Beranda / Romance / Only His On Paper / Chapter 51 – “Not Yours to Burn“

Share

Chapter 51 – “Not Yours to Burn“

Penulis: Mary George
last update Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-07-04 15:48:50
Ava’s POV

The sun was rising, but it didn’t feel like a beginning.

It felt like exposure.

Light spilling over everything I couldn’t outrun.

The headlines. The whispers. The worst part wasn’t what he said.

It was how steady his voice was when he said it.

Like it didn’t cost him a thing to doubt me.

Like all the moments we shared, everything we survived could be erased with one look at a

headline.

Lily stirred beside me on the train, her head tucked under my chin.

So small. So still.

She felt light in my arms, but heavy in all the ways that mattered.

Too fragile to be out of a hospital bed.

Too fragile to be caught in the middle of any of this.

But I carried her anyway.

Because no one else would.

Because I couldn’t leave her behind, even if that meant leaving everything else.

I kept one arm wrapped around her, like maybe I could still protect her from the noise, the world, the wreckage.

But my other hand wouldn’t stop shaking.

My phone screen glowed in my lap—still open to Naomi’s messag
Mary George

We all carry our own versions of “paper.” Contracts. Expectations. Stories written for us before we even knew how to write our own. Sometimes the bravest thing isn’t walking away—it’s choosing not to go back. If you’ve ever let go of something that no longer served who you were becoming, I hope this chapter made you feel a little less alone. With love, M.G. 🤍

| Sukai
Lanjutkan membaca buku ini secara gratis
Pindai kode untuk mengunduh Aplikasi
Bab Terkunci

Bab terbaru

  • Only His On Paper   Chapter 60 – “Still, Always”

    Ava's POV⸻“Let’s not start over,” Damian said softly.He slid the velvet box across the marble like it weighed more than it should.“Let’s start right.”I stared at it.Not because I didn’t know what it was. But because I did.And this time, it wasn’t backed by a contract. No lawyers. No deadline. Just us.He didn’t rush me. He didn’t move at all.But then—slowly, like the choice had to be his too—he dropped to one knee.Not dramatic.Not rehearsed.Just real.“I should’ve done this… way before now,” he said, barely above a whisper, his eyes not letting go of mine for even a second. “But back then I was… God, I was clueless. I didn’t understand what any of it meant. What you meant.”My breath caught.“I don’t have an empire to promise you. Just this,” he said, tapping his chest, voice raw. “Just a man who had to lose everything before he understood what he was trying to build.”He opened the box.The ring wasn’t flashy. It wasn’t even new.It looked like something old. Something mea

  • Only His On Paper   Chapter 59 – “What We Build”

    Ava’s POV⸻We didn’t move.Lily had gone upstairs, but neither of us said anything. We just… stayed like that.The rain was still tapping on the window. Same steady sound. Like it didn’t care that everything had changed inside.No documents between us. No script. No mask. Just the quiet. And his hand, still holding mine.He didn’t let go.Even when I crossed the room to switch off the lights. Or when I turned the lock on the door. He stayed close, quiet. No pressure. No moves.And maybe that’s why I didn’t ask him to leave.Because for the first time… we weren’t pretending.—We didn’t say much the next morning either.The rain hadn’t stopped. Just kept going like a rhythm we were already used to. The sea sounded rougher outside, and the quiet between us felt full but not heavy. Just there.Like air after you’ve been underwater too long.I was barefoot, wiping down the counter, not really thinking when the bell over the door rang.It wasn’t soft. It rang like someone who knew why the

  • Only His On Paper   Chapter 58 — “No Paper, Just Us”

