TRAVIS' POVTwo days. That’s how long it’s been since Beverly collapsed in front of me, her eyes wide with shock, staring at that old picture that seemed to unlock something buried deep within her mind. Since then, she hasn’t stirred. I stand in her hospital room, my heart heavy. The sound of the m
TRAVIS' POVHer words shock me to near death. I blink a few times, mouth opening and closing with no words. The woman just watches me until I slowly recover from her shock. “And you are?” I ask.“Not that it concerns you anyway but well, I’m her daughter and I manage the house now. I don’t know why
TRAVIS' POVI take the phone from her and zoom in on Mike’s picture this time before handing it over to her.“Was it this boy?” She stares down at it for a while and nods eagerly. “Yes, yes. That’s Joe, short for Joseph. His sister was Josephine.” “Wait? Joe? Not Mike?”Mrs Hargroves shakes her he
BEVERLY’S POV Small pieces of memories come back to me, one by one, like a picture slowly forming itself from broken glass. I’ve gone three years without them, forced them to the back of my mind. Perhaps because that was the person I wish I was; the person without these memories. They keep coming
BEVERLY’S POV The memories take a jump, leaping through the good ones I had for thirteen years and settling on another one that’s just as painful as the first. I am eighteen, burdened by the news that everyone in the orphanage is still trying to recover from. Josephine is dead. Her death has taken
But he’s patient, and slowly, I feel my anger start to wane. Maybe he has changed. Maybe he really does want to be a father to me again. I start to talk to him more, open up more. We bond over a few things and it’s starting to feel like how I’d always imagined it would be if he was around. It goes
BEVERLY’S POV I stare at the stack of unpaid bills spread across the tiny table in my dimly lit apartment. The once-bright place now feels like a suffocating cage. Each envelope represents a weight, heavy and unyielding, pressing down on my chest. The worst part? This is not my debt. I never asked
I turn on the lights and I find Joe seated in the middle of my living room. Fear tears through me at the realisation that he’s been in my house, waiting for me. “Hello, Beverly.” He grins sinisterly. “Joe.” I say breathlessly, shakily. “What do you want? I’ve been paying back my debt. I’ve been
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—