outside was busy. People moved past me without a second glance. No one recognized me. No one cared. It felt like freedom. I walked without direction at first. Just moved. The city felt different from this angle, smaller, more immed







