“Darling, I…” Leonard began, but Ophelia cut him off.“Don’t ‘darling’ me!” she cried, her hands balling into fists. Surging forward, she began to pummel Leonard’s chest, not caring, for the first time since I had met her, whether her makeup became streaked or her hair grew mussed.She only stopped
AvaThe days that followed were an endless whirlwind of activity. Chris and I worked tirelessly, burning the candle at both ends as we tried to tackle the mounting challenges that were facing Moonstone more and more by the day.The blight. Olivia. Winston. The mole. And now, Leonard’s illness.Every
“Maybe we’re going about this the wrong way,” Ophelia said one evening as we sat around the kitchen table. “Perhaps we need to use different channels, reach out to different people.”Her hand was trembling as she stroked Princess’s fluffy little head. The little dog had been particularly quiet and a
Ava“So it’s settled, then? You’re going?”Chris nodded as he shut his laptop, leaning back in his chair. “Just for two days.” He turned to Ophelia, who was leaning against the doorframe. Leonard was resting in the other room, although we all tried to pretend that we couldn’t hear him struggling not
AvaThe morning came far too quickly, the sun barely peeking over the horizon as I stood on the helipad with Chris and Ophelia. The wind from the helicopter’s blades whipped around us, tousling my hair and making my eyes water.Or maybe that was just the tears I was trying to hold back.“It’s only f
And, well… I couldn’t bring myself to force him to wallow.We entered the Packhouse, and I had to suppress a gasp. Even though I had seen the damage before, it was still shocking. The once-beautiful wooden walls were now marred by patches of inky black fungus. In some places, the wood had crumbled e
ChrisThe helicopter ride felt longer than usual, my mind constantly drifting back to Moonstone and Ava. I hated that I was leaving during so much turmoil, hated to say goodbye to Ava, even if only for a few days; but I knew it was necessary.Still, by the time we landed in the city, I was already f
I took a deep breath. This wasn’t part of the plan, but I couldn’t read those notes. ‘Personal matters’ didn’t cut it. Honesty did. That was what we all needed, what we all deserved: the truth.“I’ll be blunt,” I said, pulling my shoulders back and ignoring the terrified looks from my assistants. “M