MasukALICIAAlicia returned home with an exhaustion that settled directly into the bones, heavy and irreversible, draining warmth from her body until even breathing felt like effort. The drive back had passed in silence, yet her mind had not been quiet for a single second.Theodore’s jacket still lingered in her thoughts. The warmth of it. The scent. It was funny how it had felt so natural that she almost walked away with it.The way he had draped it around her shoulders without asking permission first, as though caring for her was instinctive enough to bypass thought entirely.Then her thoughts drifted toward Tobey waiting somewhere inside that enormous house, surrounded by people who had never cared for his existence.A sharp ache twisted inside her chest.By the time she stepped through the front doors, the light in her eyes had dimmed into something distant and hollow.Elias saw her first. He had been arranging fresh mail near the staircase when he looked up, concern settling over his
THEODORETheodore sat behind the wheel of his Lincoln Nautilus with the engine running low and quiet beneath him, the dashboard casting a dim blue glow across his face while rainwater gathered lazily along the windshield.The Rutherford estate stood beyond the iron gates like something carved out of arrogance itself; sprawling, illuminated, untouchable. From the outside, it looked elegant enough to belong on magazine covers. It was the rot beneath it that people rarely captured.His vehicle remained tucked beneath the shadow of an overgrown jacaranda tree just beyond the eastern perimeter wall, positioned precisely where the estate’s rotating CCTV pattern overlapped into a six-second blind spot every forty-eight seconds. Years ago, Theodore had learned to survive by studying systems until he could see the flaws hidden inside them.Tonight was no different.One hand rested loosely against the steering wheel while the other tapped slowly against the leather armrest, not with impatience,
THEODOREThe city changed its face after office hours.Daylight belonged to ambition, to voices sharpened by negotiation, to polished smiles and measured victories. But evening was for quieter truths. The streets softened. Windows glowed like scattered lanterns. Even the restless hum of traffic seemed to breathe more slowly.As he drove, Theodore watched dusk descend over the skyline.He sat with one arm resting lightly against the door, his tablet resting on the passenger’s seat, its dimmed screen casting only the faintest light. Outside, buildings slipped past in gentle succession, yet his attention remained fixed elsewhere - drawn inward, toward a decision already made.A notification appeared again.Location confirmed.He exhaled, though the breath brought little relief.Three hours earlier, Theodore had left his office.He drove himself across the city as traffic thickened, the skyline dissolving into gold and shadow around him. His destination was an old one, a private office tu
ALICIAAlicia’s grip tightened around the strap of her bag before she even realized she was holding it.“Yes, ma’am,” The receptionist said again, voice softened with the gentleness reserved for bad news delivered to strangers. “Tobey was picked up earlier.”The hallway behind her buzzed with children being collected. Laughter, backpacks rustling, teachers calling names, all the sounds seemed to retreat from her, swallowed by a sudden ringing silence.“By who?” she asked.The question came out steadier than she felt.A brief pause followed as the receptionist looked at her screen and then back up at Alicia.Cautiously, she said. “Mrs. Rita Rutherford.”The name slid into Alicia’s chest like ice. For a moment, she forgot how to breathe.Her mother, of all people.The world tilted slightly. The noise of departing students blurred into distant static, as if she stood underwater watching life continue somewhere far above her head.She forced a polite nod she did not feel, murmured a than
ALICIA The divorce papers waited between them like a verdict already decided.Alicia sat perfectly still at the dining table, hands folded in her lap, posture composed enough to fool anyone who did not look closely.Across from her, Levi watched with the patience of a man certain of victory, Iris seated beside him as though she already belonged there. It was as though the years Alicia had spent building this house, this life, this illusion, had never even existed.At the head of the table, two lawyers arranged documents with quiet efficiency, their professionalism forming a polite shield against the hostility saturating the room.The afternoon sunlight filtered through the curtains, soft and domestic, mocking the brutality of what was happening inside it.Alicia wore tinted glasses.A scarf wrapped carefully around her throat despite the warmth indoors. A long coat concealed her arms. Boots covered her ankles.It was armour made of fabric and silence.“I’ll be heading out immediately
THEODOREHe had known something was wrong the moment Alicia failed to appear at the meeting. He just hadn’t been able to ask why.The realization had not arrived as a thought so much as a disturbance - a subtle misalignment he felt the moment everyone had settled in the conference room below.From behind the one-way observation glass, Theodore watched the room assemble piece by piece, each arrival sharpening his awareness.Levi Connard walked in with the composed confidence of a man accustomed to control, his expression neutral but deliberate, already measuring the terrain. Beside him came Dr. Rutherford, severe and unreadable, followed closely by Liam Rutherford and two senior officers Theodore didn’t recognize.Seeing the familiar faces sent a faint tension across Theodore’s shoulders before he was conscious of it. His hand drifted toward his wrist in an old, reflexive motion, fingers brushing skin where restraints had once rested day after day. The absence was registered a moment l







