Ava’s POVI couldn’t concentrate at work with the messages still popping into my phone, I decide to call it a day and head back home, after all Andrew didn’t want me going to work.The afternoon sun hung lazily in the sky as I drove home, its warm light filtering through the car’s windows. But I barely noticed. My mind had been a whirlpool all day, pulled under by the weight of the text messages I’d received that morning. The words had played on a loop, making it impossible to focus on anything for more than a few minutes at a time."I still love you, Ava. I’ve never stopped."Whoever had sent them wasn’t just some random person. The messages had felt intimate, more personal. Too familiar. Derek? It had to be him. But if it was him, he would have brought up Annabel, wouldn’t he? But Who else would reach out like this, in such a creepy way? But why now? After all these years, why would he decide that he wanted back in my life? And why couldn’t he just say it directly, instead of hiding
Ava’s POVThe silence of the building was getting heavy, and it was in this moment I missed when the cooks and cleaners were around. I knew I would have to speak to Andrew, even if it’s concerning a different topic. I wanted to push the messages from Derek out of my mind, and I knew I couldn’t avoid Andrew forever.Just as I contemplated getting up and checking on him, I heard the creak of the door from his office. I turned my head, expecting him to walk in, but instead, he stood just outside the doorway, his body framed in the dim light of the hallway. His expression was carefully neutral, but I could see the concern in his features. It made my heart sink; I hated that I was the cause of that worry.“Ava?” he said softly, stepping into the living room. “Can we talk?”I took a deep breath, nodding even as my heart raced. “Yeah, of course.”He walked over to the couch and sat down across from me, his body angled slightly toward mine. There was an intensity in his gaze that made me bot
As I stood at the edge of Tristan’s bedroom door, watching him play with his collection of toy cars, a nervous flutter twisted in my stomach. How could I ask him this? It felt like such a big question for a boy so young, but I knew it was important. Tristan had always been at the center of my world, and any decision I made that affected him needed his voice, his blessing.Andrew and I had been dancing around this possibility for a while now, but ever since our late-night conversation where I admitted my feelings for him, the question of whether we could actually move forward had lingered. And now, here I was, about to ask my son for his opinion on the man who had become such a big part of our lives.I took a deep breath and knocked gently on the doorframe. Tristan looked up from his toys, his bright green eyes meeting mine with a curious expression. He grinned widely, waving one of his favorite cars in the air.“Mom! Look! I made a race track with my blocks!” he said, his excitement c
The house was quiet, wrapped in the kind of peaceful silence that comes when the world outside has gone to sleep. Tristan had been in bed for hours, and now, it was just Ava and I, sitting together on the couch, the low hum of the TV in the background. We weren’t watching it, though. Instead, we were both lost in thought, letting the quiet moments stretch between us, filled with all the things unsaid.I stole a glance at her, the way she leaned against the couch, her legs tucked beneath her, a soft, relaxed smile playing on her lips. Her hair, long and loose, fell in soft waves around her shoulders. She looked at peace, something I hadn’t seen in a long time. Not since the days when we were just friends, long before things had gotten complicated.I still couldn’t believe it sometimes; how we’d ended up here. Living together for seven years, raising her son like he was mine, all while keeping my feelings buried deep inside. Four years. Four long years since I’d realized I was in love w
I woke up to a soft, warm sensation on my forehead; gentle kisses, each one sending a ripple of warmth through me. It took me a moment to remember where I was, the haze of sleep slowly lifting as the realization sank in. Andrew. His presence was unmistakable, his touch familiar yet somehow new all at once. My heart fluttered at the memory of last night, the comfort of having him next to me as we drifted off to sleep together.This wasn’t just waking up. It felt like I was waking up to something bigger. Something I’d been too scared to face for years.“Good morning,” he murmured, his lips still grazing my skin.I smiled, my eyes fluttering open to meet his. “Morning.”He pulled back slightly, just enough so I could see the warmth in his eyes. “You looked too peaceful to disturb... but I couldn’t resist.”I laughed softly. “I’m glad you didn’t. This is the best way to wake up in years.”He smiled back at me, a look of contentment in his eyes that I hadn’t seen before. It was strange, th
I walked down the hallway, trying to shake off the heaviness left behind from my confrontation with Derek. My pulse was still racing, a mix of anger and frustration bubbling just beneath the surface. I hated how easily he could pull those emotions out of me, even after all this time. But I wouldn’t let him win. Not today.As I approached my office, I noticed something unsettling, people were staring at me. It wasn’t the direct kind of stare, but more the subtle glances exchanged between coworkers as I passed. A few of them pretended to be working, tapping away at their keyboards or pretending to organize files, but their eyes would shift to me the moment they thought I wasn’t looking. It wasn’t the kind of stare that meant I had done something wrong, but it was a stare.“Good morning Ma’am” Nikolai greeted me smiling“Hey!” I say, not realizing how distracting my thoughts were.“Congratulations” he smiles“Well, that’s new, why? And why am I getting so many stares?” I ask him“I think
The flight back to New York felt like it was taking an eternity. I kept staring at my phone, willing it to buzz with an update, praying that the next call or message would tell me everything was fine. But the silence only made the anxiety gnaw deeper at my gut. Beside me, Andrew kept glancing over, his face calm but his hand gripping mine tightly. His thumb moved in soothing circles against my skin, but no amount of gentle touches could slow the frantic beating of my heart. I could feel the pressure building in my chest, the worry expanding until it was hard to breathe.“He’s going to be okay, Ava,” Andrew said quietly, his voice steady, though I could hear the strain in it. “The school said it was minor. Just a fainting spell. He’s probably just dehydrated or something.”I nodded, but the knot of fear in my stomach refused to loosen. I kept thinking about Tristan’s small body crumpling to the floor, about him lying unconscious while no one could reach me. I should have been there. I
The living room was quiet, save for the occasional sound of Andrew flipping through the pages of a magazine. I was curled up on the couch, sipping tea, letting the warmth of the moment soothe the remnants of the anxiety that had plagued me all day. Tristan was resting upstairs, and it felt like, for the first time in what seemed like forever, things were finally calming down.“You know,” Andrew said, breaking the silence, “we should take Tristan on a trip once he’s feeling better. Somewhere peaceful, away from all this chaos.”I smiled at the thought. “I think he’d love that. He’s been asking about visiting the mountains for a while now.”Andrew nodded, his eyes soft as he glanced over at me. “We could make it happen. Just the three of us.”I opened my mouth to respond, but before I could say anything, a loud, heart-stopping thud echoed from upstairs, followed immediately by a cry of pain; Tristan’s cry. My heart dropped. In an instant, Andrew and I were both on our feet, rushing to