Mag-log inARIELLA I heard Asher coming after me. Then A loud thud. I stopped instinctively and turned around, terrified he'd slipped and hit his head in the bathroom. Instead, I found him sitting hard on the bathroom floor, the wet tiles having betrayed him. For one split second... I almost went back. Then
ARIELLA I thought of the towel around his waist. Sia standing there in that nightdress. The two of them inside a bedroom..... Inside a bathroom. Every horrible thought crashed into my mind at once. I took one step back. "Ariella." His voice was firmer now. "Don't." He started walking toward me
ARIELLA Until... I found myself inside the house. The first door led into the kitchen. It was completely quiet. There wasn't a cook in sight, although there were signs that someone had been cooking here not too long ago; the kitchen was still warm, and there were dishes in the sink. From there,
ARIELLA Asher got even more protective after that. He upped the security, if that was even possible. We weren't allowed to leave the premises unless he was there, no matter how many guards were with us. Getting in and out of the house required a full-body scan, signing in and out, and enough sec
ARIELLA Whatever Asher was worried about... Whatever danger he felt was coming... If it came... We would face it together. I knew that with every part of me. I knew He would be right beside me, and I would be beside him. I knew together, we would protect our son just as he would do everything in
ARIELLA When we got home that night, Asher told me about his uncle's birthday. Apparently, it was his uncle's birthday, and he wanted me and Leon to be there. But Leon was exhausted. He had just taken a bath, and the poor thing kept yawning every few seconds. I made him a little evening snack
ASHER Ariella is smiling. Really smiling. Her hair is tucked behind one ear. Her hand gestures in midair as she talks, and then she laughs at something Maria says. That sound...God, that sound. I used to hear it in my dreams. I used to ache for it in the silence of every damn night. And now it’s
I was crouched there, in front of everyone, like I was breaking my own son’s heart right in front of the people I was told to stay away from. I knew everyone was watching. Alan. Dana. Even Rosie, quietly holding her uncle’s hand, was watching her best friend cry. But I didn’t know what to do. I wa
Still, the silence between us lingered long enough for me to break it. “I’ve seen you around… You live next door, right?” I asked “Yup. That modern grey house that looks like it’s judging the rest of the street.” I chuckled. “It’s beautiful. Do they pay teachers that well here?” Dana burst out l
I nod, swallowing down the bitterness. “Okay… so what now? We just wait here until Leon comes? I thought you were going to get him.” “Yeah, I’m not staying here,” he replies, turning toward the door. “You’re leaving me here?” I ask, glancing around the cold, uninviting apartment. He tilts his hea







