LOGINChapter 25 :Jane Goes Home(Jane POV — Third Person)Jane did not like lying to Zara, and she was not particularly good at it either, but she did it anyway because the alternative felt worse. Standing by the door with her small bag hanging from her shoulder, she kept her tone light, almost casual, like this was nothing out of the ordinary. Zara was on the couch with her laptop, half-focused on whatever she was working on.“My dad wants me home this weekend,” Jane said, adjusting the strap of her bag like she needed something to do with her hands. “Some business partner thing… he wants me to meet them.”Zara looked up fully this time, brows pulling together just a little. “Business partner? Since when does he involve you in that?”Jane shrugged, already moving toward the door before the questions could settle too deep. “I don’t know… maybe he’s bored of doing everything alone. Or maybe he wants to show me off,” she added with a small
Chapter 24 : Keisha’s New Weapon(Jane POV — Third Person)Jane noticed the change the moment the door closed behind Zara’s mother.It wasn’t loud. Zara didn’t cry or pace or start talking too fast the way she sometimes did when something got under her skin. It was quieter than that. The kind of quiet that sat heavy in a room and made everything feel slightly off.Zara stood where she was for a few seconds, staring at nothing in particular. Then she walked back into the living room, sat down, and opened her laptop like she had somewhere to be. Her fingers stayed still on the keyboard.Jane watched her from the kitchen doorway, leaning her shoulder lightly against the wall. She didn’t say anything. She knew better. Zara had been through too much in too short a time. The bar, the house, Ryan, Keisha, Dominic, now this. Every time it felt like things were starting to settle, something new came in and shifted the ground again.
Chapter 23: Zara’s Mother Returns(Zara POV)After the call with Dominic, I made a decision not to sit there and overthink everything he said. It was easier to let him handle whatever was happening with Claire than to keep turning it over in my head until it became something bigger than it already was. I had school, work, and enough to deal with without adding imagined problems to the list.So I kept moving.Classes in the morning. Work after. Evenings that somehow always ended with Dominic one way or another, either in person or on the phone. It settled into something that felt almost normal if I didn’t look at it too closely.Claire didn’t call again.Dominic didn’t bring her up.Jane noticed that too but didn’t say anything about it, which meant she was storing it somewhere for later.That morning we were both in the apartment, talking about nothing important. She was complaining about one of her l
Chapter 22 : She Tells Him (Zara POV) By the time I get back to Jane’s apartment, I already know I am not going to be able to sit on this. I try anyway. I drop my bag by the door, take off my shoes, and walk into the living room like nothing has shifted. Jane is on the couch with her laptop, but the second she looks up at me, she closes it halfway. That look. She knows. “What happened?” she asks. “Nothing,” I say automatically, and even I can hear how unconvincing it sounds. Jane doesn’t argue. She just leans back and watches me for a few seconds, then gestures toward the chair opposite her. “Sit.” I don’t move. “Zara.” I exhale and sit. For a moment I consider editing it. Leaving parts out. Saying just enough to satisfy her without opening the whole thing up. But the truth is already sitting in my chest, heavy and loud, and I don’t have the energy to carry it alone. “His ex-wife called me,” I say. Jane goes very still. “Called you?” I nod. “Claire Hale
Chapter 21 — The Ex-Wife’s Move(Zara POV)The call ends, but I don’t move.I keep holding the phone to my ear for a few seconds after the line goes dead, like my body hasn’t caught up to the fact that the conversation is over. When I finally lower it, I place it face down on the table and sit there staring at nothing in particular.Jane is watching me from the couch.“Who was that?” she asks, not casually, not sharply either, just steady in the way she gets when she knows something matters.I don’t answer right away.Not because I don’t trust her, but because I don’t know how to say the name without making it real in a way I’m not ready for yet. Saying it out loud feels like opening a door I cannot close again.“Zara,” she says again, softer this time.“I’ll tell you later,” I reply, and even to my own ears it sounds like a delay, not an answer.Jane studies me for a moment longer, then nods o
Chapter 19: Morning, Honestly(Dominic POV)I was awake before her again.It had started happening more often than I cared to admit. Not because I needed less sleep, but because sleep had become less predictable. Some nights I slept fine. Other nights I stayed awake longer than necessary just listening to the quiet in the room and pretending it meant nothing.This morning was one of those mornings.The city outside was still half grey, still deciding what kind of day it wanted to be. Zara was still asleep beside me, turned slightly away, one arm tucked under the pillow. There was a kind of ease in her sleep that didn’t match the way she lived when she was awake. When she was awake, she always looked like she was preparing for something.I stayed where I was for a while, not moving, just watching her breathe. She looked so innocent lying there. Young. Soft. Nothing like the woman who had moaned my name and pulled me clo







