LOGINChoices don’t always come with clean edges. Some promises sound noble… until you realize they’re built on guilt. Some protection feels like love… until it starts to look like control. And sometimes, the quiet decisions are the ones that shake the ground the most. Let’s just say—what Alex thinks he’s fixing might be the very thing that breaks next.
ALEXANDER'S POVHazel's absence left us with a tense and awkward silence. For almost twenty minutes, no one said anything to each other, we simply remained in our seats and I couldn't bring myself to stare at Katherine.. or even Astra who was shifting uncomfortably in her seat now.“Uhm, I should…”“I need to rest for sometime..”Katherine and Astra spoke at the same time and I finally forced my head up and looked at Katherine first, then at Astra who still had tears in her eyes and looked really solemn.Gosh… was she pretending or was she really sad?It was hard to tell now. In the past, I could easily tell when Astra was faking it but now it seems that she had either gotten too good at acting or I had lost my touch.“It’s okay. I am not mad at you,” Katherine spoke softly to Astra and I couldn't help but wonder how she found it in her heart to quickly forgive her yet she still hold some grudges towards me.Was it because of her pregnancy? Was this what they called women's sympathy?
ALEXANDER'S POV My heart pounded so loudly in my ears that I was certain they could hear it. I tried to calm my breathing but that was a challenge for someone who'd just ran all the way from the garage here.When Astra called and said that she was in the house waiting to see me, I knew that something was wrong but I never assumed it would be something that'll involve tears…hers especially. I took in the view around me; Katherine looking tired and confused, Hazel looking pissed as hell, which wasn't in itself surprising and then Astra crying.It didn't take long for me to process what might have happened that led to the scene before me and I immediately turned to Katherine. “Kathie…” I called breathlessly.She sighed heavily and then stood up towards Astra.“Look, I'm sorry. Hazel's just tensed right now and didn't mean to say all that. Come…come, sit down.”I watched with surprise as she led Astra back to the sofa and it suddenly occurred to me that I didn't know exactly what happe
KATHERINE'S POVHazel followed me to the house when Alex said he had somewhere important to be and though I would have preferred to be in his company, I couldn't stop him.The drive home was silent and I stared out the window watching as trees moved fast, houses disappeared until we slowly arrived at the house.“Kathie…Katherine?!” Hazel called, probably thinking I was asleep.I turned to look at her and forced a smile, “I know we're here,” the words struggled to escape my lips.She nodded and opened the car door and walked out. I waited for some seconds in the car before grabbing my bag and following suit.Nothing prepared me for the sight that greeted me as soon as I walked in.Astra sat on the sofa in the living room, playing with Franklin, showing off her ultrasound pictures to him while he giggled.Hazel was in front of me and though they've never really encountered each other, at least not to my knowledge, she seemed to recognize who Astra was and from the way her jaw moved up a
ALEXANDER'S POVI wanted to smack that sneaky smile away from her face and squeeze the daylights out of her eye but I had to stop myself.Clara wasn't someone to mess with, especially at a time like this when she, in more ways than not, had the upper hand.So I swallowed every single bile crawling up my throat at the sight of her and forced a smile but my lips barely moved.“Hey…aren't you being too straight forward? We're at a restaurant, Alex. Let's eat first.”I clenched my fist under the table and once again reminded myself of the fact that Clara could destroy my relationship with Katherine in any second if she wants to.“I didn't come here to eat with you and I'm not hungry.”Unfortunately for me, I was actually hungry and my stomach didn't waste time in pointing that out through a rebellious growl.Clara laughed, the sound piercing through my ears and forcing me to bring my eyes to hers.“Really? ‘Cause I think someone says otherwise.”I ignored her.But it seems like she wasn'
AUTHOR'S POVHer eyes trailed over to where Alex stood towering over Katherine and the smile on her face fell.Why was he with her? Why did he have to show up and kill her joy?“I promise you it's a good thing,” Harrison was saying but she could barely pay attention to any of the words coming out of his mouth.Her heart squeezed as Alex moved closer to Katherine and pulled her into a tight hug.She squeezed the papers on her hands tightly, glaring at him.He was doing this on purpose!He wanted to show off to her…to let her know that she would never have the opportunity to hold him like that.If that's really what he was doing, then he has no idea how capable she was of making something belong to her as much as she wants it badly.And, lord! Does she want him so bad!“Clara…” two snaps of fingers, “ Clara!”She had to peel her eyes away from Katherine and turn her attention to her mother who was snapping her fingers in front of her face and giving her a confused look.“Uh.. were you s
ALEXANDER'S POVI’d been pacing the courthouse hallway for nearly twenty minutes when the doors finally opened.For the past twenty minutes, I watched the door contemplating whether I should walk in or I should wait for her to come out and in between those waiting minutes, the only thing that managed to keep me stable was the pacing around.I straightened immediately, eyes fixed on the exit, my chest tightening with a tension I hadn’t felt in years. Courtrooms did that to people. Even when you weren’t inside them, they still found a way to squeeze the air out of your lungs.It wasn't an unfamiliar sight to me… the looming courtroom.As someone who ran a large scale business with several companies and investors, I was very familiar with the walls of the courtroom and the tension that comes with sitting in that wooden chair and waiting for a single man to decide your fate.This was Katherine's first time… or maybe her second, other than the divorce, I wasn't aware of any other thing tha







