LOGINHandsome,This is probably the last time I'd get to call you that. I couldn't text or call you to say this, so I'm writing it instead.I'm sorry.I know you probably won't understand why I'm doing this. I don't fully understand it myself.The past months has been harder than I've let you see. I thought I was getting better. I thought if I went back to normal, kept busy, smiled and laughed when I was supposed to, eventually everything would stop hurting. But it hasn't. And lately, I've started feeling like I'm standing beside my own life instead of actually living it.You keep telling me that we're okay. That losing our baby didn't change us. That what the doctors said doesn't change the future we imagined.I want to believe you. I really do.But every time you talk about our future, I find myself wondering whether I'm enough to be part of it anymore. I hate that I've started thinking that way. I hate even more that I haven't known how to tell you.You have been patient with me. You ha
WE MADE THAT?Anna scoffed for the umpteenth time as she stitched the deep laceration across the shoulder of the man who'd been brought into the ER earlier that morning.Why had she gotten so affected by that? Why had she been stupid enough to give that buccaneer of a man any encouragement?Her eyes narrowed at the memory.Knightmare☺️: It is. Still can't believe we made that.She'd stared at the message for another good thirty seconds before finally typing:Anna: My next doctor appointment is in two weeks.She'd hesitated, biting down on her lip as she debated whether to send the next message.Anna: ...you can come, if you want to.The response had come so quickly, she'd barely had time to regret sending it.Knightmare☺️: Sure. Day and time?Anna groaned low in her throat again. THAT had been her mistake. She'd thought she was simply giving him an opportunity to be present for his child. Instead, apparently, she'd handed Jason Knight an open invitation to become a full-time pregnancy
What was happening right now?Anna stared at the man in front of her as though he'd grown two heads. She couldn't wrap her head around the fact he was standing in front of her right now, refrigerator open, asking what she wanted to eat. Not just that—planning to cook for her.It felt like ages since he'd done that. It felt like decades had passed since he'd stocked her kitchen and made dinner for her. Before everything went to hell. Before he'd said those words.You're dead to me.Let's end this cursed fate between us.Jason raised an eyebrow when she just continued to stare at him.Was he serious?"Are you planning to just stare at me?"Anna's lips parted, her eyes dropping from his. She looked up when Jason sighed."What do you want to eat?" He asked again."Um... anything is fine.""What's anything?""I don't know.""Then think."Anna gave him an exasperated look, crossing her arms again. Jason straightened and faced her fully, one shoulder resting against the refrigerator."Let's
He hated this house.It was driving him insane. Or maybe it had nothing at all to do with the house but a certain pregnant woman who wouldn't stop ruining his sanity.His resolve.He was going insane because they were living together. Because their history was complicated. Because he promised there would be boundaries.Because he shouldn't want her.Yet, he wouldn't stop noticing things about her. The way she talked to the staff. Laughed with Elena. The way she walked downstairs for her morning run, half-awake most times. The way she touched her stomach while running without realizing she was doing it.The east side of the estate was usually quiet at the wee hour of the morning. Jason knew because he'd been using the running path beyond the backyard since he moved in. And on his way back, he'd noticed the faint glow from one of the upstairs windows.Her window.One morning it was on. The next morning, it wasn't. One morning he saw her silhouette. Another morning, there was nothing. He
The first thing Anna noticed on Monday morning was that she was hungry.It was such a simple thing, but after several days of waking up nauseous, she wasn't sure whether to be relieved or suspicious. She sat on the edge of her bed for a moment, waiting to see if the familiar wave of nausea would follow.She exhaled softly when it didn't. "Thank goodness."She got dressed and headed downstairs. The house was quieter than it had been over the weekend. The buzz of Jason moving in had already settled into a new routine. Most of the staff were already moving around, preparing breakfast and getting the household ready for the day. Elena was nowhere in sight, which meant she was probably still asleep—or already downstairs somewhere, fussing over the staff.Anna smiled to herself. She entered the dining room and stopped when she saw a familiar figure sitting at the table. Julian looked up from his tablet."Morning.""Morning."His eyes immediately went to her stomach before returning to her f
Jason woke with a dull ache behind his eyes. He reached blindly toward the nightstand. His fingers met polished wood... and nothing else.Groaning softly, his hand swept across the surface again—there was still nothing. No crystal carafe. No glass.What the hell—He opened his eyes, sitting up as he did. For several seconds, he simply stared at his unfamiliar surroundings. A few boxes still lay around. The curtains were too light and let in too much daylight.Daylight?He looked toward the nightstand again, expecting to find his phone where it always was...He looked around the room, his eyes stopping on the window sill. His phone sat there—exactly where he'd left it last night. He got out of bed and picked it up.7:12 a.m.Jason's eyes narrowed on the screen. Then he noticed the missed calls from Ethan and his jaw tightened.He had woken ridiculously late. He had missed his morning run. Missed the quiet hours in which he normally checked reports and missed his morning briefing with E
“What in God's name am I doing?” Anna muttered, staring at her reflection in her vanity mirror. Grabbing makeup wipes from the box on the table, she wiped the lipstick on her lips. It was bad enough she had styled her hair in a sleek low bun, applied mascara and lined her eyes. But she was for the
Jason's grip on Anna's wrist as he steered her to the hospital’s stairway was firm but careful. The stairwell door swung shut behind them, sealing with a muted thump, cutting off the noise from the hall.It was quiet—underused, as always. The fluorescent lights above were harsh and their footstep
The car slowed to a stop in front of the hospital's emergency entrance, the red lights washing over the windshield.Anna was already reaching for the door before the engine died off. Jason's hand on her arm stopped her. She turned to him, her finger still on the door handle—he had a puzzled look o
With a hesitant hand, Anna clicked on the email. A block of dread settled like lead on her chest as she quickly skimmed the email. Subject: Eastwood High — Class of 2014 GatheringHi Anna,I hope you’ve been well.We’re organizing a small reunion for the Eastwood High Class of 2014 and are reachin







