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Chapter 146 – The Storm Beneath Still Waters

Author: Jane James
last update Last Updated: 2025-06-04 20:33:00

Elena

You think when the storm passes, you’ll be free. You convince yourself that once you survive the worst of it—the betrayal, the heartbreak, the unraveling of everything you knew—you’ll finally be able to breathe again. But no one warns you that even after the clouds part, the silence can carry its own kind of violence.

I hadn’t heard from Daniel in days.

And that silence wasn’t peace. It was pressure. Like waiting for a tremor to follow the quake.

Noah had been brighter lately—smiling more, asking about new clubs at school, even talking about making friends for his birthday next month. I clung to that like a lifeline. But I also watched every shadow near our home. I double-checked every door. I slept with one ear open.

It’s exhausting to be both mother and shield.

But it’s what love demands.

I had always believed that to be strong was to never bend. To survive, I had to hold everything together. But now, strength felt more like choosing to let go—of
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