ログインI looked at my daughter.Four years old. Messy bangs. Tiny fingers still clutching a photo that should never have made it out of the drawer this morning. Her face carried Sebastian’s lines with cruel precision, but her eyes were mine. Green. Open. Waiting for an answer as if the adult world could be explained as easily as why pancakes had to be cut into small pieces so they wouldn’t be “too arrogant.”I swallowed.Adrian’s ring pressed into the skin of my finger.Across the table, Sebastian gave me room to answer. Somehow, that almost made me angrier than if he had taken over.I set my cup down slowly. “Because Daddy Adrian came into Mommy’s life and yours when our life was already different.”Poppy tilted her head. “Different like changing clothes?”“A little.”“What if the clothes are ugly?”“Sometimes.” I rubbed the side of my cup with my thumb. “Sometimes people have a good time together, and then that time gets ruined. After that, they have to learn how to live again in a differe
The sea breeze stopped registering.I stared at Sebastian.My gaze moved from his face to the photo in Poppy’s hand, then back to his face again, as if, if I repeated the route enough times, one of them would turn into something that made more sense.No.The photo was still there.I still looked like a woman in her twenties who hadn’t yet learned that happiness could quietly expire. Sebastian was still standing behind me with his mouth on my cheek and his hand on my waist, as if there had never been anywhere else he wanted to be.And that same man was now sitting two chairs away from me, alive, immaculate, irritating, while our wedding photo lay between the honey and the smoked salmon.Why did that thing still exist?The question entered my head and immediately began multiplying.Who printed it?Sebastian?Luca?One of the old crew members who was sentimental and had no healthy hobbies?Why was it kept on Azzurra? Why hadn’t it been thrown away with the rest of the life he had apparen
By breakfast, the sun had climbed high enough to strip the softness from everything.The peach sky had turned a clean blue. The Monaco sea stretched around Azzurra, calm and glossy, thin lines of light moving across its surface. The air was still cool, but the sun had begun touching skin with clear intent.I had showered, brushed my hair, and traded the robe for a pale blue dress that fell loosely to my ankles. There was no particular reason for the color. White felt too dangerous after this morning, and black at seven o’clock made it look as if I were on my way to someone’s funeral.Though if anyone mentioned Adrian before my second cup of coffee, that could still become an actual event.Breakfast had been set up on the side terrace of the upper suite.Of course, it was not just a table.The long wooden table faced the sea beneath a white shade that shifted gently in the wind. The crew had arranged porcelain plates, clear glasses, a silver coffee pot, orange juice, warm bread, cut fr
I had no idea when I fell asleep again.All I knew was that when I opened my eyes, the room was no longer completely dark.Pale blue light seeped through the gap in the curtains, so faint that the edges of the furniture emerged one by one, like objects slowly remembering their shapes. The yacht still moved gently beneath the bed. Not enough to wake anyone, only a soft rocking that made the blanket rise and fall with our breathing.I lay still.Something was different.My head turned slowly.Apparently, life never got tired of testing my blood pressure before coffee.Sebastian was asleep on the right side of the bed.Poppy lay between us, but somehow she had shifted almost entirely toward her father. Her face was buried in Sebastian’s chest, one plump cheek pressed against his white T-shirt. Her little hand gripped the front of it as if someone might try to take him away if she loosened her hold.Bunny was wedged between their stomachs.One of her ears was trapped beneath Sebastian’s c
I did not remember when my eyes closed.The next thing I knew, I woke in half-blue darkness.The balcony curtains were slightly open, moonlight spilling silver across the suite floor. The yacht’s engine pulsed quietly, the sea moving outside like a large animal that never slept. Poppy was still pressed against my side, one little leg kicked out from under the blanket, her hair messy on the pillow, Bunny trapped beneath her chin.I looked at the clock on the bedside table.12:47.Past midnight.My mouth was dry.I slowly shifted my body, holding my breath when Poppy moved a little. She mumbled, “No, Bunny, sea taxes tomorrow,” then went still again.I laughed without making a sound.I slipped out of bed, picked up the thin robe provided on the chair, and walked quietly into the outer room.The sofa was empty.The pillow was still there, but Sebastian was gone.Light came from the balcony.I stopped at the glass doorway.Sebastian sat outside at the small table near the railing, his lap
Yes, let him.The sentence did not kill me immediately.Strange.I stayed in the chair, the sea in front of me, Poppy half-asleep on the sofa, Sebastian beside her with his hand still behind her little head. The yacht moved slowly now, no longer with the eager momentum of leaving the marina, but with a lazy rhythm that made the water along Azzurra’s hull break softly, turn white for a moment, then disappear again.I waited for my body to protest.Waited for the part of me that usually stood in heels in the middle of chaos and said, don’t be stupid, Jasmine, this is Sebastian Romano, not a guardian angel.But only the sea breeze came.And the sound of Poppy’s breathing beginning to even out.Poppy truly fell asleep a few minutes later. Her mouth was slightly open. Sebastian had placed the captain’s hat on the table so it would not press against her forehead. Bunny was still hugged to her chest, the blanket slipping down a little. Barbie lay near the cookie plate like she had just lost







