MasukThe shock didn’t hit me all at once. It settled slowly instead, seeping in layer by layer, the way cold water climbs up your skin when you wade into it rather than jump.“Is that so,” I said, my voice coming out strangely calm given everything churning underneath it, a calm that surprised even me.Mom placed a gentle hand on my shoulder, her concern evident in the softness of her voice. “I already knew it was Andrew Hale, sweetheart. The father of your child.”That pulled my head up fast, my eyes snapping to hers, blinking in genuine disbelief.She let out a quiet chuckle, shaking her head slowly. “I’ve suspected since the very first day I noticed the signs. I had my theories, but Amelia confirmed it for me eventually.”She paused, her voice softening even further. “I know I wasn’t fortunate enough to raise you from the time you were a baby all the way through adulthood. But a mother has this strange, almost supernatural sense about certain things concerning her children, Anna. I don’
Annalise’s POVAt the Sterling MansionThe dining table stretched long enough to seat the entire family comfortably, every inch of it covered tonight in celebration. Roast duck glazed dark and glossy sat at the center, flanked by steaming bowls of truffle risotto, a whole grilled fish dressed in herbs, platters of dumplings stacked in careful towers, and a cake waiting on the sideboard with “Welcome Home, Amy” piped across it in delicate gold icing. Candles flickered along the centerpiece, their light catching the crystal glasses Mom had pulled out specifically for the occasion, and somewhere in the background, soft music played low enough to let conversation carry over it without competing.Laughter kept rising and falling around the table, Xander teasing Dad about some golf game, Mom fussing over whether Cassandra had eaten enough protein, the whole scene stitched together with an ease that felt, on any other night, like something worth savoring.None of it reached me tonight, no ma
I was drowning myself again in the exact thing I’d once sworn I’d never touch.Alcohol.If anyone had told me years ago that I’d end up like this, wasting away on an island with a bottle for company instead of actually running the company that bore my family’s name, I’d have laughed the suggestion right out of the room.For the past few weeks, I hadn’t done much of anything beyond drinking, picking at food I barely tasted, wandering the shoreline kicking loose pebbles into the surf until my feet ached, and spending entire nights thinking about everything except how to actually pull myself back together.I shouldn’t have let her unravel me this badly. I shouldn’t have let myself get this attached again, not after everything that had already happened between us once before.Ten years ago, she’d walked away without so much as a word of explanation, leaving me to spend an entire decade waiting, hoping, suffering through a loneliness I’d never fully admitted to anyone.She’d even had the h
Shock hit me so hard my breath caught somewhere in my throat.I’d been certain, absolutely certain, that whatever alcohol had been running through his system earlier had worked its way out by now. His voice had sounded clear, controlled, nothing slurred about it at all.Send me back?Had I actually heard that right?“Excuse me?” The word came out thinner than I wanted it to.He turned to look at me directly this time, his expression unreadable. “The helicopter is already on its way. You should get ready to head back to the city.”I sat there stunned for the second time within the same five minutes, unable to find a single word to push past the lump forming in my throat.He’d already turned his attention back to the television by the time I managed to process what he’d said, his face impassive, completely unbothered, like he hadn’t just upended everything between us with a single sentence. I found myself studying his profile, searching for some trace of the man who’d carried me out of
His tone had come out so flat, so cold, that for a second I wondered if I’d imagined some edge to it that wasn’t actually there.I turned around with a bright smile anyway, and my eyes caught on him properly for the first time since he’d stepped into the kitchen. He’d changed out of whatever he’d been wearing in that smoke-filled room, now dressed in a crisp white shirt with the sleeves rolled neatly to his forearms, dark trousers fitted clean against his frame, his hair still slightly damp and pushed back from the shower. It was almost disorienting, how easily he could transform from the broken man I’d found curled against a wall surrounded by empty bottles into this, composed, put together, every inch the Andrew Hale the rest of the world knew. Whatever had wrecked him an hour ago, he’d scrubbed most of the visible evidence away, though something in his eyes still carried the weight of it, a tightness around them that no amount of showering could wash off.“I’m cooking for you,” I s
His rigid body eased against mine, slowly, like something inside him had finally let go of whatever had been holding it so tightly in place for the past however many hours he’d spent curled up in that corner. Relief washed through me at the small, unmistakable shift, my own shoulders dropping an inch I hadn’t realized I’d been holding them up against.Then he stood, scooping me straight up into his arms without a word of warning, no hesitation in the motion at all despite everything his body should have been fighting against.He carried me out of that smoke-filled room, down the hallway, into another bedroom entirely, one that smelled faintly of clean linen instead of liquor and cigarettes, the contrast sharp enough that I actually felt my lungs loosen the moment we crossed the threshold. I couldn’t help the small flicker of surprise at how steady he managed to stay through all of it, given the state he was in. I would have expected him to stumble at least once, to clip a shoulder aga
My fingers instinctively tightened around the phone, hearing Tania’s words.I didn't hear her wrong, did I?“I checked your marriage certificate, Anna. It was fake!” Tania groaned. “Don’t tell me the scumbag tricked you!”Tricked me…Aiden himself asked me to marry him.Three years ago, he’d knocke
Cassandra pointed at me, her soft voice echoing in the hallway. That was when Aiden peeled his gaze from her, and the tender look on his face was instantly gone.But instead of appearing confused, only fear and frustration flashed in his eyes.He quickly let go of Cassandra, While Cassandra tremb
The next day, I discharged myself from the hospital.Standing across the bustling street outside the hospital’s skyscraper, my eyes squinted at the burning sun.For thirty minutes, not a single taxi stopped.Then, suddenly, a convoy of black luxury cars swept onto the street, instantly drawing ever
“We are sorry, Miss. We tried our best, but the fetus was gone. We had to evacuate it to prevent damage to your womb.”The word “it” echoed through my mind, cutting through my last strand of hope.Yet, the doctor’s words, along with the beeping of the heart’s monitor and every noise inside the hosp







