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Chapter fifty four

Author: Florence Scarlet
last update Huling Na-update: 2025-12-04 14:09:46

I woke to light. Not the harsh, intrusive kind that pries your eyelids open, but the soft, golden kind that warms your skin before your mind catches up. It streamed through the sheer curtains, turning the room honey-gold. For a moment, I didn’t remember where I was, just that everything felt unusually still. Then I felt Crest’s arm around my waist, his palm resting low on my stomach, warm and steady. His breathing was slow, the deep, relaxed rhythm. Greece. We were in Greece.

“Good morning,” he murmured sleepily into my shoulder, voice deeper than usual.

“Morning,” I whispered. He nuzzled the back of my neck, half-awake, his stubble grazing my skin. My stomach fluttered. Not because of desire, though there was always a bit of that. But because of how tender he was when sleep loosened his guard.

“You slept well?”

“I did. You didn’t even move.”

“That’s because you were using me as a body pillow,” he said, voice a little smug.

I turned enough to face him, and he smiled, hair tousled, ey
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  • Intricacies of the heart   EPILOGUE

    Days had slipped by in a swirl of nerves and excitement, but today I was finally ready to tell Monica. Crest had kissed my temple that morning before work, smoothing a hand over my still-flat stomach, and said gently,“I’ll handle telling the kids. They should hear it from me.”And something about the certainty in his voice, quiet, warm, protective, helped me breathe a little easier. I invited Monica over that evening. She drove down from work, wearing her manager badge like a medal she forgot to take off. Her mood was upbeat as usual. Immediately she stepped in, her jaw slacked.“Oh…” she breathed. “So THIS is what you meant by ‘Crest’s place.’ It’s humongous. I mean, I knew Crest was fancy, but this is next level.”I snorted. “Oh please…” I said, pulling her towards the kitchen. “Come on, help me me dinner.” She paused “What? I’m here to help you make dinner?” “No, but let’s start with that.” She dropped her purse on the marble kitchen island like she’d been personally betrayed

  • Intricacies of the heart   Chapter sixty six

    I wasn’t sad, I wasn’t spiraling or crying or dramatically staring out windows like in the movies. I was just… thinking. Thinking so hard my brain felt like it was humming under my skull. Two days had passed and I hadn’t left the apartment. Not because I couldn’t, but because moving felt pointless when every answer I needed was somewhere inside me, not outside. I paced. I sat. I lay down. I got back up. I drank water. I ordered food and didn’t touch half of it.My emotions weren’t loud, they were quiet, orderly, lining themselves up in my head like files waiting for review. Crest wanted to stay home with me both days.“You don’t have to be alone with this,” he had said, searching my face like he expected to find cracks.“I’m not alone,” I’d told him. “I’m just… sorting myself.”It wasn’t sadness he saw. Just… the heavy, scary weight of possibility. So he went to work, He didn’t argue, but he lingered in the doorway that morning, as if leaving felt wrong but hovering felt worse. And t

  • Intricacies of the heart   Chapter sixty five

    I did not remember standing up, but suddenly I was on my feet, pacing the bathroom like the walls were closing in. The test sat on the counter, bold and blue and merciless. Crest hadn’t touched it. He just stood by the door, not moving, watching me with a mixture of awe and dread, like he didn’t know whether to smile or step back.I pressed a shaky hand to my forehead. “I… Crest, I don’t know what to do.” It came out harsher than I meant it to, but fear tightened all my words. He approached slowly, like I was a skittish animal. “Sasha. Sit with me,” he said softly, guiding me toward the edge of the tub. But my legs wouldn’t bend. “I can’t decide if I want to have it,” I whispered. “This is a life. This is everything. I—I’m twenty-six. I barely even know how to handle my own chaos, much less—” My throat closed. He didn’t interrupt. His patience made it worse somehow, made my fear feel valid, made the moment real.“I—I mean I knew I’d want kids someday but being an actual mother,” I c

  • Intricacies of the heart   Chapter sixty four

    Time goes by so fast when you’re happy. Three months ago I was with Crest, the love of my life, in Greece. Living in a figment of my imagination. Now, our bond was stronger than ever. Life was almost perfect. The kids kept coming over every weekend, as usual. Monica was excelling, the restaurant was thriving so well under Monica’s management, that I didn’t need to go in every day. Crest was happy, content. It felt like the universe was smiling down at me.Until one Thursday morning, I was sautéing garlic for a simple breakfast, nothing intense, nothing unusual. When the smell hit me like a physical slap. My stomach lurched violently. I turned off the stove so fast the pan nearly skidded, stumbling backward as a wave of nausea punched through me. Crest, still half-asleep and buttoning his shirt. “Are you okay?”“Yeah,” I lied, swallowing hard. “Just… dizzy.”He stepped forward, but I waved him off and hurried to the sink, rinsing my mouth, blaming it on stress… or maybe I was coming do

  • Intricacies of the heart   Chapter sixty three

    A full week had passed since Greece, our closet now looked like a luxury logistics hub. The last of my shipped gifts had arrived. Boxes. Velvet cases. Handwritten notes from jewelers whose names I couldn’t pronounce. With the obscene amount of jewelries I now owned, I’m pretty sure I could open a small jewelry store. I organized everything, sorted what would stay here, and packed the rest neatly so I could take the pieces meant for Monica and Cherry to the restaurant.When I walked into my restaurant office, carrying two glossy, heavy gift bags, both girls were already waiting, coffees in hand, eyes sharp like they’d planned an ambush. Cherry spotted the bags first.“Ohhhh, what is that?” she asked, eyebrows climbing.“Please tell me that’s not a skincare routine,” Monica said. “Because I can’t emotionally handle another twelve-step product line right now.” I dropped the bags on the table, they thudded loudly. Both of them froze.“Okay,” Cherry whispered. “That’s not skincare. That’s

  • Intricacies of the heart   Chapter sixty two

    We stepped out of O’Hare and into the cool Chicago air, my body felt like it belonged to a different timezone entirely. The sky was a dull gray, the kind that made the whole city look washed and sleepy. We didn’t talk much on the drive home.Jet lag had wrapped itself around us like a heavy blanket, Crest’s hand rested on my thigh the entire ride, thumb tracing lazy, absentminded patterns through the fabric of my sweat-pants. It was the only thing anchoring me to the present. When his driver pulled into the parking garage of the apartment building, I had to bite back a groan as I stepped out of the car, my legs didn’t feel like mine. He noticed instantly.“You good?” he asked, voice rough from exhaustion.I nodded, even though I looked like I’d been tumble-dried.“You?” He gave a tired half-laugh. “Barely.”We rode the elevator up in a quiet that wasn’t awkward, just heavy, familiar, exhausted. My head rested briefly against his shoulder. He kissed the top of my hair without thinkin

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