I sit like that in silence until I feel someone’s presence beside me. Grandfather. The rock is wide enough for two and he doesn't ask for an invitation before he sits beside me. If I wanted to jerk away from him, it’s already too late. So, I just sit, trying hard not to let my anxiety show. “The
LESLIE’S POVI heard him wrong–that’s the first thought that crosses my mind. The waves are loud. They must have muffled his words, distorted them somehow and made me hear something entirely different. Something ridiculous. So I wait, I wait for the waves to crash and for the momentary silence that
LESLIE’S POV“Why?” I croak out, “Why did you make us believe you were ill?” Why did you deceive me? I want to ask but I tuck the question away, afraid of how vulnerable and hurt I’ll sound to him. He didn’t deceive just me, he deceived Kian as well. Grandfather avoids looking at me as he begins,
LESLIE’S POV“We need to talk.”She says ‘talk’ but she stands like she is battle ready. Her eyes have that same look of utter disdain and disregard for me that I have already gotten used to. It’s alarming that she left the campsite to find me here and for a second, a flicker of worry coils deep ins
I still remember the sharp pain I felt in my chest when she suddenly made that announcement in the hospital ward. Those words had widened the gaping hole from seeing my grandmother lifeless in a morgue. It was the moment my entire world came crashing down and yet—“And yet you ask me what you have d
LESLIE’S POVPASTTHREE YEARS AGO–A WEEK AFTER THE PARTY.My boss is having a meeting outside the office today and I am with him. Usually, the job of going out with him to meetings lies with Peter but he has casually said it several times that I am more efficient than Peter during meetings like tha
There, I returned to work but I could barely focus. I’ve been holding up so well but it all just seems too much for me to handle today. The landline on my table rings and I immediately answer. “Come to my office.” he says through the phone. I immediately leap off my seat, smoothening my clothes bef
KIAN’S POV“We’re going home.” I announce as soon as I step out of my tent the next morning. Grandfather is awake already, sitting outside his own tent and by the looks of it, he has been awake for quite a while. Leslie’s and Beverly’s tent are still zipped shut and the outlines of their sleeping f
CHAPTER 106 [A Rebound] ~SOPHIE~ I stared at my reflection in the mirror, tilting my head to the left, then the right. My dress fit like a second skin—black, sleeveless, simple but elegant. It wasn’t over-the-top, but it hugged me in all the right places. Still, I felt uncertain. “Do I look l
CHAPTER 106 [A Rebound] ~SOPHIE~ I stared at my reflection in the mirror, tilting my head to the left, then the right. My dress fit like a second skin—black, sleeveless, simple but elegant. It wasn’t over-the-top, but it hugged me in all the right places. Still, I felt uncertain. “Do I look like
CHAPTER 105 [Erasing Him] ~SOPHIE~ I’d made up my mind to erase Travis totally. In my thoughts, in my future and even in my memories if I could help it. I had decided, and now, I was beginning the painful process of erasing him. The first conversation I had that morning was with my father. I’d ti
CHAPTER 104 [ Another lost kid] ~ELAINE~ (8) I kept my gaze locked on the food, my hands gripping the edge of the blanket wrapped around me. My stomach twisted painfully, but the fear in my chest held my body in place. I didn't trust it. I didn’t trust him. He didn’t look like he was trying to
CHAPTER 103 [The Lesser Evil ] ~ELAINE~ (7) I curled up tighter on my bed, pulling the covers around my frail body even though I wasn’t cold. It wasn’t the temperature that made me tremble—it was the growling in my stomach and the pounding in my head. Hunger had a way of distorting everything, e
CHAPTER 102 [No String and a Billionaire’s Name] ~SEBASTIAN~ (3) The moment I stepped into the house, silence greeted me like a sneer to the face. No voices, no footsteps, no Sophie playing the dutiful daughter as I ordered her to do. Just silence and the faint creak of floorboards as I shut the
CHAPTER 101 ~TRAVIS~ I didn’t know what it was or what to call it exactly; that feeling that curled in my chest the moment Sophie looked at me like a stranger and walked away with an actual one. But whatever it was, it was familiar. I’d felt it before on the very night she ended things. That
CHAPTER 99 [You Heard The Lady ] ~SOPHIE~ The can of juice in my hand was already warm. I hadn’t taken more than two sips, but I tossed it into the nearest trash can like it had personally offended me. Coming here was a mistake—again. I shouldn’t have let my father’s excited words or Travis’ i
AUTHOR’S NOTE 📝 Hi, everyone. I know. I have done the unforgivable—leaving without a word and not updating for a long period of time. I sincerely apologize to everyone of you who has dedicated your time to reading my book. I didn’t intend to but I was in a terrible place last month—mentally—