LOGINAll she could think about was Lyra.Lyra coming home.Lyra taking back the studio.Lyra reclaiming her place in their mother's heart.Lyra getting everything.Again."No," Karla whispered to herself, her voice barely audible over the sound of products falling and breaking. "No, absolutely not."She grabbed the last item on her vanity...a jar of expensive face cream, and threw it with all the force she could muster.It hit the wall and exploded, leaving a thick smear of white cream running down the pale surface like a wound.When she was done, her vanity was nearly empty. Her room looked like a disaster zone, products everywhere, some of them broken, all of them wasted.She stood in the middle of it all, breathing heavily, her hands clenched into fists at her sides.The anger was still there, burning just as hot as before, but now it was focused. Channeled. Transformed into something that could be used.Karla looked around at the destruction she'd created and felt a dark sense of satis
Karla stood in the center of her room, her entire body vibrating with barely contained rage.The crushed document lay on the floor where she'd thrown it....a pathetic, wrinkled ball of paper that represented months of hope and careful planning.She couldn't think straight. Her mind was racing, jumping from one thought to another, none of them coherent, all of them consumed with anger and desperation.Lyra was coming home.The words kept repeating in her mind like a broken record, a sentence she couldn't escape no matter how hard she tried.Lyra was coming home.And when she did, everything Karla had built, everything she'd worked for, everything she'd managed to create while her sister was away....all of it would crumble to dust.She couldn't let that happen.She wouldn't let that happen.Karla walked over to her bed and sat down heavily, her hands trembling as she reached for her phone. Her fingers moved across the screen with purpose, finding a contact she hadn't called in weeks but
She opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out.Instead, she just stared at him with that expression of complete devastation, tears streaming down her face unchecked.Victor saw her struggle, saw her wrestle with the question, saw her come face to face with the reality of what accepting her children's relationship would mean.And he understood.He pulled her close again, wrapping his arms around her, holding her as tightly as he could."You don't have to make the decision now, dear," he said softly, his lips brushing against her hair. "Let's talk about it later, okay? There's no rush. We can figure this out together."Isabella just shook her head...not in disagreement, but in exhaustion, in emotional devastation, in the overwhelming weight of everything she was feeling.She didn't respond. She simply held onto her husband and let him hold her, drawing strength from his presence, from his understanding, from the fact that he was there with her in her pain.Neither of them notic
The call had ended barely a minute ago.Isabella sat on the edge of the bed in her and Victor's bedroom, her phone still clutched in her hand. She wasn't moving. She wasn't thinking about anything in particular. She was simply existing in the space between the call and whatever came next, a space filled with relief and guilt and longing all mixed together into something she couldn't quite name.Her eyes were still wet with tears.She was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't hear Victor come into the room.His footsteps were soft as he crossed the carpet toward her. He stopped in front of her, and for a moment, he simply looked at her....at his wife sitting there with her phone in her trembling hand, at the tears that had traced lines down her cheeks, at the expression on her face that spoke of heartbreak and hope tangled together.He reached out and gently touched her shoulder."Let me guess," he said softly, his voice filled with understanding. "You called Lyra."Isabella's he
In the bathroom, she wrapped her hair in a towel, piling it on top of her head in a haphazard bun. She was still humming as she caught sight of herself in the mirror...her cheeks flushed, her eyes bright, her entire face glowing with a kind of happiness that came from deep within her.She looked like a woman who was completely satisfied.She looked like a woman who was in love.She was about to step into the shower when her phone rang.The sound cut through the quiet of her apartment, and for a moment, she froze.She stood there, naked and dripping slightly, trying to figure out who could possibly be calling her at this hour. It was late...nearly 11 PM on a weeknight. No one she knew would be calling her at this time unless it was important.She quickly grabbed her robe from the back of the bathroom door and wrapped it around herself, tying it loosely. Then she padded back out to the living room where she'd left her bag.She pulled out her phone and looked at the screen.Her breath ca
Emma's smile widened, and she handed Lyra a document."Before you go, can you just sign this?" Emma asked. "It's for the Voltish collection. We need it filed with the authentication records. It won't take a minute."Lyra took the document from Emma's hands. She quickly scanned it to make sure everything was in order, and then she signed her name at the bottom and then she handed it back to Emma."Done," she said, trying to sound casual.Emma took the document back, and her smile was knowing. She clearly suspected something was going on, but she was gracious enough not to push for details."Have a good evening," Emma said warmly, already turning to leave."You too," Lyra replied.Emma left the office, closing the door quietly behind her.Lyra resumed gathering her things.She put on her coat and grabbed her bag.She took one last look around her office to make sure she wasn't forgetting anything. Then she stood up, straightened her clothes, and then walked out of the office.***The el
LYRA POV:The plane touched down at JFK with a jolt that matched the anxiety thrumming through Lyra's veins.She'd barely slept during the flight, her mind spinning with questions her mother refused to answer over the phone. Urgent. Family matter. Need you home. The words had echoed through her hea
Her phone screen glowed accusingly in the darkness, her shameful confession staring back at her. With shaking hands, she minimized the app and clutched the phone to her chest, heart hammering so hard she thought it might break through her ribs.Footsteps on the stairs.Light, measured and feminine.
Lyra's fingers trembled as she typed, the blue glow of her phone the only light in her darkened bedroom.LyraNight: I thought about him again today. God, I'm so fucked up.She held her breath, waiting. The three dots appeared almost immediately....her anonymous stranger always responded, no matter
"The Mercers. They were good people. Are good people." Karla's eyes filled with fresh tears. "They passed away six months ago. Car accident. That's when I did the DNA test. I had no one left and I just... I needed to know if there was anyone out there who shared my blood."Isabelle made a soft soun







