Lahat ng Kabanata ng Sanctified Sin: Kabanata 11 - Kabanata 20

Eden didn’t tell him to stay.She just walked toward the bedroom, barefoot, not looking back—and he followed like gravity pulled him there.She stopped at the edge of the bed and turned. Her arms were loose at her sides, her eyes soft but guarded. She didn’t want comfort. She wanted something real. Something that would sink deep enough to quiet everything else.“Callum,” she said.His voice was quiet. “I’m still here.”Their eyes locked.That was all it took.She reached for him first—fingertips at his chest, slipping under the buttons of his shirt. He didn’t rush. He watched her hands. Watched how they shook just slightly. When her fingers stilled, he covered them with his own and finished the job—unbuttoning the shirt slowly, giving her time to stop him if she wanted to.She didn’t.She slid the fabric off his shoulders, eyes tracing the lean strength of him, the broad chest dusted with dark hair, the subtle scar near his ribs. She touched it with a feather-light graze.“What happen

EdenThe quiet before the storm was sacred.With her kids due home tomorrow, Eden moved through the temporary apartment with purpose—sorting, straightening, folding the last few pieces of a life hastily rearranged. Her body still ached from the morning before, a pleasant reminder of the way Callum had touched her—seen her.But today felt… different.The high from their night together hadn’t faded, but something in her gut stirred. She tried to ignore it. Put on a soft playlist. Watered the windowsill basil like it was a normal Sunday.Then the email came.From an address she didn’t recognize.Subject: “Clarification Needed: Former Church Transactions”Her heart stopped.She clicked on it with trembling fingers, already knowing before the first line appeared.“We are conducting a routine review of financial discrepancies from Restoration Harvest’s building fund, and your name has been referenced on several relevant authorizations…”No signature.No explanation.No contact number.Just

EdenThe suite was quiet except for the faint blue glow of the hallway nightlight. Maggie’s soft breathing came from the back room. Katie had sprawled out on the couch with her favorite blanket tangled around her. Beckett had finally stopped talking in his sleep.Eden sat on the floor in the kitchen, back against the cabinets, legs curled beneath her.The message still lingered in her mind. She hadn’t replied. Didn’t need to. Dusty didn’t send threats for conversation—he sent them for control.Her thumb traced the side of her phone. She’d told Callum about it, and his deep, calming voice had anchored her. He said he’d stop by in the morning.Now it was nearly midnight.The knock came soft at first.Three taps. Slow. Deliberate.Her heart jumped into her throat.She rose carefully, trying not to wake the kids, and padded to the front door of the suite. She didn’t speak. Just stared at the frosted glass panel beside the frame.A silhouette stood still, unmoving.Her phone buzzed in her

Chapter Eighteen: Come to MeEdenIt was 2:04 a.m.The city outside was asleep, and the suite was still—except for her.She sat on the edge of the couch in nothing but an oversized T-shirt and underwear, the faint glow of the streetlamp pouring through the window and brushing her legs with soft light.The email had been gnawing at her for hours.She couldn’t sleep.Couldn’t stop seeing her name on something dirty. Something Dusty.And for once, she didn’t want to carry it alone.She opened her messages and scrolled until she found his name.Eden:Come to me. I need you. Now.Her fingers hovered. A breath. A heartbeat.Then she hit send.He answered in less than sixty seconds.Callum:Are you okay? What happened? I’m on my way.She stared at the screen.She hadn’t meant to scare him.But part of her had needed to know… that she wasn’t alone.That she could reach out and someone would come running—not with excuses, not with guilt, but with certainty.She wrapped her arms around her knee

He parked three houses down this time. Not because he thought Eden would notice—she never looked past her own porch anymore—but because Callum’s truck was still in the driveway, and Dusty didn’t like what that did to his pulse.His hand rested on the steering wheel, thumb tapping in a rhythm he couldn’t quiet. The dome light of his truck was off. Engine cold. Windows cracked just enough to keep the windshield from fogging.He’d told himself he came to check on the kids. Told himself he was just making sure they weren’t being dragged into some mess. Eden was erratic these days. Unstable. Emotional.She didn’t know what was best for them.But even as the lie formed in his head, Dusty could hear Eden’s laugh echoing across the years. Not the brittle one she used now—the real one. The one from back before things got complicated, before everything became a negotiation. When she used to sit cross-legged in his T-shirt on the front porch and sing to the babies in their sleep.He scrolled bac