Laura “Is there any problem, honey?” Jason asked when he and I were a considerable distance away from the others. “Or did you just miss your stud, huh?” He insinuated, holding my waist and pulling me close with a malicious air. I chuckled, rolling my eyes. “Not that that wouldn't be a good idea,”
Laura “Everything is wonderful, my little wifey,” he said, and then kissed me on the mouth. I linked my arms behind his neck and returned the kiss eagerly, but we ended up being interrupted. "Mom! Dad!" It was Annie coming running towards us. “Gideon is here! Why the hell is he here?” "What?" I
Laura “The food is really good, Laura. You really have excellent cooking skills,” Gideon praised as we all sat at the table eating lunch. Ava cleared her throat and drank her wine right away, clearly finding Gideon's compliment unnecessary. Not that praising someone was wrong, but I could tell that
Laura “The pleasure is all mine, ma'am,” Gideon said, "Goodness, it feels like I’m looking at a slightly older version of Laura. I'm sure you would love to have me as your son-in-law, ma'am, because unlike him, I have always been faithful and in love with your daughter. And just to highlight, I nev
Laura “You heard them, Bathory. Get out of here immediately, or else I will be forced to use brute force,” Jason declared, his face set and his jaw clenched. Suddenly a screaming silence formed there, no one knowing what the next steps would be; no one could lift a fork to their mouth. Everyone wa
Melanie Albert and Max had been friends forever, since before I even met my husband. They were the kind of friends who were always together for everything—inseparable and irreproachable. And I, as Albert's wife, understood their friendship and everything, although, at a certain point, I ended up be
Melanie “What was that scene in the car, Mel? What the hell is going on?” Albert asked as soon as he got home and saw me sitting on the sofa, drinking tea, to calm me down. I had just called Laura to apologize once again to her for everything that had happened. “Why did you just freak out? Like, we
Laura When it was nighttime, our friends had to go to their houses, so we followed them to the garage while we hugged and said goodbye. “Argh, it’s already so late. Why don’t you spend the night here at once?” I suggested it as I hugged Ava affectionately. She giggled. “I think what you want mos
“Why do you keep hanging out with them, Abby?” he asked, and now there was a note of concern that annoyed me even more. “You know Madison’s not good for you. She uses you, and you let her.” “It’s none of your business,” I shot back, my voice sharp. “I do what I want, Caleb. Bye.” I hung up before h
Abby POV It was a lazy Sunday, and I was at the mall’s food court, waiting at the counter to pick up snacks for myself and the “new friends” I’d managed to latch onto. The smell of grease and cheap coffee filled the air, and the hum of conversations mixed with the muffled pop music from the speaker
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.