All Chapters of Our love to hide: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

The flight home was quieter than either of them expected. No celebratory champagne. No whispered jokes or stolen kisses in the dark of the plane cabin. Just the occasional glance, a hand brushing a forearm, eyes locking for a moment too long, then slipping away again.Ethan stared out the window, watching clouds blur beneath them. Nathan sat beside him, reading a book he hadn't turned a page of in twenty minutes. Their wedding in Florida had been everything they'd hoped: intimate, warm, imperfectly perfect. But as they flew back into their real lives, the weight of the world seemed to climb back onto their shoulders, molecule by molecule.Back in Philadelphia, the city welcomed them with gray skies and cool wind. Their apartment, once a safe haven, felt stiff and unfamiliar. Boxes from the wedding still sat unpacked. Messages blinked unread on both their phones. Emails piled up like snowdrifts.Ethan sighed, toeing off his shoes. "Feels like we were gone for more than a week.""It f

The morning after Ethan’s outburst passed like a ghost through their apartment. Nathan moved quietly in the kitchen, preparing coffee, while Ethan sat at the edge of the bed, fingers digging into his knees. The air between them had shifted heavier, like a door had been opened to a room neither of them wanted to enter.“I didn’t mean to accuse you,” Ethan said at last, voice raw.“I know,” Nathan replied, bringing him a steaming mug. “But it still hurts.”They sat in silence. The bitter coffee was grounding, anchoring them to the moment. Outside, the city buzzed as always, oblivious to the emotional landslide brewing within their walls.Nathan glanced at his phone and sighed. “There’s someone I think you should meet.”Ethan’s brow furrowed. “Now?”“Her name is Claire Monette. She was my first real relationship. I was nineteen. It… ended badly.”“You want me to meet your ex?”Nathan shook his head. “She reached out. Said someone’s been asking questions about me. Digging into our past.”

Chapter 55 – Letters from the EdgeNathan didn’t sleep.The house was still, but his mind raced. Every echo in the hallway sounded like a memory.He sat in the living room, staring at the wedding photo on the shelf. Ethan’s smile looked different now, full of hope, before the fractures. Before the weight of public scrutiny made love feel like a liability.He rubbed his eyes. Guilt chewed through his gut like rust on steel.Was Ethan right?Had he ruined his life?He was putting away laundry when he noticed the guest room door slightly ajar. A soft glow spilled out Ethan’s old laptop humming faintly atop a stack of notebooks.Nathan frowned.He stepped inside, careful not to disturb the fragile silence, and sat beside it. The screen showed a folder already open: “Private Letters.”Nathan hesitated.Then clicked.The first one opened in a simple text document. No formatting. No filters. “Dear Nathan. Today I heard Vanessa crying in the bathroom. I didn’t ask why. I knew. It’s because

The leak dropped at midnight.No warning. No hints.Just a sudden post on a tech ethics blog, barely known outside activist circles, titled:“The Mask of Elijah Greene: How a Tech Prince Became a Predator of Silence”At first, no one believed it. The screenshots looked too detailed. The email threads are too brutal.But within hours, it spread like wildfire.Not because it was sensational but because it was true.Sarah sat frozen on her bed, the screen lighting up her face, horror reflected in her wide, tear-rimmed eyes.There they were emails between Elijah and a silent investor. Plans to fabricate queer harassment accounts. Threads showing his team targeting LGBTQ+ influencers to "redirect attention" from his father's disgrace.Worse: names.Names she knew.Artists. Friends. Former classmates.Ethan’s name appeared, too. “Break his back online. Make it look organic. He can’t be the hero if no one’s watching.”The bile in her throat rose. She’d defended Elijah to people. Had introdu

The house looked smaller than Ethan remembered.Maybe it was because he wasn’t afraid of it anymore.The porch, once a place of whispered goodbyes and hidden glances, now basked in golden afternoon light. A new coat of paint. A flowering vine crawling up the side. The front door opened, as if waiting.Nathan stood beside him, keys in hand.“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” he asked.Ethan smiled. “I think I’ve been ready since the day we left.”Nathan opened the door.The inside smelled like lemon oil and freshly baked bread.Vanessa had insisted on cooking. Isabelle brought wine. Sarah showed up with homemade cookies and a cooler full of overpriced sparkling water.They’d all arrived before Ethan and Nathan, insisting on setting up themselves.By the time Ethan walked into the kitchen, the table was full of food, candles flickering softly, and laughter already echoing through the halls.He stopped in the doorway, breath catching.This house, this place that had seen them at their