Lahat ng Kabanata ng My Best friend's Brother : Kabanata 51 - Kabanata 59

Three days after she blocked James's number, Sloane still hadn't heard from him.She kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. For him to show up at Lucy's. For another text from a different number. For something. But nothing happened. The silence was worse than the screaming. At least when he was yelling, she knew where he was. Now he was invisible, lurking somewhere in the city, and she couldn't see him coming.She went to work on Monday. Answered emails. Attended meetings. Smiled at colleagues. Pretended she wasn't falling apart. No one noticed anything. She was good at pretending.Lucy had insisted she stay at the apartment until things settled. "You can't go back to your place alone. Not after those texts." Sloane hadn't argued. She didn't have the energy. She slept on the couch, wrapped in a blanket that smelled like Lucy's fabric softener, and tried not to think about the fact that she had nowhere else to go.On the third night, they sat on the couch after Lily went to sleep. T

A week passed and Sloane didn't hear from James. No texts. No calls. No unexpected visits. The silence was deafening. She wanted to believe Ashton's plan had worked. Wanted to believe James had finally let go. But a part of her, the part that had been married to him for years knew better. "He's not going to just give up," she told Ashton one morning. "He might." "He won't." She set down her coffee mug. "He's never given up on anything in his life. He's stubborn. He's vindictive. He'll find a way to make me pay." Ashton reached for her hand. "Then we'll deal with it. Together." She looked at him. At his steady eyes. At his unwavering confidence. "Together," she repeated. --- But the silence stretched on. Another week. Then another. Sloane went to work. Came home. Slept at Ashton's apartment. Pretended everything was normal. It wasn't. She kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. For James to show up. For something to happen. Nothing did. Until Gerald called o

♦Middle school. 2009.Sloane remembered the first time she saw him.It was the first day of seventh grade. She was standing by her locker, trying to figure out the combination. She'd been transferred to a new school. New city. New everything. She didn't know anyone.And then she saw him.He was standing by the window. Alone. Staring out at the parking lot. His shoulders were slumped. His face was blank. Empty.He looked like someone who'd forgotten how to smile.She walked over. Stood beside him. Didn't say anything. Just stood there.He looked at her. His eyes were dark and empty. "Hi," she said.He didn't respond."I'm Sloane."Nothing. No response at all. "I'm new here. I don't know anyone. And you looked like you needed a friend."He stared at her. Wondering why she was foolishly smiling at him. Although it was cute. She was cute. Then he turned back to the window.She didn't leave. She came back the next day. And the day after that. And the day after that. She sat beside him a

Sloane was in her office when Mason walked in without knocking. He was carrying two cups of coffee and a bag from her favorite bakery. The same one they'd gone to as kids. The one with the chocolate croissants she'd loved since she was seven."Good morning, little sister," he said.She looked up from her computer. "You're in a good mood.""Can't a brother visit his sister at work?""You never visit me at work."He set the coffee and the bag on her desk. "I'm making up for lost time."She eyed him suspiciously. "What do you want?""Nothing. I just wanted to see you." He sat down across from her. "You look nice. Professional. Bossy."She laughed. "Bossy?""You're the boss now. It suits you."She picked up the coffee. Took a sip. It was exactly how she liked it. He remembered."So," she said. "What's really going on?"He was quiet for a moment. Then he leaned forward."I've been thinking," he said. "About everything. About the past year. About what you went through."She set down her cof