    ⸻He didn’t come back the next day.Or the one after.The café stayed open, but I barely noticed the hours. Customers came and went, voices in the fog. I stacked books, cleared tables, pressed coffee, but my hands weren’t really in it. My head wasn’t, either.And then, on the third morning, I found him.Damian.Sitting on the steps outside the café. Damp from mist. He looked wrecked. Like the coat was dragging him down, and his eyes hadn’t seen rest in a while. He didn’t knock.Didn’t speak.Just waited.I stood at the window for too long. He didn’t move. Didn’t check his phone. He didn’t move. Just kept sitting there, like he was waiting on something I hadn’t decided to give.After a while, I got up and cracked the door open. Didn’t say anything. Just left it that way.He didn’t come in right away.But he came.Quietly. Carefully.Like someone who understood that presence was a privilege.—He didn’t call my name. Just stayed in the doorway, wet sleeves and everything, like he didn’

  • Only His On Paper   Chapter 57 — “The Bell Over the Door”

    Ava’s POV⸻The sea kept coming.That’s all it did. Just wave after wave, like it didn’t care who was standing on the shore watching. Sometimes I told myself that was a strength. Other times I knew it wasn’t.It was just what happens when you forget how to stop.I was putting books away behind the counter, not really thinking about the titles. Just moving. The wind tapped against the windows like it had something urgent to say but kept forgetting the words. Lily was upstairs humming something soft. Off-key. Familiar in a way I couldn’t name.The bell on the café door rang here and there. It always did. Locals. Strangers. A woman who only came in for warm bread and left with poetry she never meant to buy.Two days had passed.Since Damian.Since I saw him vanish into fog and choked on a goodbye I never meant to say aloud.I hadn’t touched the letter. Not once.Not because I didn’t want to but because once I opened it, the truth would be real. And once it was real, I’d have to feel all

  • Only His On Paper    Chapter 56 – “What’s Left Behind”

    Ava’s POV⸻He stood in the doorway like the storm had followed him in.Wet hair. Wrinkled shirt. Eyes too tired to lie.Damian.Alive. Here.And too late.I didn’t move. I didn’t speak. The bell over the door had stopped ringing, but somehow it still echoed between us.He took one small step forward. “I’m not too late… am I?”His voice cracked on the last word.I looked at him—really looked. The man who once stood in boardrooms like he owned time itself now stood across from me like a boy who’d just lost it.But I didn’t move.Because this was the same man who let me walk away without a word. The same man who stood beside Helena when she twisted everything I was into something shameful.And now he was here, drenched in regret, hoping I’d just… forget.I didn’t answer.Then upstairs, Lily’s voice floated down.“Mom?”My breath hitched.Not because of the word, but because she’d never said it out loud before.It wasn’t really about motherhood. It was muscle memory. Reflex. I was the on

  • Only His On Paper   Chapter 55 — “Return to Fire”

    Ava’s POV⸻I looked down at the photo again.He wasn’t smiling.But he looked lighter.Like he’d finally put something down.The letter sat beside me, haunting in its silence. The kind of silence that didn’t echo—it swallowed you whole.Naomi’s hand brushed my shoulder, steady, grounding. “Say something,” she whispered.I couldn’t. Not yet.Because somewhere between his last word and the missing signature, something inside me cracked.“I should go to him,” I finally murmured.Naomi said nothing.“But I won’t.”She let the quiet stretch.“I can’t leave Lily,” I added. “She’s still healing. She needs to be calm. And what if I go there and… and he’s already moved on? What if I become the girl who always runs toward the person who leaves first?”Naomi shifted. “He didn’t move on, Ava. You saw the photo.”I nodded. “I did.”And still, I didn’t move.—By morning, I packed what little we had into a small duffel bag—one for me, one for Lily. Naomi had arranged a place for us weeks ago: quie

Bab Lainnya
Jelajahi dan baca novel bagus secara gratis
Akses gratis ke berbagai novel bagus di aplikasi GoodNovel. Unduh buku yang kamu suka dan baca di mana saja & kapan saja.
Baca buku gratis di Aplikasi
Pindai kode untuk membaca di Aplikasi
DMCA.com Protection Status