I had to get out. I needed to get away. A small part of me wanted to ram Ben’s Range Rover right through the front gates leading to Alex’s house, but I knew the protesters would just follow me onto his property. Since I couldn’t call the cops and have them removed, I was stuck. My palm connecte
ALEXANDER Bailee was shaking violently as I walked her to the couch. I almost wished I had listened to my previous girlfriends when they insisted I needed to keep a throw blanket in here. Instead, I walked past her and turned on the gas fireplace while I waited for her to explain. I was angry a
BAILEE The doctors and nurses had tried for hours to convince me that the baby on my chest had passed in utero, but I couldn’t let her go. I held onto her for hours, praying for a miracle. She was only the size of my palm, and I knew, even if she hadn’t been hurt in the car accident, that she was
ALEXANDER The world around me went silent, and I was briefly aware of the sudden and very jolting feeling of the Earth no longer spinning. I hadn’t even had a chance to process and mourn the loss of the daughter I didn’t even know I had before she dropped this on me. Hearing that I almost lost
BAILEE “Come on,” Alex said, taking my hand and pulling me upstairs. “Where are you taking me? I need to get home to Brinley.” I insisted, but Alex just shook his head. “No, you need to get warm so you don’t get sick. Ben can take care of her for a few hours.” He insisted, and my cheeks burned
BAILEE As soon as I reached my office, I grabbed my phone and purse and then jumped back in my car, pulling over again only a block away. Businesses would be closing soon, but I had a call I needed to make before it was too late. I needed to know who was behind the article. My anger had been
BAILEE Ben stood at the kitchen island; his smore dripping chocolate onto the counter as he stared at me with wide eyes. I wasn’t sure why he had bothered to even make it when we both knew he wouldn’t eat it. Every time we did this, he would nibble on his smore during gossip, but whenever it was
ALEXANDER The thick manila folder on my desk was mocking me, and I thumbed the corner of it. Bailee had been lying to my face for a while, and while I wanted to believe that she wasn’t keeping anything else from me, I couldn’t trust her. The folder was thick enough to be a book, and I was inter
BEN “No! Of course not!” I exclaimed, glancing around my room again. Nothing looked out of place, and Haven had only been standing there when I walked in, but it still had me on edge to have someone in my private room when I wasn’t around. “I’m so confused right now,” Haven muttered. “That’s you
HAVEN The second I walked into the break room the next day, Bonnie and Calum jumped from their seats, asking if I was okay. Suzie had sent me home yesterday for the rest of the day unpaid, and while I wasn’t expecting my badge to work this morning, it did. “How are you?” Bonnie asked, and I shr
BEN Bailee gently hit his arm with the back of her hand as she walked by him to a cabinet to grab a glass, and I laughed. “It was a week ago. Where is Brinley?” I asked, looking around for my adorable niece. She would probably love to hear my news with them. “She said she had to go find her train.
BEN I wasn’t sure when I decided to return to the city. Still, I found myself pulling up to Alex’s house five hours later, my back irritated from being in the car for so long, and only one text from the manager of the rehab center checking in and asking if they could get me anything since I missed
HAVEN “Hey, have you guys seen my…” Calum said as he trailed behind the security guard who stormed past us, but he stopped in our way when he saw my face. “You’re crying?” “Not now, Calum.” He ignored her, but I didn’t want to discuss this with him. We were just co-workers, not friends. He fli
BEN My hands were sweaty, and a chill went through me. I couldn’t trust anyone. Not my parents, staff, or even Haven after her repeated lies over the past week. If she had told the truth this time, I would be in serious trouble. My staff had access to everything that controlled my life. I wou
BEN My heart twisted in my chest. After seeing her picture, I knew in my gut that Siri was mine, but Haven had lied so many times that even hearing what I had wanted to hear, I wasn’t sure I could believe it. “There wasn’t anyone else?” I repeated. If there wasn’t anyone else, then Haven hadn’t
HAVEN “That’s not possible,” I said, shaking my head back and forth. This room was too small for us to hash this out now. I felt like I couldn’t breathe with Ben so close, and his body heat made me uncomfortably warm. “Look at me, Haven,” Ben demanded, and I ripped my eyes away from the stack o
HAVEN I had resented Benjamin Evans for many things over the years, but the feeling of dread that now bubbled in my gut when I drove to work was the cherry on top. This job was finally something I had outside of my home that I had worked hard for, and that made me happy, and he made me not want t