Chapter: Chapter 55NADIA’S POVThe courthouse feels colder today, not because of the weather. The first hearing. The beginning of something that suddenly feels too big to stop.I stand outside the courtroom doors gripping Noah’s diaper bag even though he isn’t with me today, my fingers tightening around the strap hard enough to hurt.The hallway smells like coffee, rain, and paper, lawyers moving past in expensive suits while voices echo softly around me.Everything feels too loud, bright. My stomach has been twisting since four this morning.I barely ate or slept. Every time I closed my eyes, I kept imagining the worst possible outcome.Someone taking Noah from me. Even thinking it makes my chest tighten painfully. “You need to breathe.”Diane’s voice pulls me back. I blink quickly, realizing I’ve been staring at the courtroom doors without actually seeing them. “I am breathing.”“No.” Her expression softens slightly while adjusting the folder in her hands. “You’re trying not to panic.”A shaky breath
Last Updated: 2026-05-20
Chapter: Chapter 54COLIN’S POVThe storm starts before I even walk into the house. Rain crashes hard against the windshield while lightning flashes across the dark sky, the entire city blurred behind sheets of water.Perfect because that’s exactly what this feels like now. A fucking storm.My hands tighten around the steering wheel as I pull into the driveway, jaw locked hard enough to hurt while everything from the last few days keeps replaying in my head.Nadia crying in court. Noah hugging her while she tried not to fall apart. My mother sitting there cold and composed while lawyers picked through Nadia’s childhood like trauma was evidence.Every memory hits harder the longer I sit with it and honestly I’m done. The second I step inside the house, tension hits immediately. Like everybody already knows something’s coming.I throw my keys onto the entry table harder than I mean to, the sound echoing through the hallway while rainwater drips from my coat onto the marble floor.A few seconds later, Melis
Last Updated: 2026-05-19
Chapter: Chapter 53NADIA’S POVMorning comes slowly. Soft gray light slips through the curtains while rain taps lightly against the windows again, quieter than yesterday, softer somehow.The apartment smells like coffee and laundry detergent. For the first time in days, I stand still long enough to actually notice them.Noah sits cross-legged on the living room floor in dinosaur pajamas, stacking blocks carefully while cartoons play low in the background.“Uh oh,” he mumbles seriously when one falls over. A tiny smile almost pulls at my mouth. I lean against the kitchen counter, wrapping both hands around my coffee mug while exhaustion still sits heavy in my body.But something feels different this morning. Last night broke something open inside me.All that fear. All that shame. All those thoughts telling me maybe Melissa was right, maybe I wasn’t enough, maybe Noah deserved someone more stable, more prepared, less damaged—Fuck that.The anger comes suddenly this time. Hot enough to finally cut through
Last Updated: 2026-05-18
Chapter: Chapter 52COLIN’S POVThe house feels too quiet. Every sound echoes too much, footsteps against marble floors, the ticking clock near the staircase, the soft clink of dishes somewhere deeper in the house.I stand near the windows in my mother’s dining room, staring out at the gray afternoon sky while rain drags slowly down the glass.I shouldn’t even be here but after yesterday after seeing Nadia sit there looking like someone had ripped every private part of her life open in front of strangers, I couldn’t let it go. The longer I think about it, the worse it gets.My jaw tightens hard as the memory flashes again.Your mother’s addiction history. I drag a hand down my face roughly, exhaling hard through my nose while anger keeps sitting heavy in my chest.The kind that settles into your bones and stays there. “She’s in the study.” I glance toward the housekeeper standing quietly near the hallway.“Thanks.” My voice comes out rougher than I mean it to. She nods once and disappears again while I f
Last Updated: 2026-05-17
Chapter: Chapter 51NADIA’S POVThe apartment is finally quiet. The kind that presses against my chest and makes every thought louder than it should be.Rain taps softly against the windows again, the city outside blurry from water and streetlights while the clock on the microwave glows past midnight.I should be sleeping. Instead, I’m sitting on the kitchen floor in sweatpants and one of Noah’s blankets wrapped around my shoulders because somewhere between dinner, bath time, laundry, and crying in the bathroom where he couldn’t hear me, I stopped functioning properly.My chest hurts, this deep, heavy ache that won’t loosen no matter how hard I breathe through it.Noah is asleep down the hall. I checked three times already. He’s curled up with his stuffed dinosaur, tiny hand under his cheek, completely peaceful.A shaky breath leaves me as I stare at the legal folder