Todos os capítulos de Unbroken: Her Return to Gold: Capítulo 1 - Capítulo 10

The Cayenne purred down out of the hills, and for the first time in months, Harper let the windows down.Warm night air whipped through her hair. The city spread out below her like spilled jewelry, gold and white and glittering, all the way to the horizon. She turned the music up until the bass hummed in her ribs. She hadn't driven anywhere that wasn't the grocery store, the dry cleaner, or the pharmacy in so long that her hands felt strange on the wheel. Like they remembered something her mind had put away.By the time she pulled into Beverly Hills, she was almost smiling.Lumière sat on a quiet, tree-lined street, the kind of place with no sign out front because it didn't need one. Three Michelin stars. A waiting list people whispered about. A valet in a crisp black vest opened her door, and Harper stepped out, one long leg first, the slit of her dress parting like a curtain.The valet forgot how to blink.Inside, the restaurant took her breath away. A crystal chandelier the size of

Harper didn't move.It felt like someone had hit pause on the whole world. The candles stopped flickering. The music from the dining room faded into a dull hum. All she could hear was her own pulse, slow and heavy, like a drumbeat at the bottom of a pool.Valentina's hands closed around hers. Her nails were warm and sharp, her grip fierce. She pressed one finger to her lips. Shh.Harper nodded once. She couldn't have spoken if she'd tried.Behind Myles, a man stepped through the door, and the room seemed to shift around him.Keaton Ashford.Harper knew the name. Everyone in Los Angeles did. Keaton was older than Myles, broad-shouldered, with a clean-shaven jaw and black hair brushed back from his face. He carried himself with an assurance that made the other men seem suddenly young. Valentina had once called him a demigod. Harper had laughed at the time. She understood the comparison now.And he wasn't famous just for his looks. Keaton was the heir to Ashford Global, a multi-billion-d

Harper stared up at the man blocking the hallway, and for the first time that night, her voice came back."Why are you helping me?"Keaton Ashford looked at her. Up close, with the kitchen's golden light spilling across his jaw, he didn't look like an heir or a demigod. He looked like a man carrying something heavy."Because I've cared about you since the first time we met," he said. "And because Myles never deserved you. I watched him turn you into an accessory, then into someone who made his life easier. I wanted to warn you, but I thought you'd see it as jealousy. You were in love with him. You would've defended him." His jaw tightened. "He's been pursuing a partnership with me for months. He chose Lumière to impress me. He doesn't know I have a controlling stake here. I'd already seen him with Serena at two other dinners. Tonight, I thought you deserved to see the truth yourself, so I called Valentina."Harper blinked. "Since the day you first met me?" She shook her head. "Keaton,

Myles came through the door like a storm that had forgotten where it was going. His keys hit the floor with a clatter. He bounced off the wall, caught himself on the entry table, and knocked over a vase Harper had once spent an hour arranging flowers in. It didn't break. He didn't even look down."Harper!" His voice boomed through the dark house, slurred and loud. "Harper, where's my dinner? I'm starving."Harper didn't look up. She took another slow bite of her cheeseburger, chewed, swallowed, and wiped a bit of grease off her thumb. The old Harper would have been on her feet before the first shout. She'd have pulled off his shoes, loosened his tie, tucked a pillow behind his back, and apologized for the house being too quiet and the dinner too late. The new Harper reached for her milkshake and took a long, deliberate sip.Myles stumbled into the kitchen, squinting against the light, his tie crooked and his shirt wrinkled. He dropped into a chair without looking at her, and the smell

I stayed there a few minutes, just breathing.It wasn't heartbreak. Heartbreak needs something left to break. It felt more like standing at the edge of a pool, staring at still water, and realizing I'd been waiting three years for permission to jump.I finished my sandwich. Washed the plate. Then I went looking through the house.There was more of him than she'd realized.She started downstairs, in the rooms she walked through every day without really seeing.A silver frame on the hallway console. Turks and Caicos. A stranger had snapped the photo, squinting into the sun, while she and Myles stood barefoot on powder-white sand, foreheads pressed together, sunburned and laughing. His arm circled her waist like he was afraid she'd float away. She remembered the joke. She couldn't remember why it had been funny.On the shelf above the breakfast nook sat a lopsided blue bowl and a chipped mug: WORLD'S OKAYEST DIVER. Both came from their first apartment, a cramped one-bedroom in Silver Lake