All Chapters of His to Ruin, Hers to Reclaim.: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

– The First Crack“You can’t keep doing this, Celine.”Ethan’s voice was low, taut like a wire about to snap. I froze in the hallway, my hand hovering just above the apartment door handle. His office door was slightly ajar, light spilling into the hallway like an offer I wasn’t meant to accept. Celine’s voice floated out, honeyed with practiced tenderness. “I didn’t come here to hurt you, Ethan. I came because I’m carrying a piece of you. Doesn’t that matter?” My stomach twisted. I should’ve walked away, but my feet were stuck to the marble floor. “You’re lying,” Ethan shot back, though I heard the pause in his tone. It was slight, but it was there. And that delay cut me deeper than any knife. Celine let out a shaky sigh. “You’ve always been cruel when cornered. But you weren’t mean the night you held me, Ethan. You weren’t mean when you whispered you’d never let me go. Do you think I could invent that? Do you think I could invent this child?” Silence. I gripped the doorframe, na

– Web of Deception“Don’t say it, Sonia. Don’t you dare let it slip.” The warning rushed through my head like an alarm, yet the words burned on the tip of my tongue. I walked across my rooftop living room, the city lights spilling through the floor-to-ceiling windows. The night was too quiet, too heavy. Naomi’s reveal about Celine’s fake pregnancy test still echoed in my skull, each word like glass cutting into my chest. If I told Ethan, everything would unravel. He would destroy Celine, yesbut he’d also kill himself in the process. And yet if I stayed quiet, Celine would win. I pressed my hands against my face, groaning. “Why is every path a trap?” “You’re trembling,” Adrian’s words broke through the quiet. He stood resting against the wall, his dark eyes watching me too closely. “You can’t keep carrying this alone.” “I’m fine,” I snapped, though my voice shook. He stepped closer. “No, you’re not. Sonia, I’ve seen you fight wars without flinching, but thisthis lieit’s eating yo

– Father & Son“Do you hate me, Lucas?”The words left me before I could stop them, raw and jagged in the quiet of the garden. My voice was lower than a whisper, yet it carried like thunder to my own ears. Lucas, small but sharp-eyed, looked up from the toy car he was rolling along the stone bench. He didn’t answer right away. Children never rushed truth. He tilted his head, watching me as though weighing the weight of my question. “Mama says hate is heavy. I don’t carry heavy things.” The answer stole my breath. Out of the words of children came the things that killed men. I swallowed hard, my chest tightening. “Then what do you carry?” He tapped the car against the stone, then shrugged. “Questions.” I laughed softly, though it felt like glass tearing through me. “What kind of questions?” His eyes narrowed, studying me with terrifying clarity. “Why Mama cries when she thinks I’m asleep. Why you look at her like you want to hold her but then make her sad. And…” His voice trailed

– Stalker in the Shadows“Lucas, hold my hand tight,” I whispered, my voice shaky as we crossed the quiet street near my office. The late evening air smelled of rain, heavy clouds rolling above us, and I couldn’t shake the thought that somethingsomeonewas watching. Lucas’s small fingers clutched mine, his eyes wide. “Mommy, why are you walking so fast?” I forced a smile. “Just want to get home before it rains, sweetheart.” But the truth shook inside me. The threatening letters, the picture left on my desk of me and Lucas at the parksomeone had been watching us. Following us. Then I heard it. The low growl of an engine working harder than necessary. My heart leapt into my throat. I turned my head, and headlights burst across the street, glaring, rushingcoming straight for us. “Lucas!” I screamed, pushing him back with all the force I had. Before I could react further, arms wrapped around us. Strong. Fierce. Ethan. He yanked us both to the ground, rolling across the wet concrete ju

– Torn Between Two Fires“You think I don’t blame myself?” Ethan’s words cracked through the silence of my apartment, raw and desperate. He stood in the middle of the living room, his hands clenched, shoulders rising and falling like he was standing on the edge of a war rather than inside four walls. I crossed my arms tightly over my chest, not for defense but because if I didn’t, I feared I’d fall apart in front of him. “Blame doesn’t change anything, Ethan,” I shot back, my voice sharper than I meant. “You still let her fool you. You let her play you. And now look where we are” “Where we are?” His jaw locked, his eyes dark with self-hatred. “Where I am is drowning in guilt, Sonia. Every time I look at you, every time I see Lucas… all I can think about is how I failed you both. I failed as a guy, I failed as a father.” I wanted to relax, God, I wanted to. But the scars were too new, the deception too deep. “And what do you expect me to do with that, Ethan? Feel sorry for you? Pret