Chapter Two Hundred and Eighty-Seven

Grace’s POV

Something was wrong with Gideon.

I didn’t want to admit it at first. I kept telling myself he was just tired, or stressed, maybe overwhelmed with the sudden jump in workload after Jenny… left.

My mind didn’t want to land on the truth, so it tiptoed around it, inventing softer explanations.

But the signs were everywhere.

He’d disappear for hours without telling me where he was.

Come back with that too-bright smile, like he’d just wiped something off his face.

He’d get irritated if I asked normal questions. Where were you? Did you eat? Are you okay?

Then, two hours later, he’d be the sweetest man alive, rubbing my back, making me tea, telling me he adored me.

Whiplash, wrapped in charm.

And I told myself I was imagining it because chaos had already torn a hole through Rosemary and through Celeste’s heart.

I didn’t want to add my own mess to hers.

But pretending didn’t stop the cracks from getting wider.

It started with his absences. Late nights and early mornings.

A phone he