MasukBETTYHis presence fills the space entirely, and I grip the edge of the counter behind me, grounding myself, forcing my body to stay where it is instead of reacting blindly to his suddenness.Our chests nearly touch. Close enough that I can feel his heartbeat. Which is beating Fast. Faster than mine.“Like I’ve stated,” he growls, his voice controlled but strained. “I didn’t have anything to do with what is happening outside.”His head dips slightly, his focus narrowing, and every instinct tells me to push him away, to create distance, and end whatever this is before it becomes something I cannot control, but I don’t move.I can’t.My neck tilts up instead, my eyes locking onto his as something shifts in the space between us, something sharp and unfamiliar, something that has nothing to do with anger anymore.I feel my heart stumble, then match his, before a cold sensation runs down my spine, grounding and unsettling at the same time.This isn’t the tension from before. The one we had
BETTYI am so angry I can barely see straight.The entire party has unraveled in a matter of minutes, shifting from something carefully planned into something I no longer recognize.And the worst part, is that I can feel it slipping out of my control, no matter how hard I try to hold it together.Kids are now everywhere, high on sugar and adrenaline, their laughter louder, sharper, almost hysterical as they run from one end of the compound to the other, chasing each other with melting ice cream dripping down their hands.Water splashes from the artificial pools as a few of them ignore every rule that had been set, their shrieks of excitement rising above everything else as they slip, fall, get back up, and do it all over again.Some moms are running after their children, voices strained as they try to force sweaters over squirming bodies, their concern barely cutting through the noise.The rest don’t even notice.They are gathered at the bar, drinks in hand, their laughter spilling fr
NATHANIELSilence stretches between us, not uncomfortable, but heavy enough to settle into the space and sit there like something waiting to be acknowledged.Children scream somewhere behind me, the sound high and wild with excitement as water splashes from one of the shallow pools, droplets catching the light before disappearing into the sand.The parents burst into laughter around the bar, glasses clinking as someone says something just inappropriate enough to make the others lean in closer.At some point, I even think they are laughing at me because of how miserable and pathetic I must look. And right in the middle of that thought, I feel a hand brush over mine, light and careful.Harriette’s fingers settle over my clenched fist like they know exactly how much pressure to apply without forcing anything open.I don’t move. I let it sit there. Let the warmth of it settle just enough to remind me that I am not entirely alone in this space, even if it feels like I am exposed as a tee
NATHANIELI cannot remember the last time the estate felt this alive.Every corner holds a different kind of noise, a different kind of movement, and a different kind of joy that does not ask for permission before it takes over the space.And yet, I can. Last year, a day just like this. Grace’s birthday. But the difference now is not the scale. It’s the fact that this time, none of it has anything to do with me. Betty made sure of that.She said she didn’t need help when I offered more than once to step in and handle whatever might overwhelm her, to take some of it off her shoulders.I even went down to the guest house, thinking maybe I could catch her at the right moment, and say something that would convince her I really wanted to be part of this, but it didn’t go as I thought it would. She opened the door, looked at me, and closed it before I could even get a hi past my lips.It stung. More than I’d like to admit. And to make it worse, halfway back to the house, I saw Rhys’s car
BETTYAs promised, ten minutes later, I see Rhys shaking hands with the men before making his way toward me.I am seated at the bar counter, halfway through an iced coffee I haven’t really been drinking, my fingers wrapped loosely around the glass as I watch him approach.He stops just behind me, close enough for me to feel his presence before he even speaks, one hand sliding into his pocket.“We can take that walk now,” he says.I push the glass aside, slide off the barstool without finishing it and lead the way out of the club.The shift from dim lighting to open air is immediate as we step onto the street, the late afternoon stretching into early evening.We start walking side by side. Not too close, not too far. And for the first ten minutes, all I could hear was just the sound of our footsteps and the quiet movements of the city around us.I tilt my head slightly toward him, the silence becoming awkward. “How are you?”“Good,” he replies immediately. “You?”“I’m good too.”Anothe
BETTYI hadn’t seen or heard from Rhys since he left my kitchen.At first, I told myself it was okay. That it didn’t mean anything. He was busy running his club or caught up in whatever it was that filled his time when he wasn’t with me.But by the third day, that excuse stopped holding.I tried not to overthink and convinced myself that I didn’t have to reach out because if he wanted to talk, he would.But when the silence stretched way too long, I finally I texted him. Then I called. But I got no response.And just like that, it became something I couldn’t ignore anymore. He was avoiding me.The realization settled in slowly, not sharp enough to hurt, but heavy enough to sit in my chest and refuse to move.And the worst part of it all was that I still didn’t know what my answer would have been. I still didn’t know what I would say if he stood in front of me again, looked at me the way, and said those little magic words.But I was sure of one thing. I hated the distance. I hated this
NATHANIEL.Something has shifted in the house since she left.Not enough to disrupt the routine, but just enough to make everything feel slightly out of place, like a painting hung a fraction too low on the wall.Harriette still spends her mornings in the garden, walking the paths with her cane, in
BETTYI am back home, my body aching in places I didn’t know could ache, and my ears still ringing faintly with music and laughter.I slipped out quietly after telling Rhys to hold down the fort, smiling like everything was fine, and like the night hadn’t cracked something open inside me that I can
NATHANIELIt doesn’t take a genius to understand what just happened.Betty doesn’t raise her voice or panic. She goes very still, very focused, just like people do when something has gone wrong, and they are yet know how bad it is.The worker leans in, says something brief, and the change in her is
NATHANIEL.It has been almost three weeks since Betty and I made a deal, and in that time, she has become a ghost inside her own house.She’s been doing everything possible to avoid crossing paths with me. Moving through the estate with the kind of precision that suggests planning rather than coinc







