LOGINCHLOEThe stranger I had spent my day trying to forget about… walked back into my life as if my thoughts had summoned him.My breath caught. I scrambled up from the bench, my pulse hammering a frantic rhythm against my ribs before my brain could process his stride."You…" I stammered, my fingers curling into fists inside my pockets pulling my coat across my chest like a shield. "What…are you doing here?"He took an unhurried step closer stopping at a respectful distance."This is a free road… I take a walk through this park most evenings." His deep voice carried a calm that slowed the racing noise in my head. "I didn't expect to find the woman who nearly banged me over yesterday."A hot blush crept up my neck. "I didn't mean to knock you over. I just stumbled.""And a brilliant introduction " he murmured, a trace of a dry smile touching his lips. He extended a hand. "Hi… I'm Richard."I stared at his hand, my chest tightening before I cautiously reached out. His grip was warm, dry and
Aurelia The kiss lasted less than a second, but it was enough to scare me—not because I wanted him… but because I realized how badly I wanted to feel wanted. I spent the entire next day trying not to think about the stranger. I paced around my half-unpacked living room, smoothing out the blankets and setting up my laptop, telling myself over and over that the encounter meant nothing. It was an accident. A momentary stumble on a crowded sidewalk. A F nothing more. Yet every time my mind drifted, I could still feel the phantom pressure of those warm lips against mine, the firm grip around my waist, and the steady thump of his chest beneath my palms. I hated that my memory kept pulling me back to it. I leaned against the kitchen counter, wrapping my fingers around a lukewarm mug of coffee. The accidental kiss was forcing me to confront s
ChloeThe first man I kissed after Brandon was a complete stranger—and I didn’t even mean to kiss him.My fingers were still trembling as I shoved my phone into my jacket pocket. The five words on the screen…You shouldn’t have come here…burned in my mind, refusing to let me breathe. The silence of the empty apartment suddenly felt suffocating, like the walls were closing in on me. I needed air. I needed movement. I had to get out into the open where I could see who was around me.I hurried out of the building, my boots hitting the pavement in a fast, restless rhythm.The cool evening air hit my face as six o'clock approached, the sky dipping into deep shades of dusk, but it did nothing to quiet my racing thoughts. Streetlights were just beginning to flicker to life along the avenue. Everything was hitting me at once in a chaotic, suffocating wave.The ruined was wedding.Brandon’s brutal betrayal in o
Chloe I was already hundreds of miles away from the man who had made me wonder if I was worth loving, by evening… The distant hum of the highway had droned for seven hours and eight minutes straight beneath my car's tires. My eyes, burning from the salt of tears and sleep deprivation, were nearly bleeding, but I held onto the steering wheel with all of my might. I had to keep going. I couldn't stop. An entire pig's worth of road lay between me and the massacre of my old life. At last, I drove into the parking lot of a quiet apartment complex on the fringe of New York City. The air outside that evening was cold, clean, and totally unlike the air I had breathed my whole life. I shut off the engine and sat in the startling quiet of the driver's seat, watching the pale yellow rays of sun spread across an unfamiliar dashboard. I took off my seat belt, unlocked the door, and pushed it open into the wet street. Nobody knows Brandon Parker here. Nobody knows Sienna. Nobody even kn
Chloe. The first thing I did after leaving Brandon was stand in front of a mirror and wonder if I had finally become the woman he always saw when he looked at me. The bedroom in my apartment was dead silent. My three packed suitcases stood waiting near the closet door, but I couldn't bring myself to zip the last one shut. Every object resting on the dresser seemed to scream his name. The silver jewelry dish we bought together on our trip to Maine. The fluffy blanket that he gave me when I passed my event coordinator certification. The soft, earth-toned curtains I spent three weeks picking out because I thought they fit the aesthetic of the future home we were building. I turned away from the room, but my eyes landed straight on the full-length mirror attached to the wardrobe door. My breath hitched in my chest. For four years, I knew I was plus-size. I had soft curves, full hips, and a very big tummy like I was months pregnant. But I had never believed those things made me
CHLOE. I didn’t know what hurt more… the fact that Brandon had betrayed me, or the fact that a part of me was still waiting for him to come after me. His final words…“You have no idea what you’re walking away from!”…followed me down the hallway, echoing off the marble walls like a gunshot I couldn't missed. I didn't turn around. I couldn't. I locked my eyes on the plush red carpet beneath my feet, and kept moving. Step after deliberate step. I refused to let him see my shoulders collapse. I refused to give him or Sienna the ultimate satisfaction of watching me break into pieces again. My boots clicked sharply against the floor, counting down the distance between me and the room where my entire world had just been torn apart. Every muscle in my back steamed with the pressure of holding myself upright. I passed a framed mirror on the corridor wall and caught a glimpse of my own reflection. My dark hair was tangled. My face was marked red with hot, furious tears. My favorite oversi







