Jason "Can you come over for Christmas this year, please?" My mother invited me, wanting me to attend Christmas with her and Grandma at their mansion in Chicago. "I'll probably be full of work, so don't count on me," I said, without much emotion, still looking at the computer screen. "For God's
Jason I was beginning to feel overwhelmed as the revelation of truth dawned on me and the infinite possibilities began to open up in my mind. Did Laura have a daughter who looked like me? Why? I tried to dig in my mind to see if I had ever seen Laura's daughter before, but I only remembered seeing
"I don't believe in this nonsense," I said exasperatedly, throwing the pregnancy test back into the sink. "Do you believe that our marriage will improve if you give me a child?" "A child always brightens a house, we could use a little more joy here," she said hopefully. "You want joy? Go to a cir
JasonI was drumming my fingers anxiously on the steering wheel of the car that I had prepared for me so that it would be available for me to use as soon as I arrived in Staten Island. It had been a few minutes since I had parked the car on the road opposite the daycare center. Saint Laurent and I w
"Fulfilling my requests? Only when it suits you, right?" I threw those words in his face. "I thought our friendship always came first.""What? What are you talking about?" He asked confused now. "I have to go, we'll talk later.""What? Wait, Jason…!" He tried to stop me, but I turned off my cell ph
LauraI was in my office at the Hextec offices while finishing my work that afternoon. In short, the time I had spent in Manhattan working with Nemesis had been such a success that nowadays what we mostly have here at Hextec is work, both small companies and large renowned firms sought out our marke
Laura "It's not like that, Richard. Charme caused me trauma that didn't necessarily have to do with my ex-husband," I told him, trying to hold on to that. I was swallowing hard, feeling cornered by his questions. I simply had no way of answering those questions. He was silent, sighing frustrated
Laura "Are you sure that no one in your family or close to you picked her up from daycare today, ma'am?" The police officer asked when I went to file a complaint at the nearest police station. It was already dark, and I was almost becoming a desperate madwoman, looking for my daughter everywhere.
Caleb, Abby, Madison, Nadia—they all spun through my head like a broken carousel. I wanted to tell my parents everything, collapse and ask for help, but the thought of seeing disappointment in their eyes—or worse, them trying to intervene at Oxwell to “save” me—made me swallow the words. I had to fi
Annie POV It was the weekend, and I was at home, trying to take deep breaths and pretend everything was okay. The Oxwell campus was a few hours away, giving me temporary relief from the chaos my life had become. Here, with my parents and the twins, I could at least try to be the old Annie—the exc
Max POV Walking beside someone who’d once meant so much to me felt strange. I couldn’t stop thinking that our breakup had been a waste, couldn’t stop remembering how happy I’d been with this guy, only to ruin it all because of my ego, because of a toxic fixation I had on Albert. Conrad Adams walke
Max POV was stunned when Albert told me that, my mouth even went dry because I wasn’t expecting to hear it. Conrad Adams was back. He was my boyfriend in my early twenties. I met him through Albert, who was close friends with him during the dark days of his family’s company. Conrad was a good guy
Max POV I was driving through the city with the radio on low, just a background murmur to keep the silence from swallowing me whole, when my phone buzzed on the dashboard. Zoey. Of course it was her. The girl had already wormed her way into my house like a high-heeled parasite, and now, apparently,
Annie POV After the moment at the mall, I returned to the dorm with a tight chest, carrying the bags with the blue dress Summer had insisted I buy. The plan was to distract myself, but Madison’s words—“racist,” “canceled piece of trash”—spun in my head like a broken record, mingling with Nadia’s re
When I met her last week at a council meeting, I could tell she’d be a challenge—confident, charismatic, the type who knew how to play the game. “Ugh, Madison Goodwin is here too. What a rotten day,” I grumbled, rolling my eyes. Of course Abby would get close to Madison—she was her adopted cousin.
Annie POV I was still trying to process everything that had happened at the square. Caleb’s words—“I hope you suffer”—mixed with Nadia’s ultimatum about my revoked candidacy had left me in pieces. My dream of leading the student council, something I saw as the first step toward following in my mom’
Annie POV I was still sitting on the bench in the square, the echo of Caleb’s words reverberating in my head like thunder that wouldn’t fade. "I hope you suffer." He had shoved the bouquet of pink flowers against my chest and stormed off, leaving me with a mix of shock, anger, and something that