บททั้งหมดของ SHATTERED BY CHOICE: บทที่ 11 - บทที่ 20

Anthony's POVI was in the middle of a conference call when my assistant knocked on the door. I held up one finger to tell her to wait, but she shook her head and mouthed the words, "It's important."I muted the call. "What is it?""Evelyn Cole is here. She says she needs to speak with you right now. She has a box with her and she looks... upset."I unmuted the call and told the clients I had an emergency. I would reschedule. Then I ended the call and stood up.Evelyn was in the waiting area outside my office, sitting in one of the leather chairs with a green metal box on her lap. She looked up when I came out, and her eyes were red like she had been crying or trying very hard not to."Come in," I said.She followed me into the office. I closed the door and turned to face her."What happened?"She set the box on my desk. "I went to my mother's house. I found this in the attic.""What is it?""Open it and see."I sat down and pulled the box toward me. The lock was already open. I lifte

 Anthony's POVThe boat dock was old and half-rotted, the kind of place the city had been meaning to fix for years but never got around to. The wood creaked under our feet as we walked out onto it, and the water below was black and still.There was no one here. Just Evelyn and me and the sound of the wind moving through the trees behind us."Maybe they're not coming," Evelyn said quietly."It's only five past ten. Give it a few more minutes."We stood at the end of the dock and waited. I kept my phone in my hand, ready to call for help if I needed to. Evelyn had her arms crossed tight against the cold.Then a voice came from behind us."I wasn't sure you'd actually show up."We both turned. A woman stepped out from the shadow of the trees, her hands in her pockets, her face partially hidden by the hood of her coat. She walked toward us slowly, her steps careful on the uneven ground.When she got close enough, she pulled

 Anthony's POVI didn't sleep. I lay in bed staring at the ceiling and replaying Mirabel's voice over and over in my head. By the time the sun came up, I had listened to the recording at least twenty times, and each time it made me angrier.At six in the morning I called my brother Reuben."Do you know what time it is?" he asked, his voice thick with sleep."I need you to do something for me.""Anthony, it's six in the morning.""I know. And I need you to listen." I sat up and swung my legs out of bed. "I'm sending you an audio file. I need you to listen to it and tell me if it can be used in court."There was rustling on the other end, like he was sitting up too. "In court? What are you talking about?""Just listen to it. Please. And then call me back."I sent the file and hung up. Then I got dressed and made coffee I didn't want. My phone rang fifteen minutes later."Where did you get this?" Reuben's voice was sh

 Evelyn's POVMirabel was already at the coffee shop when I arrived. She sat in the back corner, her hands wrapped around a cup she hadn't touched, her eyes red like she had been crying. When she saw me, she stood up halfway, then sat back down like she didn't know what the right thing to do was.I walked over and sat across from her without saying hello."Thank you for coming," she said quietly.I didn't respond. I just looked at her and waited.She took a breath. "I know you hate me right now. I know you think I'm the worst person in the world. And maybe I am. But I need you to understand that I never meant for things to go the way they did.""You set up Anthony. You paid someone to make sure Sylvia saw him with me. You destroyed their relationship on purpose." My voice was flat. "What part of that wasn't intentional?""The part where you got hurt." Her eyes filled with tears. "I thought you'd be fine. I thought Anthony would b

 Anthony's POVSylvia answered the door herself. She looked different in the soft light of her mother's house, smaller somehow, more human. She stepped aside to let me in."Mom's at the hospital with a friend. We have the house to ourselves."I followed her into the sitting room. It was the same room where I had sat years ago, nervous and young, asking her father for permission to date her. That version of me felt like a stranger now."Do you want tea or anything?" she asked."No. I'm fine."She sat on the couch and I sat in the chair across from her. For a moment neither of us spoke. The silence was heavy with eight years of things we had never said."I heard you met with Evelyn," she said finally."How did you know that?""She texted me. She wanted to know if I would be willing to testify if this goes to court.""And will you?""I don't know yet. That's why I wanted to talk to you." She tucked her hair behin