Lahat ng Kabanata ng Ripples And Hills: Kabanata 21 - Kabanata 30

Alexa (Prudence)“Hello. I’m Doctor Blackwood. Has the patient woken up yet?”That voice.Sharp. Professional. Laced with urgency. Two years ago, I heard it just before drifting into another black haze of anesthesia. My face had been wrapped in gauze, my limbs heavy. That moment… that voice… haunts me still.“She’s fine, Doctor. She just held my hand. Hopefully when she wakes again, you’ll be around…” Martha had whispered beside me then, her fingers warm against mine. Sweet Martha, assigned to me just days before the surgery. She cared more than she was paid to. Treated me like family.“Oh. I’m sorry. I’ll be going on an important trip. But I’ve briefed my colleague. The surgeries went well. But she’ll need time. A lot of it.”I remember it vividly. Though dazed, those words buried themselves in my bones. He was the last person I heard before the real pain began.Could this man… this Pier Blackwood… be that doctor?I blink, snapping back to the present. The restaurant. The lights. The

Alexa (Prudence)His lips touch mine and I freeze.It’s unexpected. Tender. An apology, a promise, and an invitation—all wrapped in one kiss. His mouth tastes like coffee, meat, and something sweet I can’t place. His lips move against mine with a careful desperation, like he’s testing the waters of something sacred.I flinch and pull back.Breathing fast. Shaky. Winded by the kiss.It shouldn’t feel this good.A memory flares, unwelcome. Two years ago. A night like this. A kiss that bled into something deeper. Hulio. The way he touched me, made me feel wanted... until he didn’t, because apparently I committed suicide in police custody. Poison. Apparently I killed his dad and mine. Robbed my grandma. He never mourned me. Only continued living.I rise, fast. The takeout container slips from my lap and crashes to the ground. I don’t even glance at it.I walk.Brisk. Unsteady. I need to breathe. To escape. If I turn back, I’ll fall again. And this time, it won’t just be a kiss.“Wait… wai

Alexa (Prudence)Corte, Corsica, France. Night.“Miss, will you be ordering anything?”The voice pulls me out of my spiraling thoughts. I blink up at the waitress, a girl with glossy curls and an even glossier smile.“No,” I murmur. “I’ll just wait a little longer, if you don’t mind.”She nods and slips away to another table. The air around me is warm, but I’m shivering on the inside. I glance at the time. 7:15.Fifteen minutes late.Cutlery clinks all around me, knives and forks scraping plates with maddening precision. The laughter from nearby tables feels like echoes from another world. I’m about to check the time again when—“Am I late?”His voice.Low. Calm. Effortlessly masculine.I startle. Look up.And there he is, Pier.My mouth goes dry.His gaze hooks into mine with such easy intensity, it makes my pulse misbehave. He’s dressed in a fitted grey blazer, black T-shirt underneath, black jeans hugging all the right places. His hair freshly trimmed, beard neatly groomed. Clean,

Pier.I spot her instantly.Even in a sea of bright-eyed students, Prudence arrests my attention like a lighthouse slicing through a storm. She’s extremely breathtaking. My breath catches. I try to school my face into neutrality, but it’s hopeless. She’s all I see. She’s everything I want to see. I hear my heart beating loud. Boodum...Boodum ..Boodum...“Doctor,” the head of the Design department, Mrs. Townslow, says briskly beside me. “This way.”“Yes.” I blink, snapping back to focus. Fuck am lost.Professional. Be professional, I remind myself, even as my eyes stray back to her. Her shoulders are rigid. Her gaze avoids mine. But I know she feels me watching. Every time she glances up, she finds me.She feels it too.When I sit, Mrs. Townslow handles the introductions. I barely hear her. I’m too focused on trying to reconcile the girl I kissed last night with the student sitting nervously in front of me. She never told me she studied here. Never said a word. I’m stunned.“This is Dr

Ashley.Friday, June 20th. Next day.My heels click against the marble as I make brisk strides to the door, excitement bubbling at the thought of the trip Helia planned. A trip with my boyfriend. Sounds alien to my tongue.Milan. Just the two of us. I’m nearly out when Grandma’s voice slices through my thoughts.“Ashley. Might I have a word with you.” Calm. Low. Dangerous. Scary.I stiffen. Not now. Not today. Still, I paste a face.“Sure, Grandma.” Tight voice. Tighter smile.We step into the living room, out of earshot. My eyes flick toward Alexa’s old sanctuary. A shadow of pain mixes with regret, tugs at my chest. I push it down, fast.“There are complaints of embezzlement in the Steel division, Ashley. Hills Fusion is suffering. Poor decisions, your decisions, are weakening our market standing.”I blink. Swallow hard.How did word get out about the funds I moved? I didn’t want to do it. I had to. I was forced. Still, I steady my voice. My insides shaking.“Are you accusing me of