Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 101 - Chapitre 110

LUCA’S POVThe silence in the hotel room was a stale weight on my skin. I sat on the edge of the mattress with the dark phone in my palm and felt the loneliness like a hollow beneath my ribs.This wasn't ordinary solitude. I was good at that. This was the jagged shape of her absence, knowing June was out there, trapped in a world I couldn't reach. I could have texted if it mattered, but she had me blocked (a necessary precaution because Franklin checked her phone).I lay back and stared at a water stain on the ceiling. She was probably gliding through that cold, immaculate house, a ghost in designer clothes. Was she thinking of me, or just counting seconds until she could breathe alone? The not knowing left space for every worst-case scenario to unpack itself.The knock broke the stillness. It was light, almost playful. This was a pattern I already knew.Sarah.I opened the door a few inches. She leaned against the doorframe, a flash of red dress and practiced concern. “Hey, stranger.

JUNE’S POVI couldn’t sleep. The house had settled into deep midnight quiet, but Franklin’s snoring rolled through the mattress in steady waves. Each rumble jarred me awake.My thumb throbbed under Marlene’s bandage, a sharp reminder of the evening’s chaos. I stared at the dark ceiling as the night pressed in, thick with everything I hadn’t said.The images looped: Marlene’s careful fingers wrapping the cut, Franklin’s heavy hand on my shoulder, the faint flicker of light in the trees. And Luca. His face when he ducked behind the dresser. The way he vanished afterwards. I told myself he had to have. The alternative weighed too heavily in my chest.The not-knowing gnawed until I couldn’t stay still. I eased out from under the covers, careful not to shift the mattress. Franklin didn’t stir. I slipped on my silk robe from the bedpost, tied it loosely, and padded barefoot down the hall. The kids’ doors were shut. No light underneath. Good.Downstairs, the living room glowed faintly from d

LUCA’S POVI slipped out before the porch lights triggered. The sky held a thin navy glow, and the street lay empty. Cold air hit my throat and sank under my skin. I left my jacket unzipped. The chill steadied the heat still burning through me.I didn’t look back until the walkway curved away from the porch. The house waited in silence, with blank windows and trimmed hedges. Nothing about it hinted at how reality had just shifted inside its walls. The normalcy almost made me laugh. I tightened my grip on my bag strap to steady the tremor in my hand. The air smelled of pine and leftover rain. My mouth tasted of her.At the corner, I leaned against the bakery wall. Brick pressed into my shoulder while my legs hummed with aftershock. I lit my phone screen. The hotel was already saved. Ride requested. Five minutes. I pocketed the phone and drew a slow breath. The city felt bright in its quiet.Her scent clung to me, warm and salty, with nothing synthetic. It lived along her collarbone and

JUNE’S POVThe sauce spattered against the pot while I stirred, the kitchen lights too bright. The kids were upstairs fighting over the Switch again, their voices drifting like weather far out at sea.The forced quiet of vacation made the house feel borrowed, like nothing belonged to us long enough to feel safe.Through the open window, I heard Franklin talking to someone with that clipped calm he used when he wanted to sound in control. The sound tightened something under my ribs.Cold air brushed my bare knees and raised bumps across my skin. I wondered if it was work or just the shield he preferred.My phone sat face-down on the counter. I kept glancing anyway. No buzz. No message. No nothing from Luca to show he got home safe. The silence pressed on a bruise I was not ready to name.I scooped sauce to taste. It landed flat on my tongue. My throat felt too tight to swallow.Last night kept bleeding into the kitchen, impossible to shove away. I still felt the imprint of his hands on

JUNE’S POVI could knock. But what would I say? Sorry was useless. Everything else was worse. So I let my hand fall.In the kitchen, I grabbed the notepad from the fridge and scrawled a note: “Went to the store. Need stuff for dinner.” It was a flimsy excuse, but I didn’t care. I just needed some air.I grabbed my keys and left.I drove without a plan, turning when it felt right, stopping at red lights that blurred together. Eventually, I pulled into a strip mall lot with a CVS and a dollar store, fluorescent lights buzzing on as the sky dimmed. I shut off the engine and sat there, hands still gripping the wheel.My phone came out again. My thumb hovered over Luca’s name. Our last texts were about vacation plans, about a place with a ridiculous view and no cell service. It felt like it belonged to someone else.I typed “Franklin knows about last night.”The words looked weak. I deleted them.I typed two new words and sent them before I could rethink it.Call me.The message flipped to