Mag-log in-DOMINIC-The look on Eve’s face when she opened the door was worth the drive. “W-what are you doing here?” She stuttered, eyes wide with disbelief.I opened my mouth to answer, but then her mother appeared from behind her, smiling wide, hands already reaching for my arm.“You made it!” Evelyn—she had insisted I call her that—pulled me inside. “Come on, come on in.”I handed her the flowers, and she thanked me with a smile. We walked past Eve.
-EVE-FLASHBACKIt was my grandfather’s funeral. It was the first time I met Janet. Yet, in her living room, she blamed my mother for my grandfather’s death.“You did this,” She said. Her voice carried. “Your drinking. Your scenes. And now you want to take my granddaughter.”“I want what's best for Eve,” Mom said.“Best?” She laughed. “You can't keep a husband. You can't keep a job. You think you can
-EVE-The first week of the legacy planning was finally here, and Vanessa Kingston did not show up on Monday.For some unknown reason, we’d been paired to handpick the vendors for the event on Eleanor’s request.I was waiting in the Hotel King’s lobby—where Vanessa had said we would meet—for forty minutes before Ana found me. She was already talking about some vendor who had sent the wrong linen samples.“She’s not coming.” She said the moment I brought Vanessa up. “We were supposed to meet the decoration team
-Dominic-I sat at my desk, tidying up the rest of my task for the day. Seb had left an hour ago after I told him to go home, and I preferred it that way. It was less noisy.The door opened without warning, and Uncle Jon walked in like he owned the place.A smirk tugged my lips, but I didn’t look up immediately. I kept my eyes on the document in front of me and said, “Uncle Jon, to what do I owe this visit?”“Don’t act like you’re in the dark,” he snapped.I finally lifted my head. “Then enlighten me.”His jaw tightened. “Investors are on my neck because of that stunt you pulled at the regatta.”A slow exhale left me. Of course.“What?” I leaned back slightly. “You mean the part where they generously donated to the winning team, and I exposed a cheating scheme that you’re part of?”“Don’t twist it.”I almost laughed. “I’m not twisting anything. Let the money go, Uncle Jon. You and your investor friends donated in public. First it was a fake hospital, now this. Tell me something.” I ti
-EVE-I was stuck in the company bus with Ana and her strong perfume. She had talked for forty minutes about some reality show she was currently watching while I kept staring at the back of Alex's head three rows ahead.He was seated next to Monica, and they were speaking in hushed tones.The planning for the Hotel King’s legacy week was in motion, and somehow I had made it onto the planning committee.So here we were on a bus ride to go see Eleanor Kingston at her villa.“You're not listening,” Ana nudged me.“Absolutely.” I wasn't.The bus turned onto a gravel drive. Ocean on one side, manicured lawns on the other. The villa rose ahead, all white stone and glass.Finally we arrived at the entrance, and piled out of the bus. A butler was already waiting, looking between us and the gardens like he was expecting something.A shotgun blast suddenly cracked the morning. Everyone jumped. The butler produced earplugs from his jacket.“That’s the thirteenth time this morning,” he said, wal
-EVE-The restaurant was quieter now. Most of the dinner crowd had left, leaving behind soft music and half-empty wine glasses.Alex sat across from me, fingers wrapped tightly around his glass like he needed something solid to hold onto.Our conversation had drifted from everything to forbidden territory. Vanessa. He told me how they'd met during his internship almost ten years ago. How they dated in secret till things got toxic. Till it got of control.“That day, while she destroyed the dishes at my apartment, I realized….I couldn't save her if she didn't want to be saved. So I called it off. For the first time in the seven years we were dating, I told her that was it.”He took a sip of the wine.“I left to clear my head. I asked her to leave by the time I got back. She did. And for a moment, I felt free. Relief. But it was just the beginning of the end. She called me, I've lost count how many times. When I finally answered, her voice was slurry. She mentioned a club and said bad
-Dominic-The loud banging in my head woke me up—no, not my head. It was the door.Fuck, I shouldn’t have drank so much. Someone—maybe more than one person, was pounding on it, stabbing the doorbell like they were trying to break it.I let out a small sigh as I got on my feet, dragging my way acro
-Eve-I turned in the direction of the voice and froze in my seat.It was a kid. A boy.He was around eight or nine. Brown hair, brown eyes. The spitting image of my father.Before I could answer, the door opened and my father appeared in the doorway.“I asked you to stop wandering,” he said to the
-Alex-When I went to Eve’s place an hour ago, Sally told me she’d be at the hospital.When she stormed out of her mother’s room and we collided, I saw her tears and got worried.“Eve?” I called, “What’s wrong?”She stared at me briefly, as if trying to find the right words.“I’m fine,” she murmure
-Eve-I’d heard of dark family secrets, twisted affairs, things best left unspoken. But a hidden sibling? That was something I never imagined. A sister.Suddenly, my world felt a little bigger. And I felt curious. Clueless.I shook my thoughts away and focused on the bookstore. My mother’s old boo







