Mag-log in"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."
Alicia's POV Vivienne’s pearls caught the light as she reappeared, every inch of her radiating quiet authority. I rose before she reached the table. “I’m so sorry, Vivienne,” I said smoothly, my voice faking all sophistication, just how Lucy would have sounded, misted with honey. “You’d stepped aw
Alicia’s POV I stepped inside. The room smelled of leather, old books, and the faint trace of his cologne. The desk lamp cast shadows across his face. I didn’t sit. Just stood there with my arms wrapped around myself. “About last night,” I started. My voice was smaller than I wanted. “About that
My throat tightened. “I know.” “And whatever’s going on, you can tell me. I’m not going to break.” Yes, you will. You’ll break if I tell you I’m pregnant with a man who doesn’t want me. That I’m trapped in a marriage that was supposed to be temporary but became permanent the moment I fell in love
“Yes.” Her voice came out steady. I glanced at the mug. “You should eat something.” “I did.” She was lying. The kitchen was too clean. No crumbs, no dishes in the sink except the single mug. But I didn’t push it. “We should leave in five minutes.” She nodded. Poured the tea down the drain. Ri







