LOGIN"Finish that sentence." My voice cut across hers. A beat passed. A shift crossed her eyes. Then she said it anyway. "Cleaned houses for people like us." The room went completely quiet. "My mother." I stopped. "Worked with her hands for people who believed that made her less than them. People exac
Alicia’s POV The pen was in my hand. I hadn't moved since the door closed. The page in front of me, the same line, and now I knew someone had been observing me return to it, watching long enough to count each return. I had spent three years believing he never saw the parts that weren't performed.
"He also mentioned Vera Sorel has made her attendance at the follow-up conditional on yours," I said, letting the other piece of the weight land between us. "He wanted me to know that." The pen halted in her hand. She took a breath, slow, through her nose, and the line of her throat moved once befo
Edward's POV Phillip arrived at twenty past ten. He settled into the chair across my desk and set his coat on the arm of it. The draft was already in his hand before he opened his mouth. "Signed and filed as of this morning. Your name on the minority position. Clean." He set a single folded page
"I don't know." "You said it to him. Not here." The pause that followed remained too long to be casual. "What are you afraid of?" I didn't rush it. "That I'm seeing it right. And it still falls apart anyway." She shook her head slightly. "That's not uncertainty. That's you refusing to close y
Alicia's POV Elena didn't turn when I came in. She was at the counter, spoon hovering over a bowl she hadn't touched in a while. The kettle had gone cold long enough to feel intentional. My bag hit the floor by the door. She didn't look at it. "You came back wrong." "I came back two days ago."
Her brow lifted. “You saw it, didn’t you?” “The broadcast?” She sighed. “Of course you did.” I shrugged faintly. “Hard to miss when your face is on the screen.” Elena set the bags down on the small kitchen counter, pulling out a carton of milk, a loaf of bread, and something wrapped in brown pap
Behind me, Vivienne's voice. "Edward. Inside. Now." I turned. Walked back. Lucy was in the foyer, mascara streaking down her face. "Edward, I'm so sorry. I never meant for any of this—" I walked past her like she didn't exist. Vivienne followed me. "I'm calling the guests right now. I'll tell th
"I'm making you food," she said, standing. "Real food. Not whatever they serve in that prison." "I'm not hungry." "Don't care. You're eating." She disappeared into the kitchen. Cabinets opened. A pan hit the stove. The sounds of someone who knew exactly what needed doing. I sank into the couch,
Alicia’s POV The apartment was quiet. Not the comforting quiet that let you sink into stillness, but the kind that pressed against your temples and reminded you of everything you hadn’t done, everything you’d lost. Elena had already left for work. The sound of her heels fading down the stairwell wa







