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Chapter 23: You Won't Be Alone

Author: Willow's Ink
last update Last Updated: 2025-06-13 06:34:36
Anabelle stood at the kitchen sink, watching raindrops trail down the window like slow tears. Her tea had gone cold in her hands. She wasn’t sure how long she’d been standing there, unmoving, listening to the hum of silence. Manhattan buzzed faintly outside—traffic, sirens, life going on as if nothing had happened. As if Damian hadn’t died. As if her world hadn’t come undone.

She blinked hard and took a sip. Cold jasmine. Bitter now.

The scent reminded her, unexpectedly, of her mother. It came back like a soft breeze—her mother’s perfume, her voice humming a lullaby while brushing Anabelle’s hair, back when the world was still soft and small. Before hospitals. Before grief.

She must’ve been five, maybe six, when she last felt that kind of safety.

“Always let the tea steep just long enough, Belle,” her mother used to say. “Not too strong. Not too weak. Just right—like you.”

Anabelle set the mug down with trembling fingers.

She hadn’t thought of her mother in months. Maybe ye
Willow's Ink

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  • Forbidden Desires: Falling For My Fiance's Brother   chapter 38: The PI

    Michael Sloan didn’t like to be called a private investigator. It sounded too pulp-fiction, too dime-store. Too much like something you'd find in the back of a yellowing paperback with whiskey stains on the cover. He preferred the term "discreet operative." Not that he ever corrected clients—especially not the ones like Devon Hamilton. It had been almost five years since he first got the call. Benjamin Hamilton’s voice had been tight on the line, clipped and full of silent implications. “There’s been an issue,” the man had said. A potential scandal involving Devon, a woman, and a leak that could've tarnished the family name. Benjamin had wanted it handled. Quietly. Efficiently. Michael did exactly that. Devon had barely been twenty one years of age back then. He'd been raw but smart enough to keep his mouth shut. What surprised Michael, though, was what came after—the kid didn’t just vanish back into privilege and forget the man who cleaned up his mess. He came back with questi

  • Forbidden Desires: Falling For My Fiance's Brother   Chapter 37: Tomorrow

    It had been six days since the funeral. Six days since they lowered her brother into the ground. Six days since she’d stood between two men—her father on one side, Devon on the other—and felt like neither of them could truly reach her. Not anymore. Annabelle just sat curled up on the edge of the cream velvet sofa in her living room, a half-drunk cup of tea growing cold in her hands. The silence in the house was different now. Not peaceful or comforting—just heavy, stretched thin over every inch of air, as if the walls themselves were waiting for someone to speak and break it. But no one ever did. Devon hadn’t called for a while now. She had checked several times. She had waited, but... she still hadn't received a single text from him. And her father? Hugh Lawson had been more ghost than human lately. He came and went without much of a word, retreating into his study for hours, sometimes entire nights. The clinking of glass against glass had become the new lullaby outside her do

  • Forbidden Desires: Falling For My Fiance's Brother   Chapter 36: Celeste [pt. 2]

    Celeste leaned over the cracked countertop of her sublet in Brooklyn, her fingers stained with ink from a coffee-stained notebook. The radiator hissed behind her like it had something to say. She didn’t listen. She was too busy refreshing her inbox. Still nothing. Not from her editor. Not from the freelance platform. Not from anyone. She pushed her hair back with one hand and exhaled through her nose, slow and measured, like she could calm the growing weight in her chest with breath alone. But It didn’t work. It just never did. Her eyes flicked to the manila folder on the edge of the counter. Thin. Too thin. Everything she had on Devon Hamilton so far couldn’t fill more than four pages. And two of those were just quotes from anonymous classmates who described him as “weirdly private.” Not exactly front-page material. She needed more. She needed... everything. Because the truth was: she was broke. Not the fun, broke-but-in-Europe kind. The real kind. The kind where your card gets

  • Forbidden Desires: Falling For My Fiance's Brother   Chapter 35: “RE: FOIA Request – Damian Lawson.”

    Devon stared at the screen, his finger hovering over the trackpad. The subject line of the email was simple. “Your girl Celeste – initial findings.” He clicked. The message unfolded quickly. Bullet points. A link. An attachment. Michael didn’t waste time on fluff. > Celeste Renee Marlowe. Real name. No aliases. Freelance journalist. Currently unaffiliated. Has written for several mid-level publications. Mostly politics and human interest. Last big story? Three years ago. A state senator’s son caught in a corruption scheme. Connection to the Lawsons unclear. But she’s been asking around since Damian’s death. Quietly. And here’s the kicker: she’s been digging into you. By name. Since the funeral. Devon leaned back in his chair, a slow exhale escaping. His fingers tightened around the glass of scotch. She’d called him by name before he’d introduced himself. Of course she had. This wasn’t random. She’d known him—targeted him. The email continued, with a short note at

  • Forbidden Desires: Falling For My Fiance's Brother   Chapter 34: "Got you, amateur."

    Devon stood in the middle of his bedroom, half-dressed, phone in hand. The screen was lit with a single message—Damian’s last one. "Meet me. There’s a lot we need to talk about." Sent at 4:42 PM. The day before he died. He didn’t know why he kept reading it. Maybe because it felt like some kind of unfinished sentence, like Damian had more to say but never got the chance. Or maybe, because deep down, Devon wanted to believe there had still been time to change everything. His phone dimmed, casting the room into shadows again. The windows were cracked open just slightly. It was enough to let in the breeze, and with it, something else. Something faint, but familiar. The scent caught him off guard. A smoky sandalwood with a sharp citrus note. He knew that cologne. Devon froze, his breath hitching. He knew it because it had lingered in the air that night. The motel room, amidst all the thrusting. The intensity, the pleasure. Damian had worshipped his body with so much intensity

  • Forbidden Desires: Falling For My Fiance's Brother   Chapter 33: Celeste [pt. 1]

    "Devon Hamilton... A pleasure to finally meet you in person." Devon’s heart skipped, but not enough for anyone to notice, but enough for him to feel it. The voice was crisp, feminine and unfamiliar. Startled, Devon turned slowly, careful not to spill the lukewarm coffee in his hand. And as he did, he saw a woman standing beside his table, cool and composed with sharp cheekbones softened only by the faintest smirk tugging at her lips. She stood there in a camel trench coat, her auburn hair tucked beneath a slanted beret, sunglasses still on despite the indoor setting. She looked polished, but not overdressed. One may say a bit calculated. She didn’t wait for permission. She slid into the seat across from him, setting her leather purse gently on the table. “I was told you’re punctual. That part, at least, wasn’t exaggerated.” Devon blinked once, then twice. “And you are?” “Someone who’s taken a rather invested interest in you,” she said, crossing one leg over the other.

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