Mag-log inHe doesn’t move or speak. He doesn’t even blink for a second.Then finally, after what feels like decades, he breathes, “What the fuck…”“Exactly what I thought," I say, looking at a spot on the floor.“I thought she was bad,” he continues, running a hand through his hair, pacing now. “I thought sh
I don’t know how long I’ve been sitting here… Minutes? Hours? Days?Time doesn’t make sense anymore. Not after everything I read. Not after everything I know now.I’ve been sitting here, wracking my brain, trying to understand how I missed it all these years. How I never once got even the slightest
I slam the diary shut and hurl it across the room as my chest heaves, my breaths coming in uneven bursts.“Sorry?” I rasp.She was sorry? As if that fixes anything. As if that erases years of damage. As if that gives Sierra back everything we took from her.A guttural sound rips from my throat as I
“My God…” The voice that leaves me is unrecognizable.I thought Chloe and I had built something real, something beautiful, only to realize that it wasn’t. It was stolen.I lived a life that was never meant to be hers. A life that belonged to Sierra.I lived out a dream, while the woman who created i
Sierra’s words kept ringing in my head over and over like a broken record. They just kept coming back no matter how hard I tried to push them away.The entire ride, it’s all I could think about. All I could obsess about, because honestly, they made no sense at all.[Until you understand the full sco
I drag a hand through my hair, exhaling slowly.“I just… needed to see you,” I admit, my voice rough.Her expression doesn’t soften. If anything, it hardens.“You’ve seen me,” she says flatly. “Now you can leave.”The words land like a punch to the gut because I deserve that. I deserve worse.“I kno
Before I can respond, Lilly moves like lightning, swinging her fist in a perfect arc. Her knuckles connect with his stomach. Not hard enough to injure, but enough to knock the wind out of him. Noah staggers back, a rare flash of shock in his eyes.“What the fuck, Lilly!” Noah snaps. “I’m your cousin
We stare at each other, me with shock, her with something I can’t quite name. Bitterness? Hatred? Or maybe both.When I used to hang out with Chloe, Brook was always there like an unavoidable shadow. The sisters had more in common than they liked to admit, especially their behavior. Sometimes I wond
“Let me get this straight—you came all the way to my house just to tell me to stay away from Noah?” I ask, incredulous.For a second, I almost laugh. I thought she was here because of the baby. I know Noah probably already told her, but to show up on my doorstep, spitting threats like some watchdog?
Noah steps in, his long frame filling the doorway, commanding the space even without trying. Gunner follows right behind him, calm and collected. The total opposite of his friend.My chest tightens immediately. My stomach twisting not from the fizz in my glass, but from the sight of him. Every insti







