BOOK 3: CHAPTER 78 -ELAINE- I woke up feeling like I’d slept through half the morning, something unheard of for a Sunday. I stretched, rolled over, and squinted at the sunlight filtering through the curtains. The house was quiet, and I enjoyed every second: no alarms, no chores, no rushing just a
BOOK 3: CHAPTER 77 -ELAINE- There’s something about watching Duncan in full protective mode that never fails to do me in. The way his voice dropped when he told Gianna to leave. The fury simmered in his eyes. The calm, measured way he defended me without a single flinch. It was the kind of thing
BOOK 3: CHAPTER 76 ELAINE Saturday morning in Duncan’s house felt like something out of a dream. It was warm and chaotic, full of sleepy laughter and the clinking of cutlery. I didn’t know mornings could feel like that since I hadn't experienced it, but this was what I imagined family should be.
BOOK 3: CHAPTER 75 ELAINE Gianna wasn't going to ruin my life with Duncan and the kids. So, I held my head high when the game ended, clapped proudly as Amelia ran off the field, and kept my arm around her when we waited for Duncan’s car to roll up. Gianna, of course, was hovering like a ghost ne
BOOK 3: CHAPTER 74 -ELAINE- Soccer practice days had become a kind of sacred rhythm between Amelia and I, something familiar and light. It was our time. I’d drive her there, get ice cream first, sit in the car with the windows down, talking about everything and nothing. She liked the way I chee
BOOK 3: CHAPTER 73 Elaine I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Even as I sat behind my desk at work, charting patient notes and going through the motions, Amelia’s voice echoed in my head like a haunting melody. The look in her eyes when she told me what Gianna had shattered something in me. I want