LOGINHe 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
My heart beats so frantically it feels like it’s trying to claw its way out of my chest. The air in the Wood family dining room suddenly feels thinner, heavier. My fingers tighten against my dress as if that will steady me.And then it happens.Noah’s eyes sweep the room, sharp and cold, and when th
Anonymous.The room is quiet except for the faint tick of the clock on the wall. I lean back in my chair, stretching my legs out, while the two people across from me shift impatiently.“You’re taking too long,” she mutters in frustration. “We’ve been planning this for years, yet you’re sitting here
NoahThe bar feels empty the moment they step out, leaving the stale hum of conversation and the clink of glasses behind.Gunner leans against the bar. “What was that, Noah? You were an asshole.”“I wasn’t,” I reply coolly. “I was being honest.”“That wasn’t honesty… that was a tactical aim to cause
Noah.The door slams in my face, the sound sharp and final, ricocheting through the quiet night like a gunshot. For a moment I just stand there, outside her porch, staring at the door while my brain tries to catch up with what just happened.My chest heaves, and my breath clouds in the cool air as t







