Nicola Taylor I stood by the front door, my heart fluttering with excitement. It had been so long since I'd seen my sister, and the anticipation was making me giddy. Arabella was just as energetic, bouncing around the foyer like a wind-up toy. Her wide grin and excited squeals made me laugh as I wa
Rose flashed him a tight smile, sipping her coffee. “Yes, it is. I’m really looking forward to it.” Her tone was polite but clipped, and I could sense the tension rising beneath the surface. I took a deep breath, preparing myself for whatever was coming next. But before Rose could say anything more
Cole’s eyes flickered with a mix of frustration and something else—maybe guilt, maybe shame. “You’re right,” he conceded after a beat. “Nicola does deserve better. I’ve been… working through things, but that doesn’t excuse how I’ve treated her. I’m not trying to make excuses. I just—” “Stop ‘workin
Nicola Taylor The week with Rose around had been crazy. Arabella adored her, and we had fun, even though I could feel the tension in the air whenever Cole joined us for breakfast or dinner. He was civil, polite even, but distant—more distant than ever before. He didn’t argue or snap back at Rose,
I raised an eyebrow at his words, a small smile tugging at my lips as I teased, “Hmm, true. You’ve got some catching up to do. Let’s start small.” His hand lingered on my back, and I felt my skin tingling beneath his touch. We reached the classroom, and Ms. Hoffman looked up, offering us a polite
Nicola Taylor After an exhausting day, I stepped inside the house, my body aching from the double class I had been forced to go to. Mrs. Hinkle had been out sick, and she had to cover all of her sessions in a day, making Saturday even more brutal than usual. The moment I walked through the door,
I blinked, snapping myself out of my thoughts. “Yeah, definitely.” Funny enough, the food was so good that none of us spoke much, we just ate in silence, enjoying every bite. Arabella finished her plate in record time and scampered back to her room. She was in a hurry, excited to catch her favourit
Nicola Taylor “Alright, here’s the game,” Cole said as we settled onto the couch, our legs stretched out, feet almost touching. The proximity was impossible to ignore, the air between us thick with unspoken words, “One of us asks a question. You either answer it or take a big chug of your drink.”
Nicola Taylor I sat in the car, gripping the steering wheel tightly, staring at the entrance of Cole’s office building. I felt utterly defeated. Six years ago, my life had crumbled in his absence. And now, here I was again, stuck in an endless loop, except this time, I wasn’t competing with the
Cole Harrington I watched Nicola walk off, her retreating figure stirring something uneasy in my chest. The weight of the day’s events pressed down on me like a storm cloud refusing to dissipate. I felt suffocated, torn between what was happening and what I was inadvertently doing to the woman I c
Nicola Taylor The weight of her words hit like a tidal wave. I felt my chest tighten as I realized what she’d sacrificed, and I could see the shift in Cole’s expression. The anger in his eyes dimmed, replaced by something closer to heartbreak. “And you just… agreed to that?” he asked, his voice b
“Because I knew you wouldn’t let me go,” she said simply. “You would’ve fought him, and he would’ve come after you too. After Arabella. I couldn’t risk it. I couldn’t let him hurt you the way he wanted to hurt me.” The three of us stood in silence, the weight of Courtney’s confession hanging heavy
Nicola Taylor Arabella went back inside, her small figure disappearing into the house with a frustrated sigh. The heavy front door creaked as it closed, leaving just the three of us standing in the cool morning air. Silence settled over the driveway, broken only by the occasional rustle of leaves i
Nicola Taylor The night was a restless blur. Aaron’s small, trembling body pressed against mine as he cried himself to sleep, his tears soaking through my shirt. I stayed with him, stroking his hair and whispering soft reassurances until his breathing evened out. Even then, I couldn’t bring myself
Nicola Taylor As I sat on Emma’s worn but cozy couch, “I think I should head home now,” I said, breaking the comfortable silence between us. “I miss my kids, and I can’t keep running away. If I stay away much longer, Cole might do something drastic to track me down.” The thought made my stomach ch
Cole Harrington “Where is she?” my mom screamed, her voice cutting through the thick tension in the room as her glare landed on Courtney. Courtney shrank back, but she didn’t respond, her face pale and drawn. My mother had never been a fan of Courtney—not openly hostile, but certainly not warm. S
Nicola Taylor Her apartment was modest but surprisingly clean. A small living room with a sagging couch and mismatched furniture opened into a kitchenette. A door to the left likely led to her bedroom, and there was a pile of laundry in one corner. The faint smell of lavender hung in the air, mixi