Chapter Twenty one

I had gone to the kids room after the call with Sophia. Her voice is gone, replaced by the steady hush of the air conditioner and the soft, rhythmic breaths of my children tangled up in blankets at the foot of my bed.I lie there for a moment, watching Alina’s hair spill over Leo’s tiny shoulder. Safe. Warm. Oblivious.I wish I could crawl back under the covers and sink into that peace with them. But the world outside my door is waiting.Downstairs, I find the script pages fanned out across the kitchen table, a little note in Layla’s neat scrawl: “Didn’t want to wake you. Rest, I’ve got the morning.” A grocery bag sits beside it, half-opened — fresh eggs, bread, strawberries.I wrap my hands around a mug of coffee and stand there, staring at the pages without seeing a single word. Two years. That’s what he said. The lie I want so badly to call a lie — but what if it’s not? What if this is the one truth he’ll ever tell me?The coffee turns cold in my hands. I pour it down the drain and

Last Updated : 2025-07-11

Chapter Twenty Two

I wake up on the couch with a stiff neck and a blanket I don’t remember pulling over myself. The last thing I remember is Sophia’s hand on my back while I tried not to drown in my own tears. She must have moved me, covered me up like she used to when we were kids. I press my palm into my eyes for a second before I push myself up.I find her in the kitchen, humming under her breath while she flips eggs in a pan. The smell of toast and coffee wraps around me like a safer blanket than the one I left on the couch. Leo sits at the counter, swinging his feet, stuffing bits of scrambled egg into his mouth with sticky fingers. Alina’s next to him, dramatic as ever, demanding extra syrup for her waffles like it’s a negotiation.I stand there in the doorway for a moment longer than I mean to, just watching them. Sophia tilts her head, crossing her eyes and puffing out her cheeks until Leo giggles so hard he almost chokes. Alina claps like she’s got her own private circus. For a second, I let my

Last Updated : 2025-07-11

Chapter Twenty Three

I stand in the hallway with my palms pressed flat against the front door. The kids are still clinging to my legs like I’m about to disappear into thin air — which I guess, in a way, I am.“Mommy, when will you come back?” Alina’s voice cracks right down the middle, her syrupy little girl lisp slurring the words into a dagger aimed straight at my heart. She’s got peanut butter on her cheek and tears clinging to her lashes. I bend down and swipe them both away with my thumb.“As soon as I can, baby. It won’t be forever.” It’s a lie. Not the forever part — the soon part. Filming schedules laugh in the face of plans. I hate myself for knowing that.Sophia stands behind them, a fortress in jeans and an old hoodie. She doesn’t say don’t go — she knows better than that. She just watches me pass over the envelope she doesn’t want but needs to have. Temporary custody papers. Just in case. Just to keep the questions away if anyone comes sniffing around.She tucks the papers into her bag without

Last Updated : 2025-07-22

Chapter Twenty Four

The restaurant is one of those places that pretends it’s not trying too hard — reclaimed wood beams, Edison bulbs strung across a glass ceiling like constellations caught in a net, servers dressed like they just stumbled off a Brooklyn food truck.Layla stays close as we walk in. Her arm brushes mine every few steps, a quiet anchor I’m not sure I deserve. I can feel my spine locking itself straighter the moment we step into the main dining room — all warm brick and flickering candlelight, laughter bouncing off wine glasses that cost more than my first car.I clock the table immediately. Director Chace— big voice, big laugh, big belly under a crisp linen shirt. Rumor says he’s an executioner on set but practically hugs people to death when there’s free-flowing wine. He spots me and his grin blooms like a spotlight.Leo’s here too. Of course he is. Holding court at the far end like he’s been crowned prince of this canyon bistro. His shirt is open at the throat, tan deeper than it has a

Last Updated : 2025-07-22

Chapter Twenty Five

The desert sun is already bruising the horizon when I wake — a soft orange glow bleeding through the cheap white curtains. My dress is still there, draped over the bathroom door like a body I forgot to bury. A reminder. A stain that won’t wash out. I don’t reach for my phone at first. I just lie there, eyes open, waiting for my heartbeat to remember its lines. When I do check, there’s one voicemail blinking like a warning light. Sophia’s voice is raw with sleep. “She didn’t want to sleep, Sienna. Alina waited by the window for you to call. She kept saying, ‘Mommy promised.’ I made her some warm milk but… maybe next time just…” She doesn’t finish the thought. She doesn’t have to. I know exactly what she wants to say — try harder. There’s a text from Layla too. Coffee in your room before filming starts? I don’t reply. I don’t want her soft voice scraping against my raw insides. I don’t want her pitying eyes cataloging all the ways I’m unraveling. I want this silence, sharp and holy

Last Updated : 2025-07-23

Chapter Twenty Six

The morning sun rises without warning. I pick up my phone and I hit video call before I can talk myself out of it. She answers on the third ring. Alina’s face fills the screen first — messy curls, sleepy eyes. My daughter’s voice slices straight through my ribs.“Mommy?”“Hey, baby.” My voice cracks. I clear it fast. “Did you brush your teeth?” It’s night for them. She nods solemnly, mouth already twisting into a pout. “You didn’t call during the day, I waited.”I swallow the lump that tries to crawl up my throat. “I know. I’m sorry, sweetheart. Mommy had… work.”Sophia’s face drifts into frame behind her, eyes tired but soft. There’s a question in her look — are you okay? I can’t answer her with words, so I just smile. It probably looks wrong. Alina chatters about her new doll, about the warm milk Auntie Sophia made her, about how the neighbor’s cat had babies and can she have one, please?Each word is a tiny knife I press deeper into my own skin. I nod. I promise. I promise. I prom