LOGINI stopped outside Lily’s door, the soft weight of the dress bag pressing against my side. I’d made sure it was perfect — simple, elegant, something that would make her feel like herself but still pull her out of her usual routines. I exhaled, steadying the pulse in my veins. My hand hovered over the door before I knocked, hesitant for just a second, and then I rapped firmly, three sharp knocks.“Lily?” My voice was low, calm, but carrying enough weight to get her attention.I waited, the quiet stretching long enough to make my stomach twist. Then I heard the faint shuffle of movement on the other side. The door cracked open, and there she was. Lily, looking at me through slightly widened eyes, cheeks flushed, her hair pulled back simply, nothing fancy, just her. There was a kind of soft defenselessness about her in that moment, and it made my chest tighten more than I expected.“Hey,” I said simply, keeping my tone even. “I… brought something for you.” I held up the bag, letting the s
I sat in the study, the house quiet around me, my thoughts louder than any sound could be. My gaze kept flicking toward the living room, replaying the scene from earlier—the way Lily had handled Alice. How she’d managed the chaos without breaking a sweat, without letting Alice spiral out of control. The kid had a temper, that much was obvious, but Lily had handled it like it was nothing.And somehow, in that moment, I felt it. That pull. That… satisfaction, mixed with something I wasn’t entirely ready to name.I leaned back in my chair, running a hand through my hair, and frowned. What the hell was I thinking? I’d spent months keeping my distance from her, keeping things professional, keeping my heart out of it. Or at least, I thought I had.And yet… the memory of her sighing softly at Alice, gently taking control, giving the kid what she needed while still maintaining authority—it made me want to… I don’t know… reward her?I frowned again. Reward her. The thought made no sense. I had
I stormed into my room like a hurricane, slamming the door behind me with enough force to make it rattle in its frame. My fingers clawed at the edge of my desk, scattering papers, pens, and a half-empty perfume bottle. The scent of something floral and expensive filled the air, sharp enough to sting my senses.And I didn’t care.I wasn’t going to care. Not now. Not after what had just happened downstairs.My heel caught a loose rug, and I stumbled for a split second before regaining my balance. My fists clenched, and I swept a vase off the dresser. It crashed to the floor in a spectacular explosion of glass and water. I didn’t flinch. I didn’t even blink. My heart pounded in my chest like it wanted to tear itself free.“Ella!”The scream came from the doorway. Willow. She stood there, hands on her hips, face a storm that almost rivaled mine. Her heels clicked sharply against the floor as she crossed to me.“You need to calm down!” she snapped.I turned slowly, a smirk tugging at the c
Alice had been unsettled all afternoon.Not fussy exactly—just off. Like something inside her couldn’t quite settle. She clung to my hand longer than usual, dragged her feet when I tried to guide her upstairs for her nap, kept glancing toward the hallway as if waiting for someone who hadn’t arrived yet.“Hey,” I murmured, crouching in front of her. “What’s going on in that busy little head?”She shrugged, lower lip wobbling.My heart tightened. I brushed her hair back gently. “It’s okay. I’m here.”Her arms wrapped around my neck instantly, small fingers gripping my sweater like she was afraid I might disappear if she let go.Behind us, I could feel eyes.I didn’t need to turn around to know who they belonged to.Ella sat on the sofa, posture composed, hands folded neatly in her lap. Willow stood near the window, phone in hand, gaze sharp and assessing. They’d been hovering all day—present but distant, polite but watchful.I ignored them.Alice mattered more.“Let’s sit down, okay?” I
The moment Sophie agreed, the air around the table changed.Not relief—focus.Willow didn’t smile. She never did when things went her way. She simply folded her hands atop the tablecloth, spine straight, gaze steady, like a general about to map out a battlefield.“Good,” she said. “Then we’re done circling each other.”Sophie leaned back, crossing her legs. “So what’s the plan?”I swallowed. The panic was still there, humming under my skin, but it had sharpened into something else now—urgency. “We can’t just accuse Lily,” I said quickly. “Ace won’t hear it. He’ll defend her.”Willow’s eyes flicked to me. “Correct.”Sophie scoffed. “Then what? We wait around while she plays house with his kid?”“No,” Willow said calmly. “We make Ace afraid.”The word settled heavily between us.Sophie’s brows lifted. “Afraid of what?”“Losing control,” Willow replied. “Of Alice. Of his authority as her father.”My pulse jumped. “You think that’ll work?”“I know it will,” Willow said. “Because it alread
“What do we do now?”The question tore out of me before I could stop it. Panic sat tight in my chest, sharp and relentless, like I’d swallowed something with edges.Willow didn’t flinch.She stood by the window of her bedroom, hands folded neatly in front of her, staring out at the manicured gardens as if I’d just asked her what she wanted for lunch.“Ella,” she said calmly, “you need to breathe.”I let out a shaky laugh. “Breathe? You just told me Lily is Alice’s mother. You stole her baby. Ace doesn’t know. Alice just called her Mama in front of everyone. And you’re telling me to breathe?”She turned slowly, fixing me with a look so sharp it sliced clean through my hysteria.“Yes,” she said. “Because panic is useless.”I pressed my hands into my hair, pacing the length of the room. “This is a disaster. If Ace finds out—”“He won’t,” Willow said firmly.“You don’t know that.”“I do,” she replied. “Because I won’t let it happen.”I stopped pacing. “And how exactly do you plan to do th
I didn’t realize I was shaking until the door to my room closed behind me and the silence rushed in all at once.My legs gave out before my mind caught up, and I sank onto the edge of the bed, then tipped backward until I was flat on my back, staring up at the ceiling like it might explain what had
I had spent years mastering restraint.It was a discipline, like anything else—learned, sharpened, perfected through necessity. Control wasn’t just a preference for me; it was survival. It was order carved out of chaos. It was the only reason anything in my life functioned at all.And Lily had step
By the time Emma pulled the car into our small driveway, the adrenaline had long drained out of my body. What remained was a dull, dragging exhaustion that sat heavy in my bones, like someone had filled my limbs with wet sand.My legs still trembled when I stepped out, and my head swam. I blamed th
The night air felt colder than I expected.Not the kind of cold that bit at your skin, but the kind that sank deeper, into your ribs, into your spine, into the places exhaustion already carved hollow.My backpack weighed almost nothing, yet my shoulders ached as if I’d carried my entire life inside







