I'm sitting at my desk, scrolling through emails when my phone rings. I check the caller ID, and it's Clay."Hey girl, has he said anything?" Clay asks, and I shake my head."He isn't even talking to me," I tell her, and I can already tell from her silence that she is a little disappointed. However,
Tracy knocks on the door, and we hear Abel's voice from inside, telling us to come in. As we step into the room, I can feel Abel's eyes on me, and I quickly look away. Of course, he just had to look this attractive today."Hey, Abel," Tracy says, smiling brightly. "We wanted to run an idea by you fo
Tracy had sent me the address to the new club and suggested we meet there. I didn't want to dress too much because it's a weekday and I don't want to attract anyone's attention at the club. So I decided to wear a pair of jeans, a fancy crop top, and to spruce up the look, I added a pair of heels and
"Hi pumpkin," he says, with a smile. "So you're into girls now?" That pet name. I should have known that text weeks ago was from him.I force a smile back. "Hi, Winston. How are you?"I'm not going to respond to that question because it is none of his business."I'm good," he says. "I saw you from a
I wake up to the sound of my blaring alarm. Groaning, I fumble for my phone to turn it off. Slightly disoriented from last night's events, I quickly remember that George is sleeping next to me. I had asked him earlier in the morning if he would be leaving for work, but he said he wouldn't be going i
I have been so busy that I didn't get time to go apartment hunting, but today I'm going to have to do it online. I need to move out as soon as possible.As soon as I walk into my office, Abel walks in and closes the door behind him. A sense of relief washes over me, and it is weird that somehow I fe
We continue driving in silence, but it's not uncomfortable. I'm grateful for his company right now, even though I'm still a little uneasy about what happened at the wedding. If I'm being honest, that's something that will never leave my mind. No one ever forgets a kiss like that one.As we pull up t
"You've had too much to drink, Millie. Maybe you should lie down for a while." I don't want to lie down. I want to feel alive, but at the same time, my eyes are a little droopy, so I sit back on the couch and lie on his chest, feeling the warmth of his body against mine. He holds me gently, and I cl
“Abel, you are proposing…” The words tumble out of my mouth in disbelief, more of a statement than a question. He nods, and then, to my utter shock, he gets down on one knee. I feel the world around us blur and slow down, my pulse pounding in my ears.“Mildred Turina, will you marry me?” His voice w
She scoffs playfully, giving me that familiar look that says she’s still got it all under control. “I know how to take care of children, honey. We will be fine. You two go have fun.”Relief washes over me. Even though we’re leaving them in the best possible hands, the part of me that has grown attac
We’re heading to Abel’s lake house for a weekend getaway—just the two of us. He said he got the place a few years ago but rarely gets to use it. He has only taken the twins there a few times because the only time he gets enough time to spend with them without many distractions from work is during th
Epilogue"Come here,” I call her over, and she reluctantly pulls her fingers off her brother’s chubby cheeks, then walks back to where I am. I crouch down to be at her level, trying to mask the amusement I feel at her little pout.“If you keep harassing your brother, I will have him stay with me at
“Did I?”“You bitch!” I burst out laughing. He has definitely been holding that back.“I was busy dealing with a concussion to see anything, oh, and my mom has way more money than you, you know, and her money combined with the money my dad left me, which I just found out was a lot by the way, then A
“Mom, I…”“I should have taken you with me when he died, but I thought you were already a grown woman and you wouldn’t need me anymore, and I will never forgive myself for that because if I did, then you wouldn’t have ended up with an abusive man. I could have protected you from repeating the cycle.
"Abel, he is good for you," she repeats, this time more firmly. There’s a strange sadness in her eyes, as if she’s remembering all the times she wished someone had said those words to her. I nod, acknowledging her observation, but I don’t want to delve into a discussion about Abel with her. "I feel
"Are you ready to go home?" Abel asks, and I nod eagerly. The sterile scent of antiseptic clings to the air, making me desperate to leave this hospital room and everything it represents. My heart pounds with a need to escape—to feel the cool air outside, untainted by the trauma that haunts these wal
“Oh…”“I love you, and I would want you in my life and the twins too, but you need to accept that fact about me. I don’t even know if I can be a mother to your children or a stepmother. I just don’t know if I have it in me, even though I love them, and I love you,” I say, and I’m nervously waiting f