로그인Andrea startled slightly, her shoulders jerking as she turned to look at the older woman, her defenses still completely raised. "Miss Carrie. I... I'm sorry. I just... I have everything under control.""Are you?" Miss Carrie asked, her voice rich with compassion. "Are you really fine, Andrea?"Andrea didn't answer. She just turned her gaze instantly back to Sophie's chest, watching it rise and fall.Miss Carrie studied her carefully—taking in the deep, dark circles under her eyes, the unnatural paleness of her skin, and the way her fingers trembled as they tightly gripped the wooden arms of the rocking chair."Andrea, I want to tell you something," Miss Carrie said quietly, her tone conversational but deeply tender. "Something I haven't talked about in a very long time. It’s about my sister."Andrea’s gaze flickered, glancing sideways at her."My sister had postpartum anxiety after her first baby was born," Miss Carrie continued. "She couldn't sleep a wink. She was constantly standing
Henry Moore rubbed his eyes, the harsh fluorescent lighting overhead burning directly into his skull. Across the table sat Richard Moore, his suit jacket off, his tie loosened just a fraction, looking like a monolith carved of granite. On the massive display wall, Marcus’s video feed from London flickered, his face pale under the low light of his apartment.They had been tearing apart Hanson Group’s corporate structure for five hours."Look at the tertiary funding," Richard said, his blunt finger tapping a column on a leaked financial disclosure sheet. His voice was steady, carrying the weight of a man who had survived three market crashes. "Hanson is flashing a massive upfront cash return to Cole Group to make our deal look obsolete. But look at what's backing the capital injection. It’s junk bonds, Henry. They’re highly volatile, over-leveraged, and tied to a fluctuating European real estate portfolio."Marcus leaned closer to his camera in London, squinting at his own monitor. "He'
Henry woke before the sun could even touch the city skyline. Sleep was a luxury he couldn't afford anymore. Slipping out from under the covers, he dressed in the dark, his eyes lingering on the quiet silhouette of Andrea. She was curled tightly on her side, her arm locked protectively around Sophie’s small form in the middle of the bed.He didn't wake her. He couldn't face another argument about the wall she had built between them.By 5:47 AM, Henry was sitting at his desk at Crestview. The executive floor was dead silent, the lights turned off except for the harsh glow of his laptop screen. He stared at the spreadsheet detailing the Cole Group file.$120,000,000.00. The zeroes blurred together.He tried to restructure the terms in his head. Faster liquidation, higher initial returns, slashing Crestview’s own margins to absorb their risk—nothing worked. Hanson Group’s offer was a chokehold.At 9:15 AM, his phone finally buzzed. Marcus."Henry, I just saw the emergency brief," Marcus s
Andrea’s footsteps faded down the hall, leaving Henry sitting at his desk in the dark.He didn't turn on the lamp. He just sat there, staring at the empty doorway, trying to process the door she had shut between them. I don't need therapy, Henry. I don't need help. Her words hung in the air like smoke.From the end of the hall, the quiet, frantic sound of their three-month-old daughter, Sophie, fussing cut through the silence. Then came the soft creak of the floorboards. Andrea was already there. She would be hovering over the crib, her hands trembling as she checked Sophie's breathing for the fifth time this hour, her knuckles raw and white from over-washing.Henry understood the fear. He really did. But three months of watching his wife slowly disappear into a sleepless, exhausting cycle of panic was breaking him. He was completely powerless to stop it.He ran both hands through his hair, gripping his head as if he could physically hold his thoughts together. He picked up his phone
Three months.It had been three months since Sophie came home, and Henry barely recognized his wife anymore.He woke at 6 AM to find Andrea already awake, sitting on the edge of the bed in the dark. She was wearing the same sweatshirt she'd worn yesterday. And the day before. Her hair was matted, and there were dark circles under her eyes so pronounced they looked like bruises."Andrea?" he said, his voice rough with sleep. "Did you sleep at all?"She didn't answer. She was just staring at the wall.Henry reached over and turned on the lamp. Andrea flinched at the sudden light, squinting against it. Up close, he could see how pale she was. Almost translucent. Her collarbones were prominent in a way they shouldn't be."When's the last time you ate?" he asked."I ate," she said, but her voice was hollow."When?"She didn't answer.Henry got out of bed and went to the kitchen. He made toast and brought it back to her. She took one bite and set it down."Eat," he said gently."I'm not hun
The penthouse felt different now. Smaller somehow though it's just been three weeks after discharge, even though nothing had physically changed. But with Sophie here, with the crib in the master bedroom and bottles on the kitchen counter and tiny clothes in the laundry, everything felt different.Andrea stood in the kitchen, preparing tea for her grandmother and aunt who were arriving any minute. Her hair was pulled back in a bun, and she was wearing a soft sweater and sweatpants. On the surface, she looked fine. Rested, even.But her hands were moving too fast, too restlessly, arranging and rearranging the tea cups on the tray.Henry appeared in the doorway, watching her. "Hey, they'll be here in like five minutes. You okay?""Yeah, fine," Andrea said, smoothing down her sweater even though it didn't need smoothing. "I just want everything to be nice.""It will be," Henry said, coming over to squeeze her shoulder. "Relax."Andrea nodded, but she was already moving toward the bedroom.
Andrea woke with a sharp inhale, her body jolting upright before her mind fully caught up. For a brief second, everything felt still, almost peaceful… until reality crashed back in. Her phone lit up beside her. 7:37 AM. “Shit.” The word slipped out under her breath as her heart kicked hard a
Andrea’s hands trembled as she reached Caleb’s apartment door, her mind still trying to come up with excuses for why he hadn't texted or called her yet on her birthday. Maybe his phone died. Maybe something happened. Maybe there was a reason he had left her sitting alone at Giovanni’s on her birt
She pushed through the pharmacy doors with the small paper bag clutched against her chest like something that might explode if she held it too loosely. The walk back to the penthouse felt longer than it should have, her legs were moving but her mind was somewhere three steps ahead, already dreading
Andrea couldn't sleep. She'd spent the whole night tossing and turning her mind replaying the email from HR over and over until the words were burned into her brain.By the time her alarm went off at 6 AM, Andrea was already awake and absolutely livid. She got dressed with sharp, angry movements; p







