All Chapters of 2 LUSTS CAN MAKE A RIGHT : Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

MadelynWe got to Ava's parents house the next morning, the car pulling up the driveway slow and stopping right in front of the main door. The place looked the same as I remembered it, the big white house with the columns and the green lawn all neat, the flower beds full of colors from the sun. Ava turned off the engine and we sat there for a minute, both of us quiet like we were getting ready for something hard.Ava looked at me. "You okay?"I nodded, even though my stomach was in knots the whole drive. "Yeah. Let's just get this over with."We got out and walked up the steps together. Ava rang the bell, and the door opened. Clarissa was there, her eyes going wide when she saw Ava, and she pulled her into this tight hug right on the doorstep, holding her like she was afraid to let go."Oh my baby," Clarissa said, her voice breaking a little as she rocked Ava side to side. "You're home. You're really home."James came out fast from the hallway, his face lighting up too, and he joined

MadelynThe office felt different that morning. Quiet, sterile, and suffocating in its own way. I was perched on the edge of my chair, one hand tapping against the desk while the other fiddled with a pen I didn’t really need. My inbox blinked insistently at me, but I wasn’t in the mood for work. My head was heavy, weighed down with thoughts I couldn’t shake.And then the knock came.“Ava,” I said before she even opened the door, Sarah already told me I had her as my visitor. I hadn’t realized I’d been holding my breath until her familiar silhouette filled the frame. She stepped in, eyes scanning the office as if measuring the distance I’d put between myself and the chaos she always seemed to bring.“You look... settled,” she said, a small, sharp smile on her lips. “Seeing you back here, in your hometown, is sweet.”I didn’t smile. Sweet wasn’t the word I would have used, not today. I didn’t move to offer her a chair, just gestured vaguely to the one she was already moving toward. My f

MadelynI was sitting with Ava when her parents walked in, and the air in the room changed so fast it almost felt physical. One minute Ava was standing by the window, arms folded, staring outside like she was holding herself together out of pure stubbornness, and the next Clarissa and James Montgomery were right there, faces tight, eyes sharp, the kind of look parents wear when disappointment and fear have already merged into something heavier.Clarissa spoke first, her voice soft but strained, like she was trying not to let it break. “Ava, enough is enough.”Ava didn’t turn around immediately. She stayed where she was, shoulders squared, chin lifted slightly. I could tell she had already braced herself for this conversation. It wasn’t a surprise to her. It was inevitable.James cleared his throat, stepping forward. “We didn’t raise you to be reckless,” he said. “Do you have any idea what you’re doing right now?”Ava finally turned, her expression calm in a way that felt forced. “I kn

DominicAlexander’s footsteps faded down the hallway, his voice still echoing in my head even after the door shut behind him. The room felt different once he was gone, like the air finally loosened enough for me to breathe properly. I stayed where I was, hands in my pockets, staring at the floor for a moment longer than necessary. I could have followed him. I could have left the same way I always did, silent, distant, pretending none of this touched me. But my feet refused to move.“Ava,” I said instead, lifting my head. “Can we talk? Just us.”She paused by the window, her back still to me. For a second, I thought she might refuse. She had every reason to. Then she turned slowly, her expression calm but guarded, like she had learned long ago not to let people see too much.“Fine,” she said. “But say what you came to say.”We moved to the smaller sitting area off the main room. It was quieter there, the noise of the house muted, the heavy doors closing behind us. I didn’t sit. Neither

DominicThe courtroom felt colder than it had any right to be, even with the packed benches and bodies pressed shoulder to shoulder. I sat where my family had chosen, stiff-backed, hands folded together because I did not trust what they would do if I let them rest freely. The polished wood beneath my palms was smooth, almost slick, and I kept rubbing my thumb against it without realizing, like friction might steady something inside me that had already started to slip.Across the aisle, Ava stood at the prosecution table, her shoulders squared, her expression controlled in a way that almost fooled me. Almost. I could see the tension in her jaw, the way she inhaled a second too long before she spoke. I had seen that look before, back when negotiations turned ugly and everyone pretended they were still being civil. This was worse. This was her fighting with everything she had while my family prepared to tear it all down.The Blackwell legal team moved like they owned the room. Calm in a