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The Morning After Truth

Author: Raphy Maris
last update publish date: 2026-06-21 16:30:00

Anthony's POV

I didn't sleep. I lay in bed staring at the ceiling and replaying Mirabel's voice over and over in my head. By the time the sun came up, I had listened to the recording at least twenty times, and each time it made me angrier.

At six in the morning I called my brother Reuben.

"Do you know what time it is?" he asked, his voice thick with sleep.

"I need you to do something for me."

"Anthony, it's six in the morning."

"I know. And I
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  • SHATTERED BY CHOICE   The Lines We Draw

    Anthony's POVEvelyn came to my office an hour later looking like she hadn't slept in days. She sat in the chair across from my desk and stared at the floor."Did you eat anything today?" I asked."No.""You should eat.""I'm not hungry."I let it go. There were more important things to talk about than food."I spoke to Reuben this morning," I said. "He thinks the recording is usable in court, but only if we can prove Sylvia consented to being recorded. Otherwise it might get thrown out.""And can we prove that?""Sylvia would have to testify that she knew she was being recorded. Which means she'd have to get involved publicly.""Do you think she would?""I don't know. I haven't asked her yet."Evelyn looked up. "Have you talked to your father again?""No. I said what I needed to say this morning. Now it's his turn to decide what he's going to do." I leaned back in my chair. "What about you? Are you

  • SHATTERED BY CHOICE   Face to Face With the Enemy

    Evelyn's POVMirabel was already at the coffee shop when I arrived. She sat in the back corner, her hands wrapped around a cup she hadn't touched, her eyes red like she had been crying. When she saw me, she stood up halfway, then sat back down like she didn't know what the right thing to do was.I walked over and sat across from her without saying hello."Thank you for coming," she said quietly.I didn't respond. I just looked at her and waited.She took a breath. "I know you hate me right now. I know you think I'm the worst person in the world. And maybe I am. But I need you to understand that I never meant for things to go the way they did.""You set up Anthony. You paid someone to make sure Sylvia saw him with me. You destroyed their relationship on purpose." My voice was flat. "What part of that wasn't intentional?""The part where you got hurt." Her eyes filled with tears. "I thought you'd be fine. I thought Anthony would b

  • SHATTERED BY CHOICE   The sister I Thought I Knew

    Evelyn's POVI went to see my mother at the hospital that morning like I promised Francis I would. She was sitting up in bed, looking stronger than she had the day before, and when I walked in she smiled."Evelyn. I was hoping you'd come.""Francis said you wanted to talk.""I do." She patted the bed beside her. "Sit."I sat, keeping a little distance between us. I didn't know how much she knew, how much she had guessed, or whether she had any idea I had found the lockbox in her attic."I've been thinking a lot since the accident," she said. "About the things I've kept quiet about. The things I should have said years ago.""Like what?""Like the truth about Mirabel and what she did." She reached for my hand. "I know you found the file, Evelyn. I know you took it from the attic."My breath caught. "How do you know that?""Because I put a note in the box asking whoever found it to come talk to me first." She looked

  • SHATTERED BY CHOICE   The Morning After Truth

    Anthony's POVI didn't sleep. I lay in bed staring at the ceiling and replaying Mirabel's voice over and over in my head. By the time the sun came up, I had listened to the recording at least twenty times, and each time it made me angrier.At six in the morning I called my brother Reuben."Do you know what time it is?" he asked, his voice thick with sleep."I need you to do something for me.""Anthony, it's six in the morning.""I know. And I need you to listen." I sat up and swung my legs out of bed. "I'm sending you an audio file. I need you to listen to it and tell me if it can be used in court."There was rustling on the other end, like he was sitting up too. "In court? What are you talking about?""Just listen to it. Please. And then call me back."I sent the file and hung up. Then I got dressed and made coffee I didn't want. My phone rang fifteen minutes later."Where did you get this?" Reuben's voice was sh

  • SHATTERED BY CHOICE   What the Recording Said

    Evelyn's POVWe sat in Anthony's car in the parking lot and listened to the audio file three times. Mirabel's voice came through the speaker, slurred and thick with tears, but clear enough that there was no mistaking what she was saying."I didn't think it would hurt anyone this much. Samuel said it was just business. He said Anthony would get over Sylvia eventually and everything would work out. But I saw what it did to him. I saw what it did to you. And I've been carrying it ever since."Sylvia's voice came next, calm and cold. "You destroyed my relationship. You used your sister. And now you want forgiveness?""I don't know what I want. I just needed to tell someone. I needed someone to know I didn't mean for it to be this bad.""But it is this bad, Mirabel. And no amount of apologizing will fix it."The recording ended. I sat there staring at the phone in Anthony's hand, my sister's voice still ringing in my ears."She knew,

  • SHATTERED BY CHOICE   The Voice in the Dark

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  • SHATTERED BY CHOICE   The Wrong Side of a Mirror

    Anthony’s POVI have a photograph of Sylvia on my phone but not as my wallpaper. It's buried three folders deep in an old album I have never deleted. I don't look at it often, but I know exactly where it is.That night, after I dropped Luca at my parents' house, I sat in my car in their driveway fo

  • SHATTERED BY CHOICE   The Man In The Mirror

    Evelyn's POV I drove back to Mercy General just before nine that night. The parking lot was quieter now. Just a handful of cars and a security guard doing slow rounds near the entrance.My mother's room was dim when I slipped in. The corridor nurse had let me through without trouble. I pulled the

  • SHATTERED BY CHOICE   Glass Houses

    Evelyn's POV The hospital cafeteria was quiet at that hour. Most of the chairs were empty. A cleaner pushed a mop along the far wall, and the overhead light buzzed in a way that made everything feel a little unreal.I had bought a coffee I wasn't going to drink and found a corner table. My coat wa

  • SHATTERED BY CHOICE   What We Carry Without Saying

    Evelyn's POV My thumb hovered over the screen. Four words, no name, no number I recognized."I know what you did."I locked the phone and shoved it into my coat pocket. Sylvia was still looking at me, waiting, as if my silence was an answer she had already predicted."You look well," I said. My vo

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