Masuk~ Avelyn ~The man standing in front of me didn’t look surprised to see me. If anything, there was a quiet certainty in his expression, as though this moment had already played out in his mind long before I opened the door. He stood there with an ease that didn’t belong to ordinary men, dressed too neatly, too composed for someone tied to the kind of world I had tried so desperately to escape.And yet, I knew exactly who he was.I hadn’t spent enough time around him to claim familiarity, but it didn’t take familiarity to recognize danger. It lived in the way he held himself, in the stillness that wasn’t empty but controlled, deliberate. The kind of stillness that made your instincts rise before your thoughts could catch up.Dominic.My fingers tightened around the edge of the door, every instinct screaming at me to shut it, to lock it, to pretend this wasn’t happening—but my body refused to cooperate. I couldn’t move, not when his gaze had already slipped past me, uninvited, scanning
~ Avelyn ~Kyle didn’t say anything when he handed it to me.He didn’t look at me either.It was such a small thing, the way his fingers brushed mine for the briefest second before letting go, but it felt heavier than anything he had ever said to me. There was no anger in his face this time, no sharp edge to his voice like in the car, no accusation hanging between us. Just… absence.And somehow, that hurt more.I stood there, watching his retreating back, waiting—foolishly—for him to turn around, to say something, anything, even if it was harsh. Even if it was cruel. I would have taken that over this silence.But he didn’t stop.He didn’t turn.He just walked away like there was nothing left to hold on to.My fingers tightened around the small box in my hand, and for a moment, I didn’t open it. I just stood there, staring at it like it might burn me if I looked too closely. Like I already knew what it was, and opening it would only make it real.When I finally did, my breath caught in
~ Veronica ~Failure had a sound.It wasn’t loud and it wasn’t dramatic.It was quiet… suffocating… the kind that sat in your chest long after everything had gone still.And right now, it was all I could hear.The teacup in my hand trembled ever so slightly before I set it down with controlled precision against the saucer. Anyone looking at me would think I was calm. Composed. Untouched.But beneath the surface, something vicious clawed its way up my throat.Last night had been perfect.Every detail accounted for. Every movement calculated. I had waited, endured, tolerated his distance for over a year, playing the role expected of me while he looked through me like I was nothing more than a decorative piece placed at his side.A wife in name.An afterthought in truth.And yet… I had still been patient. Because patience, I had learned, always paid off.Except last night—My fingers curled slightly on the table as the memory replayed itself whether I wanted it to or not.The tray had
— Xander —Waking up felt… wrong.Not in the way one would expect after a long night or too little sleep, but in a way that sat deeper than the body, something that lingered beneath the skin like a memory refusing to fully surface.My eyes opened to the ceiling, unmoving for a moment as I let the silence settle.The room was too still, too quiet.And yet—Not untouched.A faint crease formed between my brows as I pushed myself up slowly, the sheets shifting against my skin. The first thing I registered was the dull heaviness in my limbs, not exhaustion, not quite pain either, but something in between. My body felt used, strained in a way that didn’t align with rest.That alone was enough to make me pause.I sat there for a moment longer, letting my gaze drift across the room.Nothing appeared out of place at first glance.The furniture stood exactly where it should. The lighting was unchanged. The structure of the room remained intact, familiar.But the longer I looked…The more the
~ Avelyn ~The hospital lights felt too bright, too clean and unforgiving.By the time we got there, my body had started to shut down in ways I couldn’t explain. It wasn’t sleep. It wasn’t relief either. It felt like something in me had simply reached its limit and decided to stop responding.But my mind…My mind refused to stop.Ciara.That was the only thing keeping me upright.Kyle didn’t waste a second. The moment we stepped through those doors, he was already moving ahead of me, his voice sharp, controlled, authoritative in a way I had only seen a few times before.“Clear a room. Now.”People moved.Fast.Not because they understood everything, but because something in his tone didn’t allow hesitation.I followed behind him, clutching the small storage pack that held the blood. I retrieved it from Kyle just before we stepped out of the car. My fingers had gone numb around it, but I didn’t loosen my grip. I couldn’t.It felt like the only thing tethering me to reality.Ciara was
~ Avelyn ~By the time I stepped out of that place, I wasn’t sure what was holding me together anymore.It definitely wasn’t strength.It wasn’t pride either.Maybe it was desperation. Maybe it was the thin, fragile thread of hope wrapped tightly around the pint of blood hidden against my body. Or maybe it was just Ciara… the thought of her, the image of her tiny chest rising and falling beneath hospital lights.Whatever it was, it kept my feet moving.One step.Then another.The night air hit my skin the moment I crossed the gates, cool and sharp, but it didn’t soothe me. If anything, it made everything worse. It made me aware, too aware of my body, of every ache, every mark, every lingering sensation I didn’t want to name.I pulled the shawl tighter around myself, my fingers trembling despite my effort to steady them.Don’t think about it. Don’t feel it.Just move.The car was exactly where Kyle said it would be. Parked in the shadows like it didn’t want to be seen.Like me.I didn’
~ Avelyn ~The next morning I woke before the alarm. I didn’t even remember falling asleep. My body felt heavy and my head felt too clear, which was always a bad sign. I dressed for practice on autopilot, dragging my hair back into a ponytail and throwing lip balm on because I didn’t have the energ
~ Avelyn ~Laura didn’t even let me catch my breath after the performance. Perfume, sweat and stage lights still clung to my skin when she caught my wrist and pulled me into the service hallway. Her nails dug into me—long, manicured, expensive, the sort of nails people wear when they’ve never had t
~ Avelyn ~He didn’t turn immediately.He lifted the glass to his lips, swallowed, and only then set it down with a quiet clink on the marble counter. He moved like someone who already knew how this night would end. No hurry, no surprise and no trace of doubt.When he finally turned, his eyes drop
— Xander —I carried her from the car in silence.Her body was limp in my arms, head pressed against my shoulder, not because she trusted me, no. It was because she had no strength left to resist. She’d burned it all in that tiny apartment where her world came crashing down. Kyle’s trembling guilt







