The Good Left Undone Novels & Stories

I said, very seriously, "No, Mommy. You're a good person. You always told me that doing good things is never wrong. You were just unlucky. You saved a really bad person." My mom finally laughed through her tears. The sadness in her eyes slowly faded away. She pulled out a black card and waved it in front of me with a playful wink. "This is my reward for completing the mission. From now on, you and I are going to live a very happy and wonderful life." She used the money to buy a small apartment. It wasn't big, but she kept it clean and warm. Later, she opened a little flower shop. Every day, she was surrounded by flowers. Her days were peaceful and content.

Then, he tossed a document onto the bed in front of me. "Sign this settlement, and the man who kidnapped you will hand over the East Pier." The East Pier was the only clean piece of land left in the city. It sat by the sea, with no casinos and hardly any dirty business. I remembered Leone telling Bliss, "I'll find somewhere quiet and build a resort for you..." So, all the injuries on my body were just bargaining chips for him to build a gilded cage for his new lover. I asked hoarsely, "Leone, when did you make this deal?"

Later, tangled and breathing slowly, I rested my head on his chest and listened to the solid rhythm of his heart. “The renewal date will come,” I said into the dark. “They’ll try to make it feel uncertain until the last moment.” Kael’s hand moved through my hair. “Then we make the uncertainty more expensive for them than it is for us. And we keep the outdoor section open every night until the paper says permanent.” Outside, the valley held its silence. Somewhere in the city the review board’s machinery continued its slow, careful turn. The filings were in. The coalition was forming. The man beside me had looked at a municipal process and treated it like terrain he already knew how to hold. I

Now, I just had to wait for the trial to start and I would get back double for all the trouble I had been through. When I got home to pack up, I found my stuff dumped by the stairs like garbage. My favorite mug with a picture of Ruby and me, once a treasure, was in pieces. The two of us, once inseparable, were tossed aside. I barely glanced at it and went inside. There were Ruby and Wilson, hand in hand, acting like lovebirds, chatting about the house. "Ruby, you're giving me this house for my game room. What if Liam's not cool with it?" Wilson asked.

"Ladies and gentlemen," my voice rang out through the microphone, "I'm Lucas Baldwin. As you can see, I'm not this child's father." Gasps and murmurs erupted from the audience below. I caught a glimpse of Mom's and Dad's stunned expressions, Kendra's pale face, and Cody's panicked eyes. "Three years ago, I left home to work on a national defense research project," I continued. My tone was calm, though inside, I was anything but. "But when I came back, I discovered my wife had a child with my brother. That little girl is already two years old."

It was because I saw my gifts in the trash the very next day when it was taken out. They were not just throwing away gifts though. They had tossed aside my heart. My intentions. Perhaps Harvey was remembering those things now, for after that single comment, he fell silent again. A flicker of regret passed over his face as if he were realizing, too late, that he could have treated me better. Too bad. His remorse had come too late. Call it retribution, but just then, a speeding truck barreled straight toward their car. Dad slammed on the brakes, but for some reason, the brakes failed.

I couldn’t hold in my laugh anymore and choked out a laugh. “I’m done, I’m going home.” Theodore yelled as he stood up. “You can’t leave your wife.” Danny yelled as Theodore walked away. “You hid his passport and identification like I asked, right?” Robert asked lowly. “Yes, he won’t be leaving without your sister.” Janet stated softly. “Good, the last thing I need is for my sister to wake up without her husband.” Robert mumbled. I said nothing and instead looked at my pasta with a smile on my face.

She moved closer towards her friend as they made their way to the counter to give their order. "Good morning." The beautiful burnet behind the desk politely smiled at them as she tapped a few times on the screen, Amara was the first to answer since she usually came here. "I'll have a Pumpkin Spice Latte, please." She spoke as she fisted her wallet from her bag. Charlotte had never drunk Starbucks coffee she thought the price was way to fucking high, but for this one time she was okay with it. But right now she was confused out of her mind, did it mean that there was pumpkin in the coffee?

For the 13th time, an AI-generated photo pops up on my feed, showing my best friend, Gwen Spalding, and my boyfriend, Andrew Gunnell, wrapped in each other's arms. Gwen's still a mess after getting dumped so suddenly, so I assume she's mixed Andrew up with someone else again. Then a comment stops me cold. "I was there. Joyce tried to brush it off before and claimed the picture was AI-generated, but let's see her deny this! Besides, look at them. A guy as hot as Andrew belongs with a knockout like Gwen. They look way better together." Attached to the comment is a candid photo of Gwen and Andrew wrapped in each other's arms, in the exact same pose as the picture on my feed. I screenshot t

Now, I no longer understood why I had chosen to spend my life with someone like him. After lunch, my coworker drove me home. The house was pitch-dark. I skillfully turned on the lights, took my medicine, went to the study, finished the road-trip plan, and put away the notebook. Then I stood and scanned the study. Tomorrow afternoon, my flight would leave for Asheville. This was the last time I would sit here. I cleaned the study thoroughly, leaving no trace of myself behind. Adrian did not come home. At twelve-thirty in the morning, Sophie updated her social media again.