INICIAR SESIÓNMrs. Harlan paused.The room seemed to hold its breath with her.“Maybe,” she said finally after a while. “But it’s still only a maybe.”She let the word settle between us, simple and unadorned. No attempt to reassure or defend or explain him away.Just… acknowledgment. That doubt was allowed. That questions were valid. That love—even the deep, consuming kind—didn’t come with guarantees.She gave my hand one last gentle squeeze before letting go. “Whatever storm this is, dear, it will pass.”I nodded, throat too tight for words.She stood, smoothing her apron the way she always did when she was about to leave a room. “There’s soup simmering downstairs if you get hungry later.”“Thank you,” I mumbled.She gave me that small nod she always gave when she accepted gratitude without needing more words, then turned toward the wardrobe, then opened the doors to see the hangers slid along the rail, a few garments lifted out with careful hands. A pink camisole. The soft black coat I’d worn
THEA ⋆✴︎˚。⋆ .☘︎ ݁˖⋆⭒˚.⋆ I didn’t know how to feel. Last night had been a whirlwind of forced reconciliation, the kind where you swallow your pride and your hurt because holding onto it feels heavier than letting go. Mia had cried, swearing up and down that she hadn’t meant to tell Amelia, that it had slipped out one night when Amelia was crashing on her couch and she was drunk and worried and just needed to talk to someone. “I fucked up, Thea,” she’d said. “I know I did but I didn’t mean to. You’re my best friend. I’d never hurt you on purpose.” I’d believed her, eventually, because everyone makes mistakes, right? And Mia had been my rock for years. She’d been there when I was practically homeless, when Noah started pulling away, when everything felt like it was falling apart. So I’d hugged her back, wiped her tears, and told her it was okay. We’d sat on the couch with Amelia who’d mumbled a half-assed apology about “not realizing it was that big a deal.” But we’d talked it
The gate lifted automatically a bit too slow for my liking, drummed my fingers on the wheel, jaw clenched, until it cleared enough for me to gun it.The city swallowed me.I drove without direction, windows cracked just enough to let the cold bite my face and keep my head clear.Or at least clearer.Every red light felt like an insult. Every slow-moving delivery truck felt personal. I gripped the wheel until the leather creaked under my palms.“Fuck,” I snarled, slamming my palm against the steering wheel hard enough to sting.The light turned green and I floored it.I didn’t know where I was going and I just needed motion, needed the rumble of the engine and the hiss of tires on wet asphalt to drown out the loop in my head.Thea’s voice kept cutting through anyway.“Don’t fucking touch me.”I laughed, a short, ugly bark that sounded foreign even to my own ears.Look at me.The big, bad sadist who could break women in half and make them thank him for it—reduced to driving around Manha
The words hung there for a beat, mocking. Then I turned to my father, smile widening until it felt like it might split my face. “Guess we have similar taste in women,” I chuckled, voice light, almost playful, like we were discussing vintage cars or single-malt scotch instead of the wreckage of my life. I tilted my head toward Amelia, who flinched like I’d slapped her. “Tell me, Father. Is Amelia one of your women?” The question landed like a grenade with the pin already pulled. Thea’s head snapped up so fast I heard the soft click of her neck vertebrae. Her eyes darted from me to Gage and locked there. Waiting. Searching. The flush of cold air drained from her cheeks in seconds, leaving her pale and suddenly clear. Richard didn’t flinch… not outwardly at least, but something flickered behind his eyes—something old, tired, and very carefully contained. He sighed. “What exactly is going on here?” he asked, voice low, almost gentle, like he was trying to talk a jumper off a ledge.
I stepped fully into the living room now, arms loose at my sides, posture deceptively relaxed. The three women stood frozen in a loose triangle: Thea closest to me, coat still half-off one shoulder; Mia planted protectively in front of her like a human shield; Amelia several steps back near the hallway, looking like she’d just been slapped across the face with her own past.Amelia broke first.“I need to leave,” she let out, voice thin and cracking. She took one jerky step toward the foyer, eyes fixed on the front door like it was the only exit from hell.Mia’s hand shot out and clamped around Amelia’s wrist before she could take another step. “Hold the fuck up,” Mia snapped, eyes narrowing as she looked between me and her friend. “What’s going on? Why does he look at you like he wants to skin you alive?”Amelia yanked her arm back, but Mia’s grip held. “Nothing,” Amelia hissed. “Let go.”“Bullshit,” Mia shot back. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Or a fucking demon.”Amelia’s gaze
I stood on the balcony longer than I should have, the cigar burning down between my fingers while the city sprawled out below like it didn’t give a single fuck about the mess inside my head. I shoved my bedroom door open harder than necessary, letting it bang against the stopper, then kicked it shut behind me with the heel of my boot.“Fucking hell,” I muttered, dragging a hand through my hair.I felt like a mess.Fuck!I needed another drink.No. Fuck that. I needed to stop thinking.I yanked open the nightstand drawer, grabbed the half-empty pack of cigarettes I kept there, slapped one between my lips, lit it with the Zippo that still had her initials scratched into the side from the night she’d stolen it to light a joint on the roof. The flame flickered, caught, and I inhaled deep enough to burn my throat then exhaled smoke toward the ceiling, watched it curl and dissolve like every promise we’d ever made.That’s when I heard it.The front door.The heavy, unmistakable thud of the







