Melanie That same night, I felt Albert shake my shoulder lightly as he called out to me. Confused, I woke up looking at him. "What's going on?" I tried to find out, without understanding, why he was waking me up at dawn. “I'm sorry to be waking you up like this at such a time, but I need to talk t
Laura “Why is there all this crying here? What is happening here?” I asked worriedly as I entered the boys' room. Daniel was screaming, making a real scene. The babysitters couldn't even hold him. “He hit me, Mommy!” Daniel said as he cried, pointing to his brother, who was on the other side of th
Laura “He can’t even come down to eat?” Mine asked as soon as I opened the door for her. I was in the boys' room, spending some time with Stephen after his father grounded him. Jason had already gone to work by then. I sighed with a small smile. “He’s going to eat in his room today. His Dad’s orde
Laura "Oh, my fucking God! I don't believe this,” Ava was exclaiming on the other end of the line. “So that Max guy has a crush on your husband? What a jerk!” Both she and I were so surprised as Melanie told us about the recent falling out she had with Albert. “So, yes, apparently,” the girl rep
Lindsay My relationship with Gideon started quite spontaneously. That afternoon, years ago, Laura, my then-boss, had asked me to go to her recent ex-boyfriend's apartment to get her things from there, as she didn't want to have any more contact with him. I, being the good employee that I was, rea
Lindsay Gideon Bathory wanted me to leave him alone, but I told myself I wasn't going to give up on him. So, the next day, when I went to the Hextec offices for work, Laura didn't even suspect what had happened between me and her suitor. “Oh, Lindsay. Sorry about that, I heard Gideon was a littl
Lindsay “What the hell are you doing here? Are you by any chance following me?” Gideon asked me as soon as I managed to get into the bathroom where he was. He was washing his face in the sink in front of the mirror. “I noticed you are oddly quiet, you must be so sad…” I said to him, then quietly,
Lindsay So, a few days later, when Laura and Jason returned to New York and everyone found out that they had decided to give their love another chance, Gideon felt defeated, without hope. He perceived that he had no more space in Laura's life and wanted to take the first flight that appeared in fr
Laura POV “I love the outfit you chose to wear today. You’re absolutely stunning, my love,” I said, praising my daughter while gently caressing her arm. This weekend had been tough for Annie. She’d had the freshman ball on Friday night, and today, Sunday, she had to accompany me to this brunch at L
Annie POV That night, we fell asleep curled up together, still reveling in each other’s bodies. It was simply impossible to describe. A mix of longing, nostalgia, and satisfaction at having him there again, feeling his body under my fingers, his kisses, his gaze, running my hand through his silky
Annie POV Peter Morton’s face was just inches from mine, staring at me. The electric blue of his eyes was so close I could see his irises dilating and contracting. “You okay, Lady Ann?” he asked. I sighed with a small smile, half in delight. “It’s been a while since anyone called me that.” Actual
Annie POV The masked boy—who I didn’t want to admit was Peter—took me to an upscale, comfortable hotel where I could spend the night safely, away from everything, and try to regain my composure and figure out what to do next. “You can stay here,” he said calmly, though his voice still carried a hi
Annie POV The masked boy led me through the dark campus, his hand firm in mine as we ran away from the ballroom. My legs trembled, the blue dress swishing with each step, and tears still streamed down my face, hot and relentless. The sound of the shouts, the judgments, still echoed in my head, bu
“No choice?” He cut me off, his tone incredulous. “Are you serious? You chose to help Madison make that video. You chose to plug it into the projector. And now Annie’s out there, broken, while you try to run from the responsibility. This doesn’t fix anything, Abby. It wasn’t supposed to end like thi
Abby POV I was there, tucked away in the shadows of the ballroom’s corner, my heart still racing as I watched the chaos I’d helped create unfold. The giant screen kept playing that horrible video, distorted and manipulated clips of Annie echoing through the room like a final verdict. People poin
Annie POV I was still on the dance floor, the warmth of the masked boy’s body against mine, my head resting on his chest as the slow music guided us. The sound of his heartbeat against my ear was almost hypnotic, and I let myself get lost in that feeling I couldn’t quite explain. He’d just said s
I swallowed hard, Caleb’s words coming back to haunt me. “Have you ever stopped to think that maybe we’ve gone too far?” He’d said that at the mall, and I’d hung up on him, but now they echoed in my head. Annie had hurt me, yes. The fight in the dorm, the way she called me fake, like I was trash she