LOGINRyan’s POVI don’t move for a long time the screen keeps playing the same footage over and over again but I barely register the words anymore. It was the images that won’t leave me alone.Samuel being led out and Chanel right behind him as cameras flashing like it was some kind of show like everything we built was just something for people to watch fall apart.My jaw tightens as I drag a hand down my face, pacing once then again like movement might somehow change what I’m seeing but it doesn’t.“This isn’t possible,” I mutter more to myself than anything else because it shouldn’t be we covered everything. every angle and every risk nothing was supposed to trace back like this nothing was supposed to fall apart this fast.I grab the remote and turn the volume up needing to hear something—anything that tells me this is temporary.“…multiple charges including murder, attempted murder, financial fraud—”I turn it off again too loud and too real.My chest feels tight like something is clos
Third Person POVThe news doesn’t break all at once it starts small a notification, a headline, a message someone almost ignores and then it spreads too fast to stop.By the time the first video hits the major networks, it was already everywhere shared, reposted, talked about before anyone even understands the full story.Police cars line the long driveway of the Miller estate, lights flashing against the clean white walls that always looked untouchable. Officers move with purpose, not hesitation, and the gates that once kept the world out are wide open.Cameras catch everything as the front doors open and Samuel steps out first.He doesn’t look like a man who thinks he has lost. His shoulders are still straight, his expression controlled, but there was something tight around his eyes that wasn’t there before something that gives him away if you are paying attention.Behind him Chanel is already arguing with one of the officers, her voice sharp, her movements restless she is trying to
Lena’s POVI don’t cry not at first I just stand there staring at him like if I look long enough something will make sense like my brain will catch up to what he just said and tell me this isn’t real but it is.Every word he spoke is still sitting in the room heavy and impossible to ignore.My chest feels tight too tight like I forgot how to breathe properly.“You are lying,” I say but my voice doesn’t have any strength behind it.Because part of me already knows he is not he doesn’t react to the accusation, oesn’t get defensive and he doesn’t raise his voice he just stands there and waits and that makes it worse.“I don’t remember you,” I say, shaking my head slowly. “I don’t remember anything like that.”“You were a baby,” he replies quietly. “You wouldn’t.”That lands hard I swallow my throat dry. “So I’m just supposed to believe that you what? Left me somewhere and watched me from a distance like that makes it better?”“No,” he says. “I don’t expect you to believe anything without
Victor’s POVShe lets me in I didn’t expect that.I thought she would shut the door in my face before I could say a single word but instead she steps back just enough to let me enter her eyes locked on me like she was trying to figure out whether I’m real or just another problem she didn’t ask for.The door closes behind me and the silence that follows feels heavier than anything I have carried in years.She doesn’t sit and she doesn’t offer me anything she stands across from me her arms wrapped around herself, her body tense like she is ready to either run or fight.“Talk,” she says.No warmth and no patience just that one word.I nod slowly. “My name is Victor Miller.”The reaction is instant her face tightens, her brows pulling together as she shakes her head. “No, that is not funny.”“I’m not joking.”“Victor Miller is dead,” she snaps. “So whatever game you are playing—”“I was supposed to be,” I cut in quietly.That stops her. Her eyes narrow as she studies me, searching for cra
Lena’s POVThe afternoon is quiet in a way that almost feels unreal not the heavy silence I have gotten used to, the kind that sits in your chest and makes you uneasy. This is softer, lighter like the house is finally exhaling after everything we’ve been through.Eli is asleep upstairs and Ethan stepped out earlier to take a call something about the legal team and next steps but he promised he wouldn’t be long. Keenan and James are at the bookstore. Ruth said she would stop by later.For once it’s just me.I stand in the kitchen, rinsing a cup I don’t really need to wash,just keeping my hands busy because my mind refuses to sit still.Everything feels like it has shifting like I’m standing in the middle of something that hasn’t settled yet and I don’t know if I should trust the calm. I think about the few stolen kisses with Ethan, I know I am not ready yet, I know he hurt me more than anyone else had ver done but everytime I get close to him I feel myself falling again. I need his tou
Lena’s POVThe house feels different quieter in a way I haven’t felt in a long time like everything that was loud and suffocating has stepped back just enough to let me breathe again.It is strange how something so small can feel so big.I’m standing in the kitchen doorway watching Ethan like I haven’t done a hundred times before but this feels different too he is at the stove sleeves rolled up moving around like he belongs here.Not like a guest and not like someone trying to prove something just here.“What are you making?” I ask leaning my shoulder against the frame.He looks over his shoulder at me a small smile pulling at his mouth. “Something edible that is as far as my confidence goes right now.”I huff out a quiet laugh. “That doesn’t sound promising.”“It is pasta,” he says turning back to the stove. “You can’t mess that up.”I raise a brow. “You would be surprised.”He chuckles under his breath and there is something about that sound that settles in my chest in a way I don’t
Ethan’s POVI find her on the beach late in the afternoon where the sky sits low and heavy almost as if it is holding its breath.The tide is out leaving long strips of wet sand that shine like dark glass and the wind keeps tugging at her hair in slow restless pulls. She stands close to the water b
Lena’s POVThe hospital room feels bigger the moment the nurse tells me I can go home as if the walls have stretched while I wasn’t looking and now everything feels open, exposed and too much.I sit on the edge of the bed with my feet dangling over the side staring at the floor while the nurse remo
Lena’s POVWaking up feels wrong. It feels like being pulled up from deep water when my lungs weren’t ready yet. My chest feels tight, my head throbs and there is a steady beeping sound that won’t stop like it is reminding me that I’m still here whether I’m ready for that or not.My eyes flutter op
Lena’s POVFour weeks have passed since that night and sometimes it feels like four days and other times like four years.The island looks the same and the house is new but it already smells like me.John and Caroline bought it for me without hesitation and that still makes my chest ache. It isn’t







