LOGINHe'd stopped having dreams about that night years ago. The mind had a way of moving past things if you were disciplined about it. If you didn't let yourself revisit the details, and kept yourself occupied with enough lesson planning and student conferences that there wasn't even a space in your head for the past.It had worked remarkably well, until the third period on a random Tuesday in October, when Fl walked in late, something she never did—and he felt the ground shift beneath his feet.She looked like Madison. thankfulky not enough that anyone else would notice. But there was something in the shape of her face. The way she carried her shoulders. The watchfulness in her eyes. That quality of observing rather than simply existing.Madison had watched him too. He remembered that. The way her eyes would follow him around the classroom. The way she would stay after class to ask questions that seemed carefully constructed to circle around something else entirely.He'd made a mistake wi
"Hey, can you stop flexing your chest all around the house? It's fucking disgusting. I'm sure you think you look cool, but sorry—you just look ridiculous."The words left my mouth before I could stop them. Kelvin stood in the doorway of the living room, fresh from the gym, still in his tank top with sweat glistening down his arms. He just looked at me, that soft expression on his face making it worse.He's nothing but a sweet soul. That's the problem.Yeah, he's got muscles that make you lose your mind a little. Yeah, his face is unfairly handsome in a way that pisses me off. But it's the niceness that gets me. That gentle, apologetic thing he does with everything. People like that are fake as hell—hiding behind all that "good guy" bullshit."I'm sorry, Helen. I never meant to bother you."His voice was so low, so fucking *innocent*. I wanted to scream.I'd done everything to get him to snap at me. To yell. To show some edge. But Kelvin just apologizes and takes it like he deserves it
[Vivian's POV]I didn't sleep.I lay in the guest room—the one with the pale blue walls and the view of the oak trees—and I stared at the ceiling. My phone was in my hand. I could have texted him. I could have called her. I could have done a thousand things that would have made this real.Instead, I just lay there and watched the hours pass on my phone screen. 2:47 AM. 3:15 AM. 4:33 AM. The numbers blurred together.By 6 AM, I got up. I showered. I made myself into the version of Vivian that goes downstairs for breakfast. Composed. Functional. The kind of woman who slept well and didn't spend the night on her knees in the kitchen.I could lie with my whole body now.---They were both at breakfast.Of course they were. Why wouldn't they be? They thought they'd gotten away with it. They thought I was at work, completely unaware, completely stupid.They thought I didn't know.Bryan was making eggs. Again. Like yesterday. Like nothing had changed. He was humming—actually *humming*—while
"Bryan, sweetheart, could you come help me with this zipper?"I heard my mother's voice from the bedroom—high and bright, the way it gets when she's performing happiness. I heard his footsteps pad across the hardwood floor. I didn't hear any hesitation. That's the thing I couldn't forgive later: there was no hesitation at all.I was awake. Not fully, but enough. Enough to understand, on some level, what that eagerness meant.I didn't do anything about it.Instead, I rolled over and waited. Waited for him to come back. Waited to hear his footsteps, which never came. That's when I started to understand. Not the specifics—not yet—but the shape of something wrong.By the time I got downstairs, they'd already cleared their little scene. The kitchen smelled like coffee and normalcy. Mother sat at the island in her lavender silk robe, the one she saves for days when she wants to look effortlessly beautiful. The robe was buttoned all the way up.People don't realize how much you can see in wh
woke up to Ravenna shaking me awake like the apartment was on fire or something."Babe, I gotta go. I got a meeting at 9 and my boss is gonna kill me if I'm late again," she was saying, already throwing her clothes back on.I groaned and checked my phone. It was like 7:30 in the morning and my head was pounding. The tequila was not it. Not it at all.Wendy came stumbling out of the guest room, looking like she'd been through a war. Her makeup was smudged, her hair was all over the place, and she was moving like every step hurt."I'm leaving too," she announced. "My mom is expecting me for breakfast and if I don't show up she's gonna call the police or something dramatic like that."Elisa emerged from the bathroom, already showered and looking somehow fresh as fuck even after last night. Like, how was she glowing? She caught me staring and smiled—that kind of smile that said everything was cool, everything was normal, we were still us."Y'all are leaving me?" I groaned, but I was alre
The bass was still thumping through the dorm walls when I kicked the door open with my foot, a red Solo cup in each hand and my heart trying to beat its way out of my chest. “Girl, move your ass or I’m pouring both of these on you,” I called out, laughing even though my stomach was in knots. Some curly-haired white girl I’d never seen before was already sprawled across my bed like she owned it, phone flashlight on, filming herself doing drunk makeup in my mirror. She glanced over her shoulder, grinned like we were besties, and said, “Yooo, you’re the soccer bitch with the braids, right? This room is fire.” I wanted to tell her to get the fuck off my sheets, but instead I just smirked. “Yeah, and you’re in my bed, so either help me hand these drinks out or get your drunk ass up.” She cackled and rolled off, snatching one of the cups. That’s when I saw the other two girls already posted up on the floor like they’d been waiting for me. One was this tiny, gorgeous Indian chick in
Selena didn't sleep. She lay in the dark listening to the mansion settle—pipes shifting, the distant hum of the AC, the weight of what happened on the terrace pressing down on her like something physical. Every time she closed her eyes, she felt it: the heat of his mouth on hers. The way he'd tilted
Selena's mother was in the private room at Royal Crest Hospital, looking stronger than she had in weeks. The upgrade had already happened. The surgery was already scheduled for tomorrow. Selena sat beside her mother's bed, smoothing down the expensive blanket, not quite ready to explain where the
The Grand Kingsland Hotel ballroom glittered like a den of wolves wearing diamonds. Crystal chandeliers cast golden light over hundreds of the city’s elite — businessmen, politicians, socialites — all circling each other with fake smiles and real knives. Selena stayed close to Matthew’s side, pai
Selena had been in the mansion for two days when Victoria showed up. She was in the library, going through design books—mostly to keep her mind occupied—when Margaret came in with an apologetic expression. "Miss Victoria is here to see Mr. Kingland," Margaret said carefully. Selena looked up from







