LOGINRaymond“Do you have any idea what it did to me, watching him put himself between us?”I asked her.“I am sorry. I never expected him to do that.”Her voice was soft against my chest as she curled into me.“I know. It is just, in that second, so many thoughts crashed through me. Do not mistake my meaning, I never for a moment believed you were being unfaithful. The jealousy and the anger were just so violent, I stopped thinking clearly.”“Hey, you do not have to explain. I think I would have felt the same.”I pressed my lips to the top of her head.I wanted to hold her there forever, but the floor was growing hard, and our hearts had finally slowed. I shifted, gathering her into my arms to carry her to our room. She rested her head on my shoulder, and all I knew was her. Her heat, her shape settled perfectly against me, like she was made to be right there.I set her on the bed and went to run a bath, pouring in the bubble mix she loved before helping her out of her clothes and into th
BellaThose fifteen minutes dragged on forever. I fought to keep my composure. I could not stand how they were painting me as some bitter woman, plotting the perfect payback to win a man back. Rex belonged in my past, and that is exactly where I needed him to stay. Ron and Raymond still had to give their statements, and I already knew this was going to take a lot longer than I’d hoped.We were asked to return to the courtroom. Kennedy let me know that Colleen had chosen to speak. Her lawyer did not want her to at first, but I suppose she changed her mind. The same formal routine played out. Everyone stood when the judge came in. Both lawyers gave him some documents, and everything began again.This time, Raymond was asked to speak. He told them everything about that night, every single detail. He described what Colleen was wearing and the pure hate she felt for me… He explained how much it hurt us both.“I cannot put into words how it felt to learn that not only was Bella attacked, bu
Author's Pov“All rise.”The judge walked to his high seat. Everyone in the room, the jury, the lawyers, bowed their heads slightly toward him. He bowed his head back to them. It was a quiet show of respect.“Court is now in session. You may be seated,” announced the bailiff.The formal introductions began, naming the lawyers and the people they represented. Bella sat on the right side of the room, her hands clasped tightly together in her lap. Raymond placed his own hand over hers, a gentle pressure to quiet her rising anxiety. He leaned close to say something into her ear. On the left side sat Colleen. To anyone who did not know better, she looked completely bored. Her expression said she would rather be anywhere else in the world. Or maybe that look had everything to do with Rex, who was seated right beside her.“Your Honor,” Colleen’s lawyer, Mr. Scott, began. “My client, Colleen Ronald, was deeply hurt when she discovered her husband’s three-year affair with Miss Whey. Her family
BellaSarah and I connected in a real way. The wall she kept up to protect herself fell apart, and she was not embarrassed to let me see her pain. She had lived through something terrible, but she made it out even when she believed she could not. Sarah was sitting opposite me, and I understood the expression on her face. It was not the sad, sorry look everyone else gave me. It was recognition. She knew exactly what I was feeling because she had been there herself.Raymond arrived at the hospital after his meeting, just like he said he would. I noticed his expression when he walked in. He was confused about his mother being there, but after he saw our hands held together, the tension left his body.Sarah told him to sit down and be part of our talk. A little while later, Julie came in to tell me I would be going home later that day. I would be leaving this place with more than I arrived with. I was now a mother to a baby I would never get to hold. I was a woman with a heart that felt c
BellaHer question caught me off guard. She was right. We had never had the chance to really talk. Raymond had warned me his mother could be hard to reach.“Thank you, Mrs. Woods. That means a great deal to me.”“Call me Sarah. I do not know what Raymond has said about me, but I have been where you are. It is never easy. After my loss, I shut everyone out. I was so scared. I thought if I let someone in, if I loved like that again, I would only get hurt.”Her voice was soft. She was looking at something I could not see.“I am sorry. I did not know. Raymond never told me.”“I suppose he would not. It happened after he was born. I am not even sure he remembers.”“How… how did you make it through?”I kept my voice low, worried I was crossing a line. She was quiet for a long time, and I was afraid I had said too much.“I buried myself in my work. I did anything I could to forget. I pushed myself so hard that by the time I came home, I was too exhausted to think. By the time I looked up and
BellaLost does not even come close to how I felt. Knowing I would never learn if my baby was a boy or a girl, never hold them or kiss them or rock them to sleep, that was the hardest truth I have ever had to face. It felt like the universe was playing a cruel, fucking game. Dangling something good right in front of me, only to rip it away the moment I reached for it. My whole life seemed to work that way.I did not want to believe it. My heart beat all wrong, like an empty room. My body was grieving for a child we never even knew was there. We never got to see them, not even once. Someone up there must be having a real good laugh watching the mess my life has become. Having Raymond with me helped, but only a little. Knowing he was hurting just as badly for our baby meant everything.We had not talked much about children, but I knew without question he would be an amazing father. The kind who would be there for every little thing.Colleen, though… she was a heavy thought. The police







