All Chapters of Our love to hide: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

The Rivera-Cole household had never been quieter.After the move, Vanessa filled the silence with charity work and evening wine, Sarah vanished for longer hours at the university, and Nathan buried himself in contracts and board meetings. But Ethan felt this subtle collapse in the walls that once held their world together. It was in the way his mother avoided eye contact, the way Nathan’s hand no longer reached for his under the table, and the way his own breath caught whenever Mrs. Caldwell walked by their front gate with her judgmental smile.Everything felt like glass, shimmering and ready to shatter.Ethan sat on the back porch that afternoon, the sky overcast, a sketchpad resting on his lap. His fingers were stained with charcoal, but the lines he drew were lifeless abstract shadows of a world he couldn’t name. The sound of heels clicking against the wooden planks snapped his attention upward.Sarah.She leaned against the railing, a Red Bull in hand and a sarcastic grin on h

The days after Nathan opened his office door felt like borrowed time.Ethan woke in the quiet warmth of Nathan’s sheets, the scent of his cologne still clinging to the pillows. They hadn’t said much after that kiss in the garden. But they didn't need to. In the hush of that moment, something had shifted.They were no longer hiding from each other.But that didn’t mean they weren’t still hiding from the world.Nathan moved carefully through the house. No more locked doors, but still no stolen kisses outside their shared silence. At breakfast, he was Nathan, the stepfather, the businessman. Only in those late hours behind closed doors did he become Nathan, the man Ethan loved.It was a dangerous illusion. And Ethan knew it couldn’t last.Sarah noticed first.She stood one morning at the top of the stairs, watching them from behind the railing. Nathan reached out to brush something from Ethan’s shoulder, his fingers lingering just a second too long. It was subtle. Too subtle for most.Bu

Ethan’s voice echoed into nothing.“Nathan?”The silence that followed was a punch to the chest. No footsteps. No doors creaking. No voice saying his name in that low, steady way that always made the world feel less chaotic.Just stillness.The house was too quiet. Too clean. Like Nathan had never existed inside it at all.Ethan stumbled through the hallway, pulling open closet doors, drawers, and the bedroom . Half of the closet was empty. The drawer that used to hold Nathan’s watches and cufflinks? Gone. The cologne Ethan used to borrow without asking was missing.“No…”He gripped the edge of the dresser, his breath catching in his throat. This wasn’t just a moment of space.Nathan had left.Without a word. Without a goodbye. Without a fight.Ethan’s legs gave out and he sank to the floor, his back against the wall, his chest heaving like it couldn’t decide whether to sob or scream. All around him, the silence roared.This was what heartbreak sounded like.Not yelling. Not violence

The silence in the house was suffocating.Ethan had barely moved from the living room floor. His arms were curled around himself, his forehead resting against his knees. He didn’t know how long he’d been there, maybe. Time had lost all shape. All he could feel was the empty space Nathan used to fill.The letter lay on the coffee table, its edges crumpled from where he’d gripped it too tightly. Nathan’s words had gutted him."I love you. But I have to go.""I don’t know what the world will do with our truth, Ethan. I’m afraid it’s already started destroying us. I promise I will come back. When I can protect you, not endanger you."But Ethan didn’t need protection. He needed Nathan.A knock at the door startled him.He staggered to his feet, heart hammering. For a moment, he imagined it was Nathan. That he’d come back already, changed his mind. That he hadn’t actually left him behind in the wreckage.But when he opened the door, it wasn’t Nathan.It was Michael.“Shit,” Michael said wh

The world didn’t wait.By morning, the story was everywhere.Nathan Hale. Ethan Rivera. Stepfather. Stepson. Lovers.The headlines blurred together, screaming in bold fonts on screens and papers alike. "Scandal in Suburbia." "Family Ties or Forbidden Affair?" "He Raised Him Then Loved Him."Ethan stood by the window of their new home, trembling fingers clutching his phone as notification after notification poured in. Texts. Missed calls. Social media mentions. News alerts. Even anonymous threats.Nathan stood behind him, arms crossed, face grim.“They’re tearing us apart already,” Ethan whispered.“I know.” Nathan stepped closer, gently lowering Ethan’s phone and wrapping his arms around him. “But we knew this would come.”Ethan leaned into him, closing his eyes. “It still hurts.”Outside, reporters began gathering beyond the gate, their cameras like vultures waiting for flesh. Nathan’s lawyer had already called. So had his former employer. Everything was moving fast—faster than they