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Chapter 10: Shadows in the Gallery
publish date:
2026-07-11 05:39:25
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Too late, Ex. NOW WATCH ME RISE Chapter 14: The Morning After
The rain had stopped by six the next morning, leaving the city air crisp and clean. Lillian stood in the kitchen of her mother’s house, quietly frying two eggs in a small iron skillet. She hadn't slept at all after returning from Oakfield at midnight, her mind replaying the sight of the shattered porcelain on the study floor.The morning newspaper slid through the mail slot in the front door with a soft thud. Lillian turned off the stove, wiped her hands on a dishtowel, and walked into the hallway to pick it up.She flipped to the business section first. *Brooks Group Logistics Confirms New Supply Chain Restructuring; Stock Stabilizes After Brief Fluctuations.*There was no mention of a fractured jaw, no photographs of Vanessa Clarke, and no corporate scandal. Victoria Sloan had settled with the photographer, and the non-disclosure agreement had held. The empire was safe for another day.“Is it clear?” Margaret asked, walking down the stairs in her bathrobe, her hair tied back loosely
Too late, Ex. NOW WATCH ME RISE Chapter 13: The Ruins of Oakfield
The drive to Oakfield felt longer in the dark. Rain had begun to fall, a steady, rhythmic drizzle that made the headlights of Lillian’s car reflect sharply against the slick asphalt. When she reached the massive iron gates, they were completely shut, two private security guards standing outside in yellow slickers.Lillian rolled down her window, letting the cold rain wet her face. “Open the gate. It’s Lillian.”The guard peered into the car, his expression instantly shifting from suspicion to deep relief. “Mrs. Brooks. Yes, ma'am. Mr. Brooks gave orders not to let anyone in, but we didn't think that applied to you.”“It doesn't,” Lillian said smoothly, though the title *Mrs. Brooks* felt like an insult.The heavy gates groaned open, and she drove up the dark, winding driveway. The mansion was almost completely dark, save for a single light burning in the formal study on the ground floor. She parked her car, grabbed her umbrella, and walked up the stone steps. She didn't use her key; i
Too late, Ex. NOW WATCH ME RISE Chapter 12: Broken Procelain
The kitchen in Margaret Harper’s house always smelled faintly of cinnamon and old cookbooks. Lillian sat at the small wooden table, an open textbook on maternal-newborn nursing resting beside a half-empty mug of chamomile tea. It was nearly eight in the evening, and she had spent the last two hours trying to memorize fetal development stages, but her mind kept drifting back to the cold stare Nurse Harrison had given her at the hospital.The front door opened, and Margaret walked in carrying two heavy bags of groceries, her keys jingling loudly in her hand.“Don't get up, sweety,” Margaret said quickly, using her elbow to nudge the kitchen door wider. “I’ve got it. How was the rest of your shift after that corporate idiot showed up?”Lillian closed her textbook with a soft sigh, standing up to help her mother unpack the bags. “Humiliating, Mama. Nurse Harrison warned me that if my personal life bleeds onto her floor again, I’m out of the clinical program. Nathaniel is doing this on pur
Too late, Ex. NOW WATCH ME RISE Chapter 11: The shift at dawn.
The smell of burnt coffee and industrial disinfectant filled the breakroom of the hospital’s third-floor medical-surgical unit. Lillian stood by the window, holding a paper cup of lukewarm water, watching the first rays of sunlight break over the city skyline. It was 5:45 a.m., and her feet were already aching from the orientation walk-through the previous afternoon.“Rough first night?” Maya asked, walking into the breakroom with a groan as she slumped into a plastic chair. She was wearing the same hospital-issue blue scrubs as Lillian, her hair tucked into a surgical cap.“I didn't sleep much before the shift,” Lillian admitted, turning around with a small, tired smile. “But once the charts started piling up, the adrenaline took over. I forgot how fast things move on a public floor.”“It’s a madhouse,” Maya agreed, tearing open a packet of instant oatmeal. “The nurse preceptor told me we have six bed baths and twelve vital sign checks to complete before the morning medication round
Too late, Ex. NOW WATCH ME RISE Chapter 10: Shadows in the Gallery
Chapter 10: Shadows in the GalleryThe classical music playing inside the grand downtown art gallery was soft, designed to blend into the background of clinking champagne flutes and muted conversations. Nathaniel Brooks stood near a massive abstract oil painting, his hands clasped behind his back, his eyes fixed on the canvas but his mind completely elsewhere.He hadn't slept properly in five days. Every time he closed his eyes in the quiet, echoing master bedroom at Oakfield, he kept seeing the cold, empty look in Lillian’s eyes as she walked out with her single suitcase. It bothered him more than he cared to admit.“Nathaniel, darling, you aren't even looking at the artist’s brushwork,” Vanessa whispered, her hand sliding smoothly down his arm as she leaned into his side. She was wearing an emerald green silk gown that drew glances from several patrons, her red lipstick perfectly painted.Nathaniel subtly pulled his arm back, stepping an inch away from her under the guise of looking
Too late, Ex. NOW WATCH ME RISE Chapter 9: The first Bell
The sharp chime of the laboratory timer cut through the low murmur of the university lecture hall. Lillian quickly pulled her hand back, adjusting her safety goggles as she checked the solution she was measuring. Around her, twenty-five other nursing students were busy packing up their stethoscopes and clipboards, the frantic rustle of paper signaling the official end of the first week of clinical trials.“Make sure your lab reports are submitted to the online portal by midnight,” Dr. Evans called out over the noise of shuffling chairs. “And don’t forget, your hospital rotations begin next Monday at dawn. Wear your proper scrubs or you won’t be allowed on the floor.”Lillian smiled as she wiped down her black slate workstation with an alcohol wipe. It was a tedious task, but she enjoyed the simplicity of it. For three years, her routine had been defined by Nathaniel’s dinner schedule and the endless, silent management of a house that never truly felt like hers. Here, surrounded by the
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