ANMELDENMATTIAS’ POV.(continued)“What?!” I said out loud, taken aback so hard my voice cracked on the first word.The officer didn’t flinch……….he just watched me.I swallowed, slowly this time, like my throat could close the panic back up if I acted fast enough.“Excuse me?” I managed to say, even though my stomach was twisting.He tilted his head slightly. Not curious……just calculating.“Did you ever get angry,” he repeated, “at Doctor Ryle… for not saving your best friend, Derry? And instead, marrying his wife?”My hands were still clenched under the table. I could feel the imprint of my own nails in my palms.That’s not even a question.That was an accusation trying to wear a question’s mask.“No,” I said immediately.The word came out too fast, too certain……..like I was trying to outrun what he’d already decided.He didn’t react.I had to force myself to slow down, to breathe, to talk like a man who wasn’t being set on fire.“I did not have anger like that,” I said. “I don’t…….I’m not th
MATTIAS’ POV.“Where were you on the night of Mr Beau’s death?” I scoffed, shaking my head like I could shake the whole situation loose…..This had to be a joke.“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” I asked.The room smelled like old paper and stale coffee. and made everything felt harsher than it was supposed to be. The chair I was sitting in creaked when I shifted, and the sound made me feel louder than I wanted to be.I couldn’t understand how I ended up here…….how I ended up in an interrogation room. How I ended up being a suspect.Of all people, me.The officer opposite me didn’t look up. He didn’t have to. His pen moved once, twice, like a metronome keeping time for my panic.“Mr Mattias,” he said finally, his voice flat. “I would advise you to co-operate. That way we can move on with this case.”I forced myself to breathe in slowly, like the air could calm the violence inside my ribs.Doctor Ryle’s life mattered. The truth mattered. My anger didn’t get to steer this.I nodded
SHIMMA’S POVI managed to sit up, although my whole body felt extremely weak……..like every muscle had already decided to give up, and I was only stubborn enough to refuse.The room was a bit dark. The light from the hallway barely reached the edge of the bed. My head swam with fog, and the air felt heavy in my lungs.I tried to steady my breathing, but even that felt like effort.When I pushed my feet to the floor, my legs trembled immediately. I caught myself on the bedframe first… then on the wall….. my fingers splayed, gripping hard as if the house could tilt.Slowly, carefully, I stood up.I made my way toward the door the way you walk across thin ice…….measuring every step before committing. Every step down was a fight against dizziness, and I kept clinging to the walls between turns because I couldn’t walk without support. I couldn’t even stand on my own.At the stairs, my fingers found the railing.I held it tightly. Too tightly.I could feel how cold the metal was against my s
MATTIAS’ POV.(continued)I was halfway through cutting the sweet potatoes for dinner when the phone started vibrating against the counter.The kitchen smelled like warmth and starch and the kind of normal that never lasted long in my world. I wiped my fingers on my apron, glanced at the screen, and saw the number I didn’t want to see.Police.My stomach tightened before I even answered. I didn’t pick it up right away……..I just stared at it, breathing shallowly, like my body was trying to delay the moment the voice would arrive.When I finally lifted the phone, my elbow stuck to my side from tension. My shoulders were already drawn up. I tried to keep my face neutral, but my jaw felt stiff, like it was bracing for impact.“Hello?” I said.There was a pause on the line…….breathing, then the faint scrape of someone settling into position, like the call itself was part of a script.The knife in my other hand slowed. The sweet potato slips stuttered under the blade, one thin piece wobbling
BEAU’S POV.“Arghh! Yes, harder! Oh!”The words were still hanging in the air when the alarm cut through everything…….loud and humiliating in a way that made my face burn.I shot my eyes open, my heart slamming against my chest, only to realize it was a dream. Another dream.Another sick, sinful dream.The image of Shimma wasn’t just in my head like any other fantasy…….it felt too real. Her voice. Her body. That heat that always made me forget myself.I jerked up from the bed, swallowing hard as if I could choke down the shame….this was too shameful, knowing she couldn’t be mine as quickly as I wanted her to be. How long was this going to continue?Having sex dreams about Shimma wasn’t going to make waiting any easier.But at the same time, I couldn’t go to her. Not yet.Not when I was still a suspect in the cops’ eyes.Not when I could be arrested any day and I would never get to see her again.Not when my life felt like a thin piece of string stretched between me and freedom……and a
SHIMMA’S POV…..When the pain hits, it doesn’t just sit in one place. It spreads……like fire under my skin…..like my body is punishing me for being alive.“Babe… you need to come down and have breakfast. You’ve been in bed for two days without food. You’re making me worried as hell.” Mattias’ voice came from the doorway, careful and tired.I didn’t answer. My eyes were open, but I wasn’t really there.Everything hurt. My head hurt. My stomach hurt. My heart hurt the worst.My mother had left the night before……quietly, I think. She couldn’t stay. I understood that much. She couldn’t bear to watch me like this, like a broken thing nobody could fix. Expecially because she couldn’t try to fix me when she herself was fart more broken.And the worst part? The thought that wouldn’t leave me alone.It happened here……In my home.So in my head, it feels like it’s my fault. Like if I had been wiser, if I had been smarter, if I had turned someone away at the right time… Doctor Ryle wouldn’t be dea
“What if I can be the person you need?”Mr. Mattias took a deep breath, turning to face me. My heart raced as his eyes met mine, and then he turned back to her. “Emily, how can you be the person I need when you weren't there when I needed you the most? How can you be the person I need when I don't n
LUCAS'S POV.I knew it! I fucking knew it. I knew something was going on between them, it was so obvious. The day at her office, when he knelt down so close to her. his protectiveness towards her, his sudden cold mood whenever he sees the both of us together. I knew it.This is sick! how could he? How
“Mr. Mattias, you’re not going to lose me,” I reassured him, my tone gentle.He hissed softly, pulling me in for another hug. “It's just that I haven't felt this way about anyone else; it's new, it's strange, yet I don't want to stop,” Mr. Mattias said, hugging me tighter than he did earlier.“I love
SHIMMA.“Let's tell your parents,” He said. I quickly sat up.“Uhh, no, we can't, we can't let them know,” I mumbled, my heart racing.“Why? We can, we just have to make them understand,”“No, I don't think it is a good idea, they won't understand,” I shook my head in disapproval.There was no way my mot







