LOGINKARENThere are moments in life that you imagine so many times that, when they finally happen, they don't feel real at first.For weeks, I had imagined someone calling me and saying the words I wanted to hear.I had imagined celebration, relief, vindication. I had imagined myself crying, laughing, maybe even screaming.Instead, I was sitting in my office at A.A. Biotech on a quiet Wednesday morning, reviewing reports while sipping coffee that had long since gone cold, when my phone rang.The caller ID displayed a familiar name.Agent Carla Webb.I stared at it for a second before answering."Good morning, Agent Webb.""Morning, Karen."Her voice sounded lighter than usual. Almost cheerful.That immediately caught my attention."Should I be worried?"She laughed softly."For once? No,” she replied. “You should probably sit down, though."I leaned back in my chair."That sounds promising.""It is."There was a small pause. Then she said the words I had spent years waiting to hear."Vict
KARENIf someone had told me a year ago that I would willingly spend an entire Saturday wedding dress shopping with Janet and Diane Mitchell, I probably would have laughed in their face.Not because I disliked either of them.I genuinely loved them.Janet had become one of my closest friends over the years, and Diane had somehow adopted me as her own daughter since Jason and I officially became engaged. She worried about whether I was eating enough, sent me recipes I never used, and called at least twice a week simply to ask if I was getting enough sleep.The problem was that both women possessed opinions—very strong and detailed opinions—and apparently, wedding dresses brought those opinions out in full force.Within fifteen minutes of arriving at the bridal boutique, I already regretted underestimating them."Oh, absolutely not."Diane crossed her arms."That neckline is terrible."Janet looked offended."It's sophisticated.""It's boring.""It's timeless.""It looks like a curtain.
KARENBy the time Eleanor and I settled into our seats at a quiet restaurant overlooking the waterfront, I already felt lighter than I had when I landed in Seattle earlier that morning.Seattle was strange that way.For years, this city had existed inside my mind as a place that carried too many painful memories. It was where my marriage had slowly unraveled, where I had spent countless nights wondering if I had somehow failed, where disappointment and resentment had piled up until I could barely recognize myself anymore.Yet sitting there now, watching ferries move across the grey water while soft music drifted through the restaurant, I realized the city itself had never hurt me.People had. Circumstances had. Bad decisions had. But Seattle had simply been there while my life fell apart.And now, it was there while my life had finally begun to feel whole again.Eleanor folded her hands together on top of the table and looked at me quietly for a moment."I want to say something before
RICHARD.When Karen called me that morning, I expected another brief conversation about schedules or business matters. Even though our relationship had improved over the past months, I still found myself preparing for difficult conversations whenever I saw her name appear on my phone.Instead, the first thing she said was, "Are you busy this afternoon?"I sat back in my chair and glanced at the empty calendar on my tablet."No," I answered honestly. "I don't have anything important planned.""Good," she said. "I'm in Seattle with Sophie. Eleanor and I have plans for a few hours, and I was wondering if you'd like to spend the afternoon with her."For a moment, I simply stared at the floor."With Sophie?""Yes.""Alone?"Karen chuckled softly."Yes, Richard. Alone."I rubbed the back of my neck."Are you sure?""I wouldn't ask if I wasn't."There was something in her voice that surprised me.Trust.Not complete trust, perhaps, but enough to hand me the most important person in her world
JASON.I knew something was different the second I stepped into the house.Usually, when I came home after work, Sophie would already be waiting near the door with endless stories spilling out of her mouth before I even had a chance to take off my shoes, and Karen would be somewhere in the living room with her laptop open, papers spread across the coffee table, or her phone pressed to her ear while discussing another detail connected to the investigation.Tonight, the house smelled of garlic, butter, and herbs. Soft music drifted from the kitchen. The lights were warm.Everything felt... lighter.I loosened my tie and followed the scent, finding Karen standing at the stove while stirring something in a saucepan. Her hair was tied back loosely, and she was wearing one of my oversized shirts over a pair of leggings. She looked beautiful, but that wasn't what caught my attention.It was her expression.Over the last few weeks, especially since the investigation into Victor Hale began, th
KAREN.For a second, I considered asking my assistant to take the call instead or to ask the investigators to drop a message, but something urged me to answer."Karen Andrews speaking."A calm female voice answered immediately."Ms. Andrews, good afternoon. My name is Agent Carla Webb with the federal investigative task force handling the Victor Hale case."I nodded. “Good afternoon, Agent Webb.”"Yes. I apologize for contacting you without prior notice, but there have been significant developments, and I thought you'd prefer hearing them directly."I slowly sat back down."I'm listening."There was a brief pause before she continued."Thomas Reef has agreed to cooperate fully."I closed my eyes for a moment.Thomas Reef.The trusted executive who had spent years quietly embedded inside A.A. Biotech."What did he say?" I asked."Quite a lot," Webb replied. "He confirmed that Victor Hale placed him inside A.A. Biotech several years ago. Mr. Reef wasn't simply gathering information. He
KAREN.After I settled down with them in the sitting room, I spent the next one hour answering questions from the two social workers seated across from Jason and me in the living room, clearly and without hesitation. Even though I hated the fact that they were here in the first place, I forced myse
JASON.I had left work earlier than usual because I wanted to do something simple for Karen—something not expensive, not dramatic, not one of those big gestures people liked posting online to prove they were in love. I had been thinking a lot lately about how relationships like ours survived throug
RICHARD.It had been three weeks since I had gone to Boston for Sophie’s birthday, and somehow those three weeks had only made things worse instead of better. I had honestly believed that once I returned home and settled back into work, the memories would slowly fade into the background like everyt
KARENI truly could not remember the last time we had a morning like this, and standing at the kitchen doorway, I almost did not know what to do with myself.For a few seconds, I simply stood there and watched them quietly like I was afraid that moving in too fast would somehow ruin the moment.Jas







