LOGINEMILY Pain was the first thing I felt when I opened my eyes.It wrapped around my body like chains, dragging me down before I could even fully breathe. My head throbbed violently, every pulse sending another sharp ache through my skull. My chest felt tight. My limbs felt heavy.For a few seconds, everything around me was blurry.White ceiling.Bright lights.Voices.The memory slammed into me so suddenly that I jerked upright with a gasp.“Liam!”The movement sent pain tearing through my body. A cry escaped my lips as the stitches around my side burned violently, but I barely noticed.“Where’s my son?” I shouted, my voice breaking instantly. “Where is he?!”A nurse rushed toward me. “Miss Emily, please calm down—”“Don’t tell me to calm down!”My breathing turned uneven.Fragments of memory crashed through my head.The call.Miriam crying.The hospital.“Oh Goddess…”I pushed the blanket off my body and nearly stumbled out of the bed.Two nurses grabbed me immediately.“Miss Emily, y
EMILY Pain was the first thing I felt.There was nothing mild about it at all. This pain was sharp and violent, splitting through my skull so brutally that for a second I couldn’t even breathe properly. My entire body felt heavy, like something had crushed me and left me buried beneath the weight of it.A weak groan slipped past my lips as I tried to move.The second I lifted my hand to my head, my fingers came away wet.Blood.My vision blurred again immediately. The room tilted so badly that I almost threw up right there on the floor. I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment, trying to steady myself, but it barely helped. Everything still spun when I opened them again.How long had I been unconscious?I couldn’t tell.The room was dim, quiet except for the faint crackling sound somewhere nearby. My breathing sounded too loud in my ears, uneven and shaky. I pushed my palm against the floor and slowly dragged myself upward. The movement sent another wave of agony through my head, forcing
EMILY I didn’t realize how badly I needed to see him until I was standing in front of the door.My hand hovered over the wood for a second longer than necessary, my chest rising and falling like I had just run a mile instead of walked down a quiet street. It felt ridiculous, the way my heart was beating fast, uneven, like it didn’t know whether it was about to break or heal.Then I knocked.Soft at first.Then again, louder.Footsteps came from inside, and the moment the door opened, everything inside me cracked.“Miriam…”Her name left my lips like a breath I had been holding for days.She didn’t say anything at first. She just stared at me like she was trying to confirm I was real and not something her mind had made up out of worry.Then she pulled me into her arms.I held her back just as hard.“You’re alive,” she whispered against my shoulder, her voice breaking in a way I had never heard before. “Emily, you’re alive…”“I am,” I murmured, but my own voice wasn’t steady either. “I
EMILY When Julian didn’t come that afternoon, I found myself breathing a little easier. I convinced myself he had changed his mind, that he wouldn’t force me to leave the west after all. That night, though, my thoughts refused to settle. War consumed everything. I lay awake imagining it, the fighting, the bloodshed, the chaos and I was afraid. Not only for myself, but for him. I pictured Julian deep in the jungle, fleeing the west troops, alone and hunted. Sleep never truly came.It was almost midnight when he finally stepped into my room.Relief flooded me so sharply it hurt. I hadn’t realized how much I needed to see him until that moment.“What’s going to happen?” I asked immediately.“War,” he said. “It’s only a matter of time. My guess is South troops will arrive in a month or two.”“That long?”“Congress will debate. Then they’ll have to mobilize, supply, coordinate, transport…” His expression was grim. “It takes time.”Something in his face made my stomach tighten. “What is it
EMILY I woke early, far earlier than I should have after the horrors of the night before.Bright tropical sunlight streamed through the open balcony doors, flooding the room with warmth that felt almost cruel in contrast to everything I had seen. Sleep had come in fragments, restless, broken and when it did, it brought nightmares with it. I had seen the dead again. Burned bodies. Broken men. And Alessandro… My goodness, Alessandro. In my dreams he had been alive, charred and accusing, blaming me for leaving him and for choosing Julian and promising that he was going to take my son from me.When I finally surfaced into full awareness, my first clear thought struck like a blow: the Maine had been destroyed. So many had died. Alessandro had possibly died too.And Julian… Julian had been here with me.He had brought me home just as he promised. I could not remember the journey itself, only flashes, his voice calming a panicked Venida, insisting that I was safe, that I was unharmed. I rem
EMILY “Julian!” I called out.He was already moving away from the docks, trudging as though each step weighed more than the last. His shoulders were slumped, his posture defeated, and even from a distance I could see how utterly exhausted he was.My chest tightened at the sight of him.Pride surged through me despite everything—the horror, the chaos, the smoke still curling into the night sky. I had seen what he had done. I had arrived at the harbor just after the explosions, just in time to witness the Maine engulfed in flames. Later, through the confusion, I had caught a glimpse of him dragging an unconscious sailor from the sea.I had wanted to go to him then.But I hadn’t been able to.The wounded had come in waves, burned, broken, screaming and I had been pulled into the desperate rhythm of the relief effort. I had worked without pause, tending to one victim after another until my hands moved almost without thought, until I could barely distinguish one face from the next.Now, f
EMILYDinner that evening was painfully awkward.Gabby sat between Julian and me, happily chattering and unaware of the tension thickening the air around him, but I could feel it with every breath I took. A current of awareness pulsed between Julian and me, sharp and undeniable, making even the sma
EMILY South Valley.The name alone had sounded ominous when Julian first spoke it. Now that we were here, I understood why.It was dry and suffocatingly hot deep in the bowels of the constricted valley. For two relentless days we had crossed an arid desert mountain range, following narrow, treache
EMILY"What do you mean by that?" I stuttered, completely confused as to what he meant by he owns me.But instead of answering, Alessandro turned and started walking towards his car. He didn't stop, or even slow down. He just kept walking away as if he hadn't even heard me.I was shocked to my bone
EMILY I covered my mouth with both hands the moment the bathroom door flew open.The scream that tore out of my chest died halfway, choking itself back into my throat as horror froze me in place.The man was in the bathtub. Shaking.His body was curled awkwardly against the porcelain, his wrists t







