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
BEVERLY’S POV The dim, pulsating lights of the club envelop me as I step inside, the bass thumping through the air like a heartbeat. It’s a world I never wanted to be a part of—loud, chaotic, and filled with an energy that feels foreign and suffocating. I take a deep breath, trying to summon some c
“It can’t be called selling it if you’re in a relationship with the person, can it?” I’m lost, still unable to understand what he’s saying. “You are not making any sense.” He sighs, “Listen, if you are desperate to survive, this is the only option you have. And like I said, you won’t be selling y
LESLIE'S POVThe past month has felt like both a blur and a lifetime. Each day demands more of me as we work to relaunch and rebrand Kian’s company, inching closer to the day we finally return home. It’s like building something from scratch—aligning the details, refining our approach, and making sur
CHAPTER 99 ~SOPHIE~ The moment Sebastian disappeared down the street, a crushing silence fell over me, broken only by the unsteady rhythm of my breathing. My fingers twitched at my sides, my entire body locked in place as if moving would make the moment real, as if accepting that he had been
CHAPTER 98 ~SOPHIE~ In between the endless nightmares that were triggered by the events of the past week and waiting for Travis to reach out to me again, I had been pushed to the edge of insanity. I thought it couldn’t get any worse, but it did. It got worse. And now I was bolting out
CHAPTER 97 ~JUSTIN~ I’ve never been anyone’s first choice. Never. No matter how hard I tried, Jac always had the spotlight. He was the golden boy, the prodigy, the one with all the medals and accolades. Meanwhile, I was the kid bringing home crayon sketches and piano recitals that no one car
CHAPTER 96 ~SOPHIE~ There were many questions; like how on earth she was in a place that was at least an hour's drive from her family’s mansion, and why she was chugging down cheap beer when I have only ever seen her enjoy the finest wine. The longer we stood there, wordlessly staring at ea
CHAPTER 95 [ Punching Bag ] ~ELAINE~ (6) The moment I slipped through the gates and caught sight of my father’s car parked neatly in the driveway, dread curled deep in the pit of my stomach. I stopped dead in my tracks, my pulse quickening. They were home. They were never supposed to be hom
CHAPTER 94 [ The One Who Needs Saving ] ~SOPHIE~ I didn’t even blink when the words fell out of Justin’s mouth like he'd been holding them in for years. I just sat there, watching him like he had told me the most obvious thing in the world. If I felt remotely surprised, it was simply because I
CHAPTER 93 [ I’m Gay ] ~SOPHIE~ My scream echoed down the street, loud enough to wake the dead or at least give someone a mild heart attack. But the hand gripping my shoulder was barely even settled before instinct took over. I spun around, grabbing the wrist tightly and twisting it with all the
CHAPTER 92 [ Little Contradictions ] ~SOPHIE~ The faint neon lights from the cinema flickered on and off as I stood by the curb, watching the stream of people moving in and out of the building. I couldn’t remember the last time I watched a movie—couldn’t even remember the last time I did somethi
CHAPTER 91 [ The Man I thought I knew ] ~SOPHIE~ He said no. I never imagined that would be his answer. I sat there, stunned into silence, blinking at him like I hadn't heard him right. His fingers were still wrapped around my wrist, firm and unyielding as if he could anchor me to him by sheer