All Chapters of From Ashes, I Learned to Fly: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

"Evelyn, marry me."The door opened again.Adrian Falkner walked in carrying flowers, dropped to one knee, and held out a ring box.For one second, I forgot how to breathe.Three years earlier, Adrian had tried to set up a proposal in my design studio.Something went wrong, and the studio caught fire.The blaze destroyed almost everything.My wedding-dress sketches burned.My business closed.And afterward, even lighting birthday candles could send my body into panic.During the worst months, Adrian had held me through nights when neither of us slept.He described our future wedding again and again until I could almost see it.So when the ring he'd once promised me finally appeared in front of me, I should have been happy.Instead, my chest tightened.My fingertips had almost reached the box when Delaney Croft launched herself onto Adrian's back with a laugh."Adrian, you won."Adrian caught her automatically.With the fond patience he never seemed to run out of for he

Delaney flinched."Your mom gave it to me. She said it would keep me safe.""That belonged to my father.""I didn't know."She immediately reached for the clasp."I'll give it back."The more she struggled, the more tangled the chain became.A red mark appeared across her neck.Tears filled her eyes.Adrian grabbed her hands and stopped her.His expression darkened."Your father was your mother's husband."She has a right to decide what happens to his things too."He rubbed his forehead."Evelyn, it's a piece of jade. Delaney likes it. Can you not be generous for once?"My eyes burned.Adrian's patience snapped."Evelyn, don't forget how your father died. Your mom still hasn't forgiven you for it."The room went silent.A crack seemed to split straight through me.Dad had died in a car accident while rushing out to find medical help during one of my trauma episodes.The guilt had lived inside me ever since.And now Adrian was dragging that wound open to make me su

Adrian's eyes snapped open."There was a fire where Ms. Marlowe was being held."The guard could barely speak."Firefighters found a body inside."The remains couldn't be identified visually."Adrian stood so fast the room seemed to tilt with him."What?"His face turned white."What did you say?"The guard lowered his eyes."Investigators believe old wiring shorted."By the time the fire department arrived, the room was fully involved."Adrian didn't wait to hear the rest. He was already out the door.Linda had been chatting with Delaney about the celebration. When she saw his face, her voice shook."Adrian, what's wrong? What happened?"He threw the words over his shoulder."It's Evelyn."Linda and Delaney exchanged a look, then hurried out after him.I woke with an IV in my wrist.A man in a black shirt sat beside the bed with a file in his hand.His sleeves were rolled to his elbows.His voice was cool.But there was no pressure in it."The doctors said you i

"Evelyn? Is that you? Evelyn!"Adrian Falkner reached the foot of the stage just as I lowered the microphone.The audience was still applauding.I had just finished presenting the clinical direction of the Renewal Program: rebuilding after trauma, and helping patients regain the power to choose.A chair crashed in the back row.Adrian shoved past security and came straight toward me.He wore a suit that no longer fit properly.Dark circles hollowed his eyes.He was frighteningly thin.For the first time in his life, his hair looked neglected."You're alive."Thank God."You have no idea. I've spent three years looking for you."I held the edge of the podium.My expression didn't change."Sir, you have the wrong person."His face went white."How could you not be her?"Your voice."Your eyes."The scar on your left hand."He reached for my palm.I stepped back.Sebastian came onto the stage and stood between us."Mr. Falkner."Control yourself."Adrian stared a

"Ms. Vale, Delaney Croft has been found."Police called while I was signing the formal complaint.I handed over the photographs, the recovered group messages, and records showing Adrian entering and leaving an abandoned private hospital.I didn't forgive Delaney.And I wasn't going to accept Adrian turning illegal violence into proof of devotion.By the time police found Delaney, she was psychologically shattered.Bright lights made her scream.The sight of an officer made her drop to her knees.Doctors said the burns to her legs were severe and she would likely never walk normally again.When she woke, the first thing she said was that my mother had done this to her."Where's my mom?" she demanded.The officer told her, "Linda isn't your mother.""She's my godmother. Then bring her here. I have questions for her."Police later showed me hallway surveillance from the hospital.Mom was brought in by an aide.For some reason, she still looked hopeful."Delaney."Don't bl