LOGINI stared at the message. Unknown: Eve, this is Catherine. We need to talk about what you're doing to my son. This divorce nonsense has to stop. Of course. Catherine Sterling, now using unknown numbers to reach me because I'd blocked everything else. Fighting Sophia's battles for her. I should have been surprised, but I wasn't. This was exactly the kind of thing she'd do. Reach out on Sophia's behalf, frame it as concern for Damon, make it seem like I was the problem. I deleted the message without responding. Blocked that number too. Set my phone face down on the table and tried to breathe through the anger building in my chest. They weren't going to leave me alone. Not Sophia. Not Catherine. Not any of them. They were going to keep pushing, keep reaching, keep trying to control the narrative until I either broke or gave them what they wanted. But I wasn't breaking. Not anymore. I'd already survived the worst of it. The lawsuit. The humiliation. The marriage falling apa
My phone buzzed again, and this time I didn’t need to look to know it was her. There was a certain timing to these things. A way the past crept back in right when everything else was already falling apart. Still, I reached for it. Unknown number. I opened the message. It’s Mom. We need to talk. I stared at it longer than I should have, like the words might rearrange themselves into something easier to deal with if I gave them enough time. Mom. Which made it worse. Because if it had been anyone else, I could have ignored it without thinking twice. I could have blocked the number, moved on, kept my focus exactly where it needed to be. But my mother had always had a way of getting under my skin without even trying. Of making everything feel heavier than it already was. I locked my phone and set it down beside me. No response. Not tonight. I had already asked my husband for a divorce. Already made it clear I wasn’t changing my mind. Already dealt with Sophia reminding me ex
Lara Jean called at four thirty PM. I was in Jessica’s bathroom throwing up for the third time that day when my phone rang. Jessica answered it for me. “It’s Lara Jean,” she called through the door. “She says it’s urgent.” I rinsed my mouth, wiped my face, and took the phone. “What happened?” “The lawsuit’s been dropped.” I sat down on the edge of the bathtub. “What?” “Sophia’s lawyer just called me. They’re withdrawing everything. No settlement, no charges, no psychiatric evaluation. It’s completely dropped.” “Why?” “She wouldn’t say exactly. Just that her client decided not to pursue legal action at this time.” I should have felt relieved. Should have felt grateful. Should have felt anything other than the heavy, creeping suspicion settling deep in my bones. “At this time,” I repeated slowly. “Meaning she could change her mind.” “Technically yes, but Eve, the deadline passed. They can’t just file again whenever they want. There are limits, procedures.” “So what does t
I called Sophia's lawyer Monday morning, I didn't tell Sophia I was doing it, neither did I ask for permission. I just called. Amanda answered on the second ring. "Mr. Sterling. I wasn't expecting to hear from you." "I need to talk to you about the case against my wife." "I'm afraid I can't discuss that with you. You're not my client and there would be a conflict of interest..." "I'm not asking you to discuss it. I'm asking you to drop it." Silence. "Mr. Sterling, that's not my decision to make. My client has made it clear she wants to proceed..." "Your client is living in my home. Relying on my financial support. If I ask her to drop the case, she'll drop it." "That sounds like coercion..." "It's not coercion. It's me making a request of someone who's staying in my apartment. She can say no. But I'm asking." "Why are you asking?" "Because Eve is my wife. And I don't want her facing criminal charges over one mistake." "Your wife assaulted a pregnant woman..." "My wife sl
EVE'S POV Monday morning I woke up to my phone ringing. I answered, still groggy. "Hello?" "Eve, we have a problem." I sat up. "What kind of problem?" "Sophia's lawyer called me an hour ago. They're rejecting our counter-offer and they want an answer on their original settlement terms by end of day today. If we don't agree, they're filing charges tomorrow morning." "Tomorrow? I thought we had until next week..." "They moved up the timeline. My guess is they want to force your hand before you have time to build a proper defense." I got out of bed, paced Jessica's small bedroom. "What are the terms again?" "Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, public apology, no-contact agreement, and they're back to requiring the psychiatric evaluation." "They dropped that before..." "And now they're reinstating it. This is a pressure tactic, Eve. They're trying to scare you into settling." "It's working." "I know this is hard but we need to make a decision today. Either we accept thei
Seven days passed.Seven days of living at Jessica's, sleeping in her spare room, pretending I was fine when I was falling apart. Seven days of Damon calling, texting, leaving voicemails I didn't listen to.Seven days of trying to figure out how to survive what came next.The morning sickness had started.It was terrible, bad enough that I had to be careful about what I ate and when. Jessica noticed but didn't say anything, just kept crackers by my bed and ginger tea in the kitchen.I'd been avoiding the doctor.Trying to avoid making it real by seeing medical professionals, hearing the heartbeat, all of it.But on day seven, Jessica finally put her foot down."You need to see a doctor," she said Saturday morning. "You collapsed once already. You need to make sure the baby's okay.""I'm fine...""You're not fine. You're stressed, you're barely eating, you're going through a divorce. That's not fine. That's high-risk pregnancy territory.""I don't have a regular OB yet...""So we'll f
Three days.It had been three days of this new arrangement and I was losing my mind.Not in a bad way. In a "I can't stop thinking about him" way. In a "every time he looks at me I remember exactly what he looks like naked" way.We'd fallen into this routine. Work during the day. Pretend to be norm
The words came out before I could stop them.Everyone stopped eating and looked at me."I just mean..." I could feel my face getting hot again. "She's not here. Maybe we could talk about something else."My mother's smile went tight and thin. "Of course, darling. We're just making conversation.""I
Saturday morning I woke up to the smell of bacon. Which was weird because I didn't cook bacon. Didn't really cook anything beyond cereal and toast, honestly. I stumbled out of bed in my pajamas—ratty t-shirt and shorts that had seen better days—and followed the smell to the kitchen. Damon was at
Wednesday arrived and I wanted to die.Okay, not actually die. But maybe get hit by a car. Nothing fatal. Just enough to land me in the hospital for a few days so I could miss this dinner.My parents were coming at seven. Damon's parents were coming at seven. All of them. Together. In the penthous







