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All Chapters of WHEN THE PAST CHOSE US : Chapter 11 - Chapter 17

17 Chapters

Her Father's Garden.

Chapter 11 Serena — 1st Person I showed up at my father's house Saturday morning with two coffees and no real plan beyond needing to see his face while I asked him about Eleanor.He was in the garden when I arrived, wearing the same faded flannel he'd worn nearly every weekend since I was a kid. He was kneeling beside the tomatoes that never grew quite as well as he insisted they would next season.When he looked up and saw me, a familiar smile spread across his face.It was the same smile that used to fix everything when I was small.For a second, I almost lost my nerve."To what do I owe the surprise visit?" he asked, taking the coffee from my hand with a curious look."I want to talk about Eleanor."His hands stopped on the trowel.Only for a second.But it was long enough for me to know I hadn't imagined the reaction."Serena..." he said quietly, his expression suddenly guarded."Dad, Please." I sat down on the porch step and patted the space beside me, just as he used to pat t

Last Updated : 2026-08-29

Sunday Dinner.

Chapter 12 Damien — 3rd Person The dining room looked just as Damien remembered it from childhood, every familiar detail still in its place.The same long table stood beneath the chandelier, The same china sat neatly arranged beside polished silverware. Even the paintings on the walls appeared untouched, as though time had been allowed to move everywhere except inside this room.His mother sat at one end of the table, composed as always.His father's chair at the other end was empty."A business dinner in Geneva," Eleanor had explained earlier, with the calm, practiced tone of someone who had spent years making her husband's absences sound ordinary.Damien wasn't sure whether he was relieved or disappointed.Probably both.Eleanor glanced at him from across the table, her expression carrying a hint of surprise.“I wasn't expecting you tonight,” she said, setting her fork down.Damien looked at her calmly. “I know.”“You usually have an excuse whenever I invite you to dinner.”“I de

Last Updated : 2026-08-30

The photograph.

Chapter 13Serena — 1st Person The attic smelled of dust, cedar, and years of things nobody had been ready to throw away.My father climbed the fold-down ladder ahead of me, moving more slowly than he used to. One hand gripped the frame while the other reached for the string that controlled the bare bulb overhead. It flickered twice before staying on, filling the attic with weak yellow light.I followed him up and looked around.Boxes were stacked against the walls, some labeled in my father's careful handwriting.TAXES 2003.SERENA'S SCHOOLWORK.MOM'S CHRISTMAS THINGS.I smiled faintly at that one. Even after all these years, my father still couldn't bring himself to throw away decorations my mother had bought."Before," he said, pointing toward a smaller pile near the back.I looked at him. "You labeled the boxes 'Before'?"He gave a small shrug. "It was easier than writing her name."Something about the way he said it made me stop smiling.He moved toward the boxes, and I followed

Last Updated : 2026-08-30

The Third Person in the Photograph

Chapter 14Damien — 3rd Person Damien didn't answer his father's message that night.He read it several times on the drive home from his mother's house.We should talk. Soon.The words were simple, but coming from Victor Blackwood, they rarely meant something simple.Damien kept the phone face down on the passenger seat and focused on the road. He wasn't afraid of the conversation. At least, that was what he told himself.He simply wasn't ready to have it.Not until he understood what his father knew.Not until he understood what his mother had spent thirty years refusing to explain.When he finally reached his apartment, the city was still awake beneath his windows. Headlights moved along the streets, buildings glowed against the dark sky, and somewhere below, someone laughed loudly enough for the sound to reach his balcony.Damien poured himself a drink and stood beside the window.He barely touched it.His mind kept returning to dinner.His mother's expression had changed every ti

Last Updated : 2026-09-06

Ice King's Favorite.

Chapter 15Serena — 1st PersonI was still half-asleep when I walked onto the strategy floor Monday morning, my mind somewhere back in my father’s attic, stuck on that photograph and the blurred stranger standing beside him and Eleanor.Nobody had explained who he was.Nobody had explained why the photograph had been hidden away.And now, apparently, my Monday had decided it wanted to make everything worse.I noticed the silence first.Not complete silence. Just that strange pause that happened when people were talking until someone interesting—or unfortunate—walked into the room.Then came the voice.“There she is.”Courtney Lang didn’t even look away from her monitor.“The Whitmore miracle worker.”I stopped beside my desk.Courtney finally turned in her chair, smiling.“Tell me, Serena. Does Blackwood give private tutoring sessions to everyone, or just the ones he takes on business trips?”A few people laughed.Not everyone.But enough.My fingers tightened around the strap of my b

Last Updated : 2026-09-20

An Unannounced Visit

Chapter 16Damien — 3rd PersonDamien didn't need to turn around to know who had just opened his office door without knocking. Only one person in his life had the full permission to budge into his office without considering knocking.“Mother.”Eleanor stood in the doorway, composed as always, dressed for a lunch appointment rather than an unannounced visit to her son's office. Still, something in the set of her shoulders told him this hadn't been on her calendar an hour ago either.Her gaze moved from Damien to Serena, then to the folder still sitting between them. Something flickered across her face too quickly for Damien to identify before she smoothed it away.“I didn't realize you had company,” Eleanor said, in the careful tone of a woman who had realized exactly that the moment she opened the door and was now deciding what to do with the information.“Ms. Hart was just leaving,” Damien said.He didn't move to make that true.Neither did Serena.“Please. Don't let me interrupt.” E

Last Updated : 2026-09-20

Telling My Father

Chapter 17Serena — 1st PersonI don't remember leaving Damien's office.I remember standing in the elevator with the photograph's folder pressed against my chest, my fingers wrapped tightly around the edges as if the thing inside might disappear if I loosened my grip.Thirty-two floors shouldn't have felt that long.By the time I reached my apartment, I'd rehearsed the conversation with my father a dozen different ways.None of them sounded right.There was no gentle way to say Victor Blackwood already knew about the photograph.No easy way to tell him Victor wanted him at his house on Saturday.And there was definitely no soft way to explain that Victor had specifically asked for the photograph—the one with the blurred figure standing beside my father and Eleanor.The stranger neither of us could identify.I dropped my bag beside the couch and stared at my phone.I sat on the couch, staring at my phone, wondering how much my father had known all these years already.My hands were st

Last Updated : 2026-09-20

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