Jennifer The amber light of dawn streamed through my penthouse windows, casting long golden bars across the polished oak floors. My assistant had left an arrangement of fresh lilies by the balcony, their perfume heady in the still morning air. I stared out at New York' s waking skyline from the living room, cradling a cup of dark roast coffee in my manicured hands.I should have felt satisfied. My latest collection had sold out within hours, my name was on every billboard, and Lucian’s company shares were rising with my brand attached to them. But none of it mattered. Because underneath it all, Eloise’s name still flickered like an inextinguishable flame.She was gaining traction again.I scrolled through my tablet, my fingers flying across the screen as I scoured comments on the fashion influencer reels. They gushed about “Eloise’s raw, authentic designs” and her “emotional textures that speak to real womanhood.”My throat tightened with bitterness. Emotional textures. They were my
Eloise The quiet hum of cartoons filled the living room as Max curled into my side, his small fingers playing with the hem of my sweatshirt. The evening sun filtered through the blinds, casting striped shadows across the coffee table cluttered with coloured pencils, Legos, and Max’s half-finished superhero drawing. “Mommy,” he said, tilting his head up to me, his brown eyes wide and searching. “Will Daddy come visit soon?” I swallowed, my chest tightening around a pain I could never voice aloud. I brushed a stray curl from his forehead and kissed him softly. “Daddy’s…busy, sweetheart. You know that.” His mouth turned down in a pout, his little brows knitting together. “But I miss him. I want him to come see my drawings.” I forced a smile, though my heart cracked at his words. “I’m sure he’ll see them one day,” I whispered, not believing it myself. My phone buzzed beside me on the couch, breaking the heavy silence. I glanced at the screen and froze. Dad. “Hello?” My voice cam
Jennifer I scrolled through the comments under my latest jewellery post for the hundredth time, my thumb moving with mechanical precision. The diamonds on the screen glittered beneath the studio lights, perfectly edited to catch the eye. Perfect. Elegant. Visionary. Words people used to describe me. Words I used to describe myself. But today…today the comments burned. “Looks just like Eloise’s collection from last fall,” one wrote beneath the pinned promotional video. I gripped my phone tighter, nails biting into my palm. My pulse pounded in my ears as if each beat shouted her name, her name, her name. The voice in my head refused to shut up. I slammed the phone down on my vanity and stood abruptly. The hem of my satin robe brushed against my ankles as I paced across my bedroom, each step sinking into the plush cream carpet Lucian gifted me months ago. Lucian. Even thinking of him made a fresh wave of tension bloom in my chest. Why was he acting like this lately? Distan
Lucian The city skyline glowed outside my office window, a thousand diamond lights scattered across the landscape. I leaned back in my chair, rolling my neck to relieve the tight knot that had settled there since morning. The documents on my desk blurred before my eyes, lines of contracts and sales reports merging into an indistinguishable mess. I sighed heavily and raked a hand through my hair. Focus, Lucian. I pinched the bridge of my nose, dragging a file closer, but no matter how many times I read the words, they wouldn’t stick. My mind kept drifting back—back to her. Back to Eloise. I hadn’t planned to see her today. I was supposed to have a quiet dinner with a client at Lumière, to finalise the expansion pitch for next quarter’s Paris release. But when I walked in, I saw her. She sat at the far end of the restaurant with her family, her father, Jadeline, and Jennifer. Eloise looked tired, her smile polite but dim. I watched from the shadows of my private booth, every muscl
Eloise I drove in silence, my grip tight on the steering wheel as I merged into the evening traffic. The sun had set, leaving streaks of purple across the horizon. The city lights flickered on one by one, its like watching the world come alive for everyone except me. The car smelled of my vanilla perfume mixed with leather, but somehow it felt stifling tonight. My father sat in the passenger seat, staring straight ahead, eyes weary from the long flight. Jadeline sat behind him, quietly tapping away on her phone, while Jennifer sat behind me, humming under her breath to whatever song played in her mind. “So, how’s Max?” my father asked suddenly, breaking the silence. My chest tightened. “He’s… fine,” I said, my voice flat. “Growing up fast. He asks about you.” He didn’t respond, just nodded absentmindedly, returning his gaze to the traffic outside. It was like talking to a wall. There was a time when I would do anything for his attention – read newspapers so I could discuss politi
Eloise I didn’t know what I was expecting when I pulled into the airport parking lot, but it wasn’t this. It had been three years since my dad left. Three long years of silence that stretched between us like a cold void. The heart problems that sent him overseas had been serious, life-threatening even. And with Jadeline, my stepmom, by his side, I didn’t expect the same father I remembered. He had always been the life of the party, loud, charismatic, the type of man who had a hundred friends but none of them really knew him. And then, in the blink of an eye, everything changed. Just like that, he left. And I was left with the remnants of a broken family to navigate alone. But now they are finally coming home. I could see the hustle and bustle of the airport as I walked through the automatic doors, the smell of coffee and harsh floor cleaner in the air mixing with the low hum of chatter and rolling suitcases. People hugging each other, children screaming with joy, lovers kissing as