LOGINEvelynNo calls, no texts from him, and to think that this was the same man who had hidden things from me, broken my heart and I was still chasing after him was crazy, unfortunately I could not get myself to stop.I had called twice before noon.The first time it rang out, the second time it went straight to voicemail.I sat on my bed and stared at my phone and told myself that this was fine, that I had made my decision, that Julian receiving his belongings in boxes was a clear enough message and whatever silence followed was simply the natural consequence of that clarity.Then I texted him.“Just checking you received everything, I hope you are well.”I read it back and deleted it and wrote another one.“Julian, we need to talk when you are ready.”I sent that one and watched the two grey ticks and waited for them to turn blue and they did not turn blue and I put the phone face down on the bed and stood up.He had not even called after receiving his things, not one word, nothing, and
CharlieShe was finally gone, the one time I had the chance to make things right she slipped through my fingers again like all those years ago.I sat in the parking lot outside the hospital with both hands on the wheel and stared at nothing, and then I hit the steering wheel hard."Goddamn it," I said, hitting it again, "goddamn it."The horn did not go off this time, which was almost disappointing because I wanted the noise, wanted something outside of me to match what was happening inside.I had come with flowers.Flowers, like some kind of fool, like she was going to look at a bouquet and forget five years and a bullet wound and everything Serena had done. She had not even been there to reject them, she had simply been gone, which was somehow worse.My phone rang.An Unknown number, but with an area code I recognized, and I answered."Mr. Thorne," the voice said, "this is Officer Daniels from the third precinct, I am calling regarding your wife Serena Thorne.""What about her," I s
Charlie Seeing her tucked in that bed with those puffy eyes, I felt the dying urge to reach for her and kiss her and apologize for being an asshole all these years. I had raced here the moment the text came through, barely slept, barely eaten, my mind ran the entire drive on a single track. What was she thinking? What was she feeling? How did I even begin to say what needed to be said to a woman I had failed this completely? She was already awake when I pushed the door open, her eyes found me immediately, and the look in them made me want to turn around and walk straight back out. It was not anger exactly, it was something colder than anger, the particular expression of a woman who had already decided something about you and was simply waiting for you to confirm it. "How do you feel?" I asked, stepping inside, keeping my voice as steady as I could manage. She stared at me. "What do you want?" "Evey, I just…" "Do not!" she ordered immediately, dropping her voice to something
Evelyn My heart still laid fresh from the betrayal, the worst part was Julian trying to cover up for it, making me sound crazy. I opened my eyes to Leo's weight against my good arm, his head tipped sideways in sleep, his mouth was slightly open, and Amanda sat upright in the chair beside the bed with her hands folded in her lap, watching me the way she watched everything, quietly and completely. A nurse came in, with a clipboard in hand and her shoes were quiet on the floor. "Good morning Ms. Hart, you really did take a long sleep, it is morning already." I blinked at the light coming through the window. "Of course it is morning." "I need to dress your wound," the nurse said pleasantly, turning to Amanda, "if you would excuse us with the child." Amanda rose immediately, reaching for Leo, and something moved through me fast and cold. Charlie. What if he was standing somewhere outside this room right now, what if Julian had told him Leo was here, what if he was waiting for exac
Evelyn My heart still laid fresh from the betrayal, the worst part was Julian trying to cover up for it, making me sound crazy. I opened my eyes to Leo's weight against my good arm, his head tipped sideways in sleep, his mouth was slightly open, and Amanda sat upright in the chair beside the bed with her hands folded in her lap, watching me the way she watched everything, quietly and completely. A nurse came in, with a clipboard in hand and her shoes were quiet on the floor. "Good morning Ms. Hart, you really did take a long sleep, it is morning already." I blinked at the light coming through the window. "Of course it is morning." "I need to dress your wound," the nurse said pleasantly, turning to Amanda, "if you would excuse us with the child." Amanda rose immediately, reaching for Leo, and something moved through me fast and cold. Charlie. What if he was standing somewhere outside this room right now, what if Julian had told him Leo was here, what if he was waiting for exac
EvelynImagine my heart racing to the presence of the very man I should shove down a drain, why did it feel different now that he knew about his child?I lay back against the pillow after the security dragged him out and stared at the ceiling and tried to make sense of what was happening inside my chest. The way my heart had moved when he crouched beside me and said those words, you have my child and I will not stop, the way something in me had responded before I could shut it down.I remembered the pain.Three years of marriage where I was never enough, where I gave everything and received carefully measured portions in return, where I left this city broken and pregnant and alone, and Charlie had not looked for me once, not one single time in five years.The rage came back clean and sharp and I was grateful for it.I pressed the call button.The nurse appeared within a minute. "Ms. Hart, how can I help?""I need you to update my visitors list," I told her, "nobody comes into this roo
CharlieSeeing Serena with a gun pressed against Evelyn's head was one thing, standing beside the man who was possibly in love with her while watching it happen was another thing entirely.The special unit had moved fast once we pleaded over the phones, no unnecessary conversation, no wasted motio
EvelynSerena was snickering again, that low private sound she made when she thought she had already won something.I did not know if she was planning to kill me and dump my body somewhere no one would find it, but whatever her plan was I was not going to die easily, not here, not like this, not ti
EvelynI continued to scream hoping that my voice would make someone come to my rescue, whoever Serena was speaking to on that phone, I needed them to hear me, needed them to know I was here, needed that one thread of sound to travel far enough to matter.The call ended.Serena turned from the phon
CharlieMy phone chimed with a text and my heart immediately skipped.I looked at the screen expecting Frank's name but it was a number I did not recognize, and below it a string of digits with a short message that read, Julian Carver, Evelyn's business partner, call him.Before I could process it







