MasukRavenThe waterās warm around me, bubbles clinging soft to my skin, and Roman kneels beside the tub, sponge moving slow and gentle over my shoulders, careful in that particular way heās been since everything happened tonight.āI donāt want to be here anymore,ā I say quietly.His hand pauses. āHere, meaning the house? Or something bigger.āāBigger.ā I stare down at the water. āAs long as weāre living this life, weāll never actually be safe. Any of us. I canāt raise our daughter inside something that keeps sending people through our door trying to take her.āHeās quiet for a moment, dipping the sponge again, dragging it slow along my collarbone.āOkay,ā he says simply.āOkay?āāWeāll go wherever you want to go.āI glance up at him, searching his face for hesitation and finding none. āThe company needs you, Roman. You canāt just walk away from something you built your entire life around.āāThe company will survive without me. Marcus can run it, or the board can find someone els
RavenThe house is quiet once the last of the guests are gone, Nadir finally settled in her crib upstairs with Anaya watching over her, and the second weāre alone in the study, I turn on him.āWhy did you do that to Vivienne?āRoman doesnāt look up from where heās pouring himself a drink. āThe choice was between her and you. There was no other choice to make.āāI hated her.ā My voice shakes. āI hated her more than Iāve hated anyone in my life. But not enough to want her dead. Not like that.āāYou know,ā he says, setting the glass down without drinking from it, āI think you should try being appreciative every once in a while, instead of constantly trying to make me the villain in every version of this story.āāYou killed someone for me.ā I stare at him. āHow exactly do you think thatās supposed to make me feel? And you didnāt think it was wise to tell me yourself, before I heard it from a girl who kidnapped my daughter?āāI expected a thank you.ā His voice hardens. āInstead I ge
RavenI can hear myself screaming and I canāt stop it, the sound tearing out of me over and over, my whole body shaking so hard Anaya has both arms wrapped around me just to keep me upright.āI want my baby.ā My voice breaks apart on every word. āI want my baby, please, someone find my babyāāāTheyāre searching every inch of this property.ā Dave kneels in front of me, holding both my hands in his, his own voice unsteady despite trying to sound calm. āSheās still here, Raven. She hasnāt left the grounds. Theyāre going to find her.āāShe was just in the crib,ā I sob. āShe was just there, I just fed her, I justāāāBreathe.ā Catherine sits beside me, one hand rubbing slow circles against my back. āJust breathe, sweetheart. Panicking wonāt bring her back any faster.āAunt Martha stands near the far wall, hands clasped tightly in front of her, keeping her distance, saying nothing, watching with an expression I donāt have the capacity to read right now.The front door bursts open.Roman.Nad
RavenāI canāt believe sheās actually home.ā I canāt stop staring at her, tucked against my chest, eyes drifting closed after her feed, small and warm and impossibly, finally, ours. āSheās so beautiful.āAnaya leans over the crib rail, studying her with a critical squint. āWhy does she look so much like Roman? His genes really said no contest. Yours didnāt even put up a fight.āāShe has my eyes.ā I brush a finger gently over her cheek. āThat counts for something.āāBarely.ā Anaya grins. āBut fine, Iāll allow it.āI finish settling Nadir and hand her carefully into Anayaās waiting arms. āWatch her for me? I need to go check on our guests.āāGo be a hostess. Weāll be right here.āThe garden looks exactly the way I pictured it, soft white and blush pink balloons drifting gently in the afternoon breeze, flowers arranged in careful clusters along every table, a little celebration of everything we never got to have properly the first time around. No baby shower, no gender reveal, none of it
Roman Raven appears in the doorway of my study just after ten, something small held loosely in her hand, and the look on her face stops me mid-sentence, whatever I was about to say to someone over the phone dying instantly. āIāll call you back,ā I say, and hang up without waiting for a response. She crosses the room slowly and sets it on the desk in front of me. The collar. āSugar.ā My voice comes out soft, careful. āWhatās this?ā āI want you to put it on me.ā Her voice shakes slightly, but she doesnāt look away. āI lied. At breakfast. All week, actually. Iāve been telling you Iām fine, and Iām not.ā I stand and come around the desk, taking both her hands in mine. āI know youāre not okay.ā āI want to be punished,ā she says quickly, like sheās been rehearsing it. āFor thinking the worst of this. For resenting you for something that isnāt your fault. Make it hurt. I deserve it.ā āNo.ā Her eyes snap up to mine, startled. āYou donāt deserve to hurt for havi
RavenThe nursery smells like fresh paint and lavender, and I canāt stand still in it.Anaya is up on the step stool, straightening the mobile above the crib, little stars and moons turning slow circles in the afternoon light. Iām folding the same blanket for the third time, smoothing wrinkles that arenāt there anymore, because if my hands stop moving Iām afraid of what my face will do.āOkay, that oneās crooked no matter how many times I fix it.ā Anaya climbs down, rubbing her palms on her jeans. āI think itās supposed to be crooked. Character.āI force a laugh. It comes out thin.She catches it. Of course she catches it. Anaya has known me since we were kids trading lunch scraps in a school cafeteria, and thereās no version of me I can hide from her, not really, not even the version Iāve been perfecting all morning.āYou barely touched your eggs at breakfast,ā she says, folding her arms. āAnd you did that thing where you laugh a half second too late at everything your husband
RomanI find Marcus in my study, standing by the window with his back to the door, trying very hard to look like a man who has been patiently waiting and not at all like a man who walked in on something he wishes he could unsee.āMarcus, IāāāI didnāt see anything.ā He says it quickly, still facing
RavenI canāt hide my joy about the postponement.Even though I should, even though Jack is barely cold and his family is planning his funeral, I should be drowning in grief.But all I feel is satisfaction.The wedding is postponed, Vivienne is furious, and for the first time, Roman chose to protec
RAVENI sit at the kitchen island, eating cornflakes straight from the box because I know it will annoy someone eventually, and right now that feels like the only power I have left.The house is quiet. Too quiet. Roman left for the office hours ago without saying a word to me. Vivienne is out there
Raven I was having a wet dream. Again. This time I was grinding my soaked pussy on something very solid. It felt good. So good. Better than anything I managed on my own. Not until I woke up. The realization hit me slow, the way sleep peels away in layers; first the warmth, then the frict







