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Chapter 116: A SHADOW FROM THE PAST
publish date:
2026-09-25 00:11:30
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Divorced, Desired, Dangerous Chapter 117: A NEW THREAT
NILAHThe small brass bell above the front glass door chimed loudly in the quiet shop.I set the silver scissors down on the wooden counter and looked up with a small, polite smile on my face. "Good afternoon! Welcome to Oakridge Green—"The words froze in my throat.Two men walked into the warm greenhouse. They were not local mountain people. They did not wear thick wool coats, knit caps, or snow boots like the townsfolk.They wore long, heavy black leather jackets, dark dress pants, and clean black leather shoes that were already melting snow onto the clean concrete floor. The man on the left was tall and thin, with pale skin, cold blue eyes, and a long red scar running down his left cheek. The man on the right was shorter, broad-shouldered, with a shaved head and dark, mean eyes that looked around the quiet shop like a wolf searching for sheep.They did not look at the green plants. They did not look at the colorful flowers. They looked straight at me.The tall man with the scar re
Divorced, Desired, Dangerous Chapter 116: A SHADOW FROM THE PAST
DARIENThe cold morning sun reflected brightly off the high snowdrifts outside my second-floor window.I sat at my long wooden desk in the brick building across the street from the greenhouse. My black laptop was open in front of me, its small screen showing financial reports and shipping logs from the city. Beside the computer sat a plain ceramic mug filled with lukewarm black coffee.Across the quiet, snow-covered road, I could see the tall glass walls of the greenhouse. Every few minutes, I would look up from my screen and glance through the window.Nilah was down there, moving slowly down the green central aisle. She wore a thick grey sweater, a green linen apron tied around her narrow waist, and yellow rubber boots. She carried a small red watering can in her hands, carefully pouring water over the roots of a row of small fern potted plants.She looked peaceful. The sharp, terrified look that had filled her dark eyes for three years had softened into something calm and quiet.A q
Divorced, Desired, Dangerous Chapter 115: A TEMPORARY TRUCE
NILAHThe quiet morning light seeped slowly through the glass window of my attic room.The fierce mountain blizzard had stopped completely during the night. Outside, the world was buried under three feet of soft, pristine white snow. The high pine trees along the ridge looked like heavy ice pillars, holding up a pale blue sky. The bitter howling wind was gone, replaced by an absolute, peaceful silence that wrapped around the small town of Oakridge.I opened my eyes slowly under Clara’s yellow quilt.The room was still pleasantly warm. The air smelled of sweet pine needles, faint coal smoke, and the deep, familiar scent of Darien’s wool coat.I turned my head on the soft pillow.Darien was still there, sitting on the wooden floor with his back against the side of the small couch. He had his heavy knees pulled up, his dark head resting back against the cushions. The thick wool blanket I had given him was wrapped around his wide shoulders. His dark eyes were closed, and his long eyelashe
Divorced, Desired, Dangerous Chapter 114: UNSPOKEN GRIEF
NILAHThe warm red light from the wood stove flickered softly across the small attic room.Outside, the heavy blizzard kept howling against the glass window, throwing thick white sheets of snow against the dark mountain sky. But inside, the air was warm. The sharp, biting cold had left the room hours ago.My forehead was still resting gently against Darien’s dark sweater.I could hear his heart beating beneath my palm. It was fast, steady, and strong, knocking right against his ribs. The smell of cold wind, pine wood, and dark rain still hung on his wool coat. It was the same smell he always had back in the city when he would come home late from the docks and kiss my cheek while I slept.For three long years, I had locked my grief in a deep, dark box inside my chest. I had wrapped heavy chains around my heart so I wouldn't feel the sharp, cutting pain of losing my baby boy. I had run away to this quiet mountain town, buried my hands in wet greenhouse dirt, and pretended that the past
Divorced, Desired, Dangerous Chapter 113: THE TRUTH
DARIENThe dry wood popped, sending tiny golden sparks against the door. Warm air slowly spilled out into the small, dark living room, pushing away the bitter cold of the blizzard that raged outside the glass window.Nilah sat on the small wooden couch, wrapped tight in her thick wool blanket. She held a warm blue mug of hot water in both of her small hands. Her dark eyes were fixed entirely on the fire.I sat on a low wooden chair across from her, five feet away. I did not sit close. I did not try to reach out and touch her cold fingers. I kept my hands rested flat on my knees, my knuckles red and raw from the mountain wind.The quiet between us was heavy. It was not a mean quiet, but it was filled with old ghosts."The fire is good," Nilah whispered softly, her voice barely louder than the crackle of the wood. "It's warm.""It will keep the room warm all night," I said, my voice low and rough. "I put four big oak logs in the bottom. They burn slow."She took a small sip from her mu
Divorced, Desired, Dangerous Chapter 112: ALONE AT NIGHT
NILAHThe mountain wind howled like a dying beast outside my small attic window.By the afternoon, the sky over Oakridge had turned from a dull, heavy gray to a pitch-black abyss. The storm had come down off the northern peaks fast and vicious, dumping inches of heavy, wet snow every hour. Through the glass, I could see nothing but a roaring wall of white. Main Street was completely buried, the streetlights swallowed by the blizzard.Inside my tiny attic room, the quiet hum of the electric space heater suddenly sputtered, clicked twice, and died.The small golden light on the front panel flickered out. Downstairs in the main shop, the deep, steady thrum of the greenhouse heating pipes went completely silent.The power grid was dead."Oh no..." I whispered into the dark room.My voice came out as a thick white cloud of frost. Within fifteen minutes, the thin warmth that had kept my room comfortable vanished. The bitter, biting mountain cold seeped straight through the wooden walls and
Divorced, Desired, Dangerous Chapter 2: The Billionaire I Crashed Into
Darien’s povThe Bentley’s engine purred as I drove through the rain-slicked street, and my phone buzzed for the umpteenth time in less than five minutes. I knew it was my mother no doubt, definitely calling to remind me about her ‘wonderful opportunity’ dinner she had arranged next week.“Don’t th
Divorced, Desired, Dangerous Chapter 1: The Night My Marriage Died
Nilah’s povThe penthouse was quiet, I stood in the kitchen with my hands gripping the sink as I stared at the divorce papers, I tried remembering how to breathe.In… out…The same way my therapist had taught me before I had stopped going because Marcus said I didn’t need one."You're being dramati
Divorced, Desired, Dangerous Chapter 5— Impending chaos
NILAHThe silence in the grand ballroom was loud, it felt heavier than the rain that had ruined my car hours ago, making my head spin as I tried to process what my father had just blurted out from the podium.Hundreds of eyes shifted from my father, following his proud gaze, until they locked direc
Divorced, Desired, Dangerous Chapter 4: The Gala Where Everything Changed
Nilah povAt exactly five the dress arrived.I stood in my childhood bedroom staring at it for a full minute before I even dared to touch it.Midnight blue, floor length with a neckline that dipped just low enough to say ‘I know exactly what I’m doing’ and a slit that climbed too high up on one thi
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