Mag-log inLena’s POVThe paper in my hands does not feel real I stare at it for so long that the words begin to blur together black ink swimming against white while my mind struggles to catch up with what the doctor already confirmed what my body already knew before I allowed myself to admit it.Pregnant three months I should feel happiness, shock and fear but instead I feel grief so deep that it settles into my bones because the first person I want to tell is the one person who is not here to hear it.The clinic parking lot is quiet around me as I sit motionless behind the steering wheel the engine still off, the ultrasound photo trembling slightly between my fingers while tears gather in my eyes faster than I can stop them beside me Eli sleeps peacefully in his car seat, completely unaware that my entire world just shifted again.His tiny chest rises and falls steadily beneath the soft blue blanket wrapped around him, his curls messy from sleep, his small hand resting against his cheek in a w
Lena’s POVGrief changes shape over time, but it never truly leaves at first it feels violent and unbearable like something tearing through your chest every second of the day but eventually it becomes quieter, settling into the spaces between moments until you almost forget it is there, and then something small happens a scent, a memory, a song playing somewhere in the distance, and suddenly it is crushing you all over again.Three months have passed since Ethan’s funeral and somehow the world has continued moving as if nothing important disappeared from it.The island feels emptier now not physically but emotionally.The white sand still stretches endlessly beneath the sun, the water still glows blue beneath the light and the villas still stand untouched in their polished perfection but none of it feels the same anymore because he is not here.Nothing feels real without him here.I stand outside one of the villas overlooking the ocean my arms folded tightly against myself as the wind
Lena’s POVLos Angeles feels louder than I remember but not in a way that comforts me because every sound seems distant and hollow like the city kept moving while something inside me stopped completely.The car slows as we turn into the long driveway of the mansion and my chest tightens the moment the gates open because nothing has changed.The gardens are still perfectly trimmed the fountain still runs with the same quiet elegance and the house stands exactly the way it always did untouched, unmoved, as if time refused to acknowledge that everything inside me has fallen apart.I do not move right away when the car stops because this was home once this was where everything began and everything broke and now I am back here without him.Keenan opens the door slowly his movements careful, like he understands what this place means to me.“We can take it one step at a time you do not have to rush anything,” he says gently.I nod even though nothing about this can be taken slowly and I step
Lena’s POVThe first thing I feel is the weight it presses into me slowly, like I am surfacing through something heavy and thick my body reluctant to move my mind even slower to catch up, and for a moment I do not understand where I am or why everything feels so far away from me.There is a sound somewhere close steady and rhythmic and it takes me a few seconds to realize it is a machine, something monitoring something something important, something connected to me, and that realization pulls me a little closer to awareness.My eyes open slowly the light is too bright at first sharp and unfamiliar, and I blink against it trying to focus trying to make sense of the shapes around me, the pale walls, the sterile smell, the quiet hum of equipment that does not belong to anything familiar.A hospital.The memory does not come all at once it slips in piece by piece the shore, Ryan, Eli and the struggle.My chest tightens suddenly my body reacting before my mind can fully catch up and I shif
Lena’s POVThe cold air reaches me before my eyes fully open the sharp scent of salt and ocean water cutting through the fog still dragging through my mind and for a moment everything feels disjointed like I am being pulled into awareness too quickly without understanding where I am or how I got here but the movement beneath my feet and the distant crash of waves against the shore force reality back into place in a way that makes my chest tighten instantly the memory does not come slowly it hits all at once. Ryan. the house and Eli.The panic rises so fast that it overrides the weakness in my body pushing through the dizziness as I force myself upright my arms instinctively searching for him before I even turn my head and the second I see him in the arms of one of Ryan’s men crying and reaching for me something deep inside me breaks into something far more dangerous than fear.“Give him back to me,” I say my voice rough but rising, every word carrying more force than I feel capable of
Victor’s POVThere are moments when the truth does not arrive all at once but presses in slowly until it becomes impossible to ignore, and as I step back onto the explosion site and take in the shift in atmosphere around me, I understand immediately that something has changed from uncertainty into something final.The movement across the area is no longer frantic or reactive but controlled in a way that suggests decisions have already been made, conclusions already drawn, and as I move forward through the lingering scent of smoke and burned metal, my eyes settle on the group gathered near the center of the damage.Keenan stands closest, his posture rigid, his attention fixed on the ground in front of him as if he has not moved from that position in a long time, while James remains beside him, quieter but just as tense, and Ruth stands slightly apart, her expression drawn in a way that tells me she has already seen more than she wanted to.John is there as well, his face pale and set i
Ryan’s POVI pick the place because it’s loud.That’s the first rule you don’t meet someone like Donavan in a quiet room, you meet him somewhere with noise and movement and too many people half listening. Somewhere where words get swallowed before they land.The bar smells like old beer and fried f
Ethan’s POV The quiet in this place isn’t peaceful. It’s loud in its own way. It presses in on me, follows me, sticks to my back like sweat. Every room feels wrong without her in it, like the house knows she left and hasn’t forgiven me for it. I don’t remember when I last slept through the night.
Lena’s POVI notice the flyers before I even read them.That sounds stupid, but it’s true. It’s the way they look. Too clean. Too glossy for this town. Pinned up straight, corners neat, paper thick enough that the wind hasn’t curled it yet. They don’t belong on the old wooden notice board outside t
Lena’s POVBy the time the sun starts going down the whole town feels different almost as if it’s holding its breath and smiling through it at the same time.Lights are hanging across the main street crooked in places because no one here cares enough to make them perfect and honestly that’s part of







