บททั้งหมดของ SHATTERED BY CHOICE: บทที่ 1 - บทที่ 10

Evelyn's POV The envelope sat in my bag as if it was a rock.I had driven three times around the block before I parked. My hands were not shaking because of the cold. The air in the city of Harlow was warm that afternoon, the kind of warm that sits on your skin and refuses to leave. My hands were shaking because of what the envelope meant.Eight years… Done.I pulled my coat tighter and walked up the front steps of the townhouse. Anthony's black Range Rover was already in the driveway. He had not called to say he was coming. He never called anymore. That stopped being strange about six years ago.The moment I pushed the door open, laughter hit me. The sound of the laughter was so loud and uncontrolled. I know that sound because only one person in the world produced it and that person is my smart son "Mom!" Luca ran at me from the living room, his socks sliding on the tiles. He grabbed my waist before I could even put my bag down. "Dad showed me this video of a dog stealing a whole b

Evelyn's POV My thumb hovered over the screen. Four words, no name, no number I recognized."I know what you did."I locked the phone and shoved it into my coat pocket. Sylvia was still looking at me, waiting, as if my silence was an answer she had already predicted."You look well," I said. My voice came out steadier than it had any right to."Don't do that…we're not friends," she replied."Do what?""Be polite to me like we're strangers at a work event." Her voice was not loud, but it had an edge sharp enough to cut. "We both know what we are to each other."Francis stepped between us, the way he had always stepped between difficult things. "Mom is out of surgery. She's stable. That's what matters right now."Sylvia pulled her eyes from me and looked at our brother. "I want to see her.""Mirabel is with her now. You'll go next."She nodded, then turned away from me completely and went to sit near the window. She crossed her legs and stared out at the city lights coming on below, an

Evelyn's POV I drove back to Mercy General just before nine that night. The parking lot was quieter now. Just a handful of cars and a security guard doing slow rounds near the entrance.My mother's room was dim when I slipped in. The corridor nurse had let me through without trouble. I pulled the chair close to the bed again, and my mother opened her eyes the moment the chair legs scraped the floor."You came back," she said."You asked me to."She pushed herself carefully into a sitting position. I stood to help her adjust the pillow and she let me, which felt like she's already getting better and I count it as a progress."Is anyone else here?" she asked."Francis is in the waiting area, I think. Mirabel took Sylvia to the family house."She closed her eyes briefly at the mention of Sylvia's name."Good," she said. "I need to say this to you without an audience."I sat back down and laced my fingers together. "Mom, what is it? You had me worried all afternoon."She took a breath. T

Anthony's POVI got to Coffee Harbour twelve minutes early.That was not like me. I was never early for anything I did not want to do, but I had been up since four in the morning, lying on my back in the dark with that text message turning over and over in my head, and by six I had given up on sleep entirely.The shop was small and narrow, with wooden stools along the window and four corner booths that had clearly been there since before I was born. I ordered a black coffee I did not need, took a seat facing the door, and waited.He came in at exactly nine.He was older than I expected. Somewhere in his mid-forties, maybe older. A thick grey coat, quiet eyes, and the kind of walk that belongs to someone who has spent years trying not to be noticed. He scanned the room once, saw me, and came over without any greeting."Mr. Cole?" he asked."Yes," I said.He sat. He did not take off his coat. He did not order anything. He just put both hands flat on the table and looked at me like a man

Evelyn's POVI woke up on the couch with my phone ringing somewhere far away. My neck hurt from the angle I had been sleeping at, and my mouth tasted like old coffee. I pushed myself upright and looked around. The living room was still dim, the curtains were drawn and my phone was on the kitchen counter, vibrating against the tile. I stood up too fast and the room tilted a little. I had not slept well. After leaving the hospital last night, I had come home and sat on this couch staring at those text messages until my eyes burned, and at some point I must have fallen asleep. The phone stopped ringing. Then it started again. I walked over and picked it up. Six missed calls. Three from a number I didn't recognize, two from Luca's school, and one from Anthony. My chest went tight. If the school was calling, something was wrong. I unlocked the phone and dialed back. The front office picked up on the first ring. "Hello, this is Evelyn Cole. I had some missed calls?" "Oh yes, Mrs. C