LOGIN{Playlist Suggestion: "Daylight" by David Kushner / "Invisible String" by Taylor Swift}~CHELSEA POV~{One Year Later}I was standing on the edge of the huge glass balcony of Kolt's penthouse, a cool evening breeze ruffling the hem of my silk slip dress, looking down at the glittering, spreading out city that used to absolutely scare me.And I realized with a sudden, overwhelming wave of peace that I wasn't scared of it anymore.It had been exactly one year since the absolute worst and best night of my entire life, and it honestly felt like I was living inside an entirely different universe.I had just gotten off a FaceTime call with Chase, who was currently sitting in the library with Emma, loudly complaining that she was aggressively color-coding his college applications.But he looked so incredibly healthy, his cheeks flushed and his eyes bright, talking about computer science programs at IvyLeague schools instead of talking about hospital bills and oxygen levels.Everything had j
THE SCHOLARSHIP{Playlist Suggestion: "Dog Days Are Over" by Florence + The Machine / "A Thousand Years" by Christina Perri}~CHELSEA POV~I was standing in the dusty, echoey lobby of our apartment building, staring at the little dented metal mailbox with my name taped to the front of it.And my hands were shaking so completely uncontrollably that I dropped the tiny brass key twice before I could finally get it into the lock.Chase was leaning against the wall next to me, looking healthy and sarcastic and absolutely nothing like the weak boy who had been strapped to a hospital bed just a month ago.And he was tapping his foot impatiently because we both knew exactly what letter I was waiting for."Just open it, Chels," Chase groaned, rolling his eyes as I finally got the little metal door open and pulled out a stack of junk mail. "It's been three weeks since you applied, the portal said the decisions were mailed out on Monday, so it has to be in there."I flipped past a grocery store
LONDON CALLING{Playlist Suggestion: "Castle on the Hill" by Lukas Graham (Cover) / "Ribs" by Lorde}~KADE POV~I was sitting in the cracked red vinyl booth at Ellie's Eats, staring down at a plate of greasy diner fries that I wasn't actually eating, just listening to the comforting, mundane sounds of the bells chiming over the door and the coffee machines hissing in the background.Sitting across from me were Denver and Mia, and they were pressed so close together in their side of the booth that you couldn't even tell where Denver's varsity jacket ended and Mia's oversized sweater began. Their fingers loosely tangled together on the tabletop in this incredibly easy, effortless way that made my chest ache just a little bit, but mostly it just made me really happy for my best friend."So, Knox officially cleared out your dad's office today," Denver was saying, stealing a fry off Mia's plate and easily dodging her half-hearted attempt to slap his hand away. "The news is everywhere, Ka
BROTHER TO BROTHER{Playlist Suggestion: "Brother" by Kodaline / "Let It Go" by James Bay}~KADE POV~I was limping down the brightly lit hallway of Mercy General Hospital at five in the morning, leaning heavily on my black cane, and honestly I felt like my entire body had been thrown into a blender and run over by a truck.But my tiredness was absolutely nothing compared to the chaotic, deep storm of emotions ripping through my chest.Everything had happened so fast over the last few hours that my brain was still struggling to process the fact that Reed Mitchell was currently sitting in a jail cell.My father had been completely stripped of his empire by Knox, and the girl I loved had been hiding the most traumatic, devastating secret of her entire life from me because she thought she had to protect my feelings.But the thing that was messing with my head the most was the truth about my brother.I reached the door to room 402 and pushed it open without knocking, stepping into the hos
THE FALL OF THE KING{Playlist Suggestion: "Power" by Kanye West / "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" by Lorde}~KNOX POV~I spent my whole adult life walking down the quiet, carpeted hallway on the forty-second floor of Kingston Enterprises. It felt like I had a heavy weight on my chest. I was always scared of making a mistake and disappointing the boss behind the big wooden doors at the end of the hall.But today, my chest felt completely and incredibly light.I wasn't walking down the hallway as the obedient, broken son who married a woman he hated just to secure a business alliance, and I wasn't walking alone either.On my right, there were three police officers in uniform and the main detective of the city. On my left, five senior members of the Kingston Enterprises Board of Directors were walking quickly. They all looked very pale and scared because I had called an emergency meeting at 4:00 AM to show them the offshore routing numbers that a sixteen-year-old kid had just hack
THE TRAP{Playlist Suggestion: "Blood // Water" by grandson / "Mount Everest" by Labrinth}~CHELSEA POV~I didn't mind that the hem of the pretty emerald green silk dress Kade bought me was getting dirty in the muddy puddles of the industrial area. I just paid the taxi driver with shaking hands and practically ran toward the huge, rusted metal doors of the empty warehouse Zoe had told me Kolt owned.I needed to see him, I needed to look into those intense green eyes and tell him that I had finally stopped lying to myself, that Kade had let me go, and that I was completely, irreversibly entirely his.The warehouse was very dark, with just a few blinking yellow security lights near the ceiling. It smelled like dust and wet concrete. My silver heels made a lot of noise in the big, empty space as I walked in. I wrapped my arms around myself because it was really cold inside."Kolt?" I called out, my voice trembling slightly as it bounced off the folded metal walls. "Kolt, it's me, Chels
THE GATEKEEPER{Playlist Suggestion: "Daddy Issues" by The Neighbourhood / "Way Down We Go" by KALEO}~CHELSEA POV~That big hospital building, made of glass and metal, stood out against the dull sky.I stood at the edge of the parking lot, my hands shoved deep into my pockets to hide the shaking.
UNNECESSARY ROUGHNESS{Playlist Suggestion: "My Body is a Cage" by Arcade Fire / "Natural" by Imagine Dragons}~KADE POV~the stadium lights were super bright, almost too bright to look at. You could hear this low buzzing sound that made your head feel weird, kind of like the ache in my knee. I was
THE UGLY TRUTH{Playlist Suggestion: "fake smile" by Ariana Grande / "idontwannabeyouanymore" by Billie Eilish}~DENVER POV~The Prescott mansion smelled like vanilla and cold air. It was a museum, not a home. Everything was white, beige, or gold. Even the air felt special. I sat on the edge of Val
FIRST STEPS{Playlist Suggestion: "Comfort Crowd" by Conan Gray}~MIA POV~If I refreshed the 'Crawford Updates' Twitter page one more time, my thumb was going to fall off.It was 2:14 AM. My roommates, Sarah and Jess, were dead to the world, snoring in a way that usually drove me insane. Tonight,







