LOGINCIERRA’S POV“I need to go see Arthur myself,” I said, my voice climbing sharply as I began pacing the same way Miles had been minutes earlier. “I’ll go tonight, right now, actually. I’ll get on my knees in front of him if I have to. I’ll tell him I understand his anger, that I’ll do anything to fix this, that we deserve a second chance.”Miles let out another heavy, exhausted sigh and dropped onto the edge of the bed, rubbing both hands roughly down his face. “Don’t even think about it if you value yourself even a little,” he said, his voice flat with resignation. “I’ve told you what happened when I tried talking to him. He’s not interested in second chances, Cierra. Not from me, and definitely not from you.”“Then what exactly are we supposed to do?” I asked, my voice rising with frustration, panic bleeding through every syllable now. “Just accept this? Just pack up and move into some cramped apartment like a couple of broke college students?”“What other choice do we have?” he aske
CIERRA’S POV“Do you think I enjoy being evicted?” Miles snapped, yanking the wardrobe door open with more force than necessary. He dragged out a suitcase and dropped it onto the bed with a heavy thud that made me flinch slightly. “You think he told me this news and I just stood there happily accepting it? He didn’t give me a choice, Cierra. And from everything I’ve learned about that man over the years, once he gives an instruction, he doesn’t change his mind about it. Ever.”I stood there completely speechless, watching him yank the suitcase open and begin pulling items out of the closet with the kind of grim, mechanical resignation of someone who had already accepted defeat. It was like he had stopped fighting the moment the words had left Arthur’s mouth, like the thought of pushing back against it hadn’t even crossed his mind as a real possibility. That, more than anything else, terrified me. The Miles I knew never simply accepted defeat without exhausting every possible option fi
CIERRA’S POVI blinked multiple times, almost convinced I must have misheard him, some strange ringing settling into my ears that made his words sound distorted and wrong.“What? What did you just say?” I asked, confusion clear in my voice, my heart already beginning to pound harder against my ribs before I fully understood why.“You heard exactly what I said,” he replied, pushing himself completely off the bed and standing up. He was already pacing back and forth across the bedroom floor, his bare feet moving restlessly against the carpet. “We have less than forty-eight hours to leave this house.”My heart dropped instantly, a cold, sinking feeling spreading through my chest like ice water. My brows drew together sharply, my mouth already falling open before I could stop it.What?“Forty-eight hours to leave?” I said, forcing a laugh, hoping desperately he would suddenly turn around and admit this was all some kind of ridiculous, poorly timed joke, that he’d gotten me good and now we
CIERRA’S POV“Well, at least the water trick worked. I can see you’re doing a lot better now,” I said, sitting down on the edge of the bed and watching him carefully. It had been more than thirty minutes since I’d dragged him into that shower for what I could only describe as a forced reset, and it seemed to have actually done the job, sobering him up enough to at least stand upright without swaying.He didn’t answer. He simply continued buttoning his nightshirt with his back turned toward me, his movements stiff and deliberate, like he was buying himself extra time before he’d actually have to face whatever conversation was coming.If he genuinely thought avoiding eye contact was going to help him dodge my questions, he was sorely mistaken. I’d known this man for years, long enough to recognize exactly when he was stalling.“Now that your head’s clear,” I said, keeping my voice level, “I’d like to know exactly what happened tonight.”“Nothing happened,” he said coldly, finishing the
CIERRA’S POV “Ew, ew, ew,” I muttered, snatching my hands back from his belt the second I realized exactly what I was looking at. “No. Absolutely not. I am not touching him. I’m not taking that off with actual urine on it.” I stood there for a long moment, staring down at him sprawled across the bed, completely unconscious and utterly oblivious to the disgusting state he’d left himself in. Part of me genuinely considered just leaving him there exactly as he was, walking straight back downstairs, and sleeping in one of the guest rooms until morning. He could wake up in his own mess as some kind of poetic justice for whatever ridiculous bender he’d apparently gone on tonight. But realistically, I knew that wasn’t going to work. This was still my bedroom too, and I certainly wasn’t sleeping on some lumpy guest bed just because he’d decided to drink himself into a stupor and lose control of his bladder in the process. If I left him here like this, that smell would seep into everything,
CIERRA’S POVAfter calling him for what felt like the hundredth time, he still wasn’t picking up. This was exactly the problem I had with Miles. He’d never done anything like this before, disappearing for hours without a single word, but of course, the one night he decided to stay out late, he also chose not to call or text me back even once.Roman would never do this to me. He would never leave me sitting here for hours, phone pressed to my ear, listening to endless rings that eventually went to voicemail. That alone was reason enough to remind myself exactly why I couldn’t wait to finally leave Miles behind for good and settle permanently into the life Roman was actually building for us.Just then, I heard the front door open downstairs.So he’d finally decided it was time to grace me with his presence, wherever he’d been sulking off to for the past several hours.I stood and walked quickly toward the door, expecting to see my usual, put-together husband, maybe rumpled from a stress
ANABEL'S POV I took a small breath, steadying my emotions and finally pushing away all the tears I'd been crying for the past few minutes. Every now and then, I could still feel the heaviness lingering in my chest, but I couldn't keep breaking down forever. There was no room for tears anymore. Y
ANABEL’S POVA man stood there holding a glass loosely in one hand, his expression calm but amused. Even through my blurry vision, I could tell he was attractive. Very attractive.Tall, dark hair, sharp jawline.The kind of face people noticed immediately.I stared at him blankly for a moment befor
ANABEL’S POVI woke up the next morning emotionally exhausted.The moment I opened my eyes, reality settled over me again. Cierra remained in the house. Miles was still avoiding me. And somehow everything that had happened over the past few days still seemed impossible to process even after everyth
ANABEL’S POV~ Four Days Later ~The atmosphere inside the church felt heavy the moment I stepped in.Soft instrumental music drifted through the speakers while low whispers spread across the room, as though people were afraid to speak too loudly around death.Everyone was dressed in black, their f







