All Chapters of After The Night In Miami : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Elena’s POVThe photo loads slowly, like the universe wants to give me one last heartbeat of peace before it rips everything away.It’s a perfect shot . Leo on Julian’s lap , tiny arms flung around his neck, both of them laughing at something off-camera . The living-room lamp throws gold across their faces , and Leo’s curls are wild from Julian’s fingers ruffling them . Julian’s eyes are closed in the kind of smile I have never, ever seen on him: soft , unguarded, like the world finally gave him the one thing he didn’t know how to ask for .The timestamp is 11:47 p.m . Forty-three minutes ago . We were right here . The angle is from the corner by the bookshelf. Inside the apartment .My phone slips from my fingers and clatters to the hardwood . The sound is too loud, too sharp, like a gunshot in the quiet .Julian’s head snaps up from the couch where he’s been pretending to watch cartoons with Leo . He’s still in the same white shirt from this morning, sleeves rolled high ,

Elena’s POVI wake up choking on my own heartbeat .For one second I don’t know where I am . The mattress is too soft , the sheets too cool and expensive against my skin , the ceiling too high. Then Leo’s warm weight shifts against my side , one small foot kicking me in the ribs, and Julian’s low , off-key humming drifts in from the hallway like smoke under a door.Baby beluga… Heaven above, and the sea below…The little white whale on the go…His voice is cracked from lack of sleep , but he keeps going, stubborn and gentle, the way only a man who’s terrified of silence can be.I lie very still , afraid to breathe too loud and shatter whatever this is.Leo’s curls tickle my chin . Julian’s arm is stretched across both of us , palm open on the mattress like he fell asleep reaching for something he wasn’t allowed to hold.The glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling are fading as dawn creeps in through the blinds . Everything smells like baby shampoo , and Julian’s cologne and th

Elena’s POVI’m standing at the kitchen island slicing strawberries for Leo’s lunch when the phone buzzes .One single vibration. Not a call. Not a reminder. Just one cold, deliberate buzz that makes the knife slip and nick my thumb.Blood beads bright red against the berry juice.I don’t feel it.The screen lights up with a number I deleted four years ago but still know by heart.Unknown ‘You can run but blood always finds blood.’The knife clatters to the marble .I feel the room tilting.I grip the counter so hard my knuckles go white , staring at those eight words like they’re written in acid.You can run but blood always finds blood.My stomach flips violently . I feel the text which I'm referring to as Acid burns the back of my throat .I stumble to the sink and vomit strawberries and panic and every fragile piece of safety I thought I’d stolen back .*****************Julian’s POVI’m in the shower when I hear it : the unmistakable sound of retching.I’m out in second

Elena’s POVThe elevator doors slide shut and it’s just us .Julian and me. Thirty-six floors of silence about to explode .I’ve been carrying the Polaroid in my pocket all morning like a faded ghost pressed against my thigh . The forged contract is folded in my bra, edges cutting into my skin every time I breathe .Julian stands on the opposite side, hands in his pockets, staring at the numbers like they owe him money .He hasn’t shaved . There’s syrup in his hair from Leo’s sticky fingers . He looks like a man who slept on the floor outside my door all night .I hate that I noticed .The elevator lurches downward .Floor 32.Floor 31 .I can’t take it anymore .“Your grandfather killed mine.”The words rip out of me like barbed wire.Julian’s head snaps toward me. His eyes go wide, then dark, then devastated.“Elena....”“Don’t.” My voice cracks like glass. “Don’t you dare defend him.”He flinches like I slapped him.“I’m not....”“He forged Miguel’s signature. He stole ev

Elena’s POVI’m buckling Leo into his car seat when my phone starts exploding.Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Like an angry hornet trapped in my pocket.I ignore it; I’m late for his preschool drop-off and Julian is already waiting downstairs with the engine running, pretending he’s not watching me like I might vanish.One more kiss on Leo’s curls, one more “I love you bigger than dinosaurs,” and I shut the door.The phone is still vibrating against my hip.I fish it out at a red light.127 new Slack notifications.My stomach drops.The company-wide channel (#hayes-global-all) has a pinned message from Chloe.A screenshot.A blurry 2019 forum post from a throwaway account I used when I was eight months pregnant and terrified.Title: 23 & pregnant after a one-night stand – do I tell him ?The post is me, word for word, crying into the void at 3 a.m. :“I don’t even know his last name. He was in Miami on business . I was stupid and drunk and it was my first time and now I’m having his baby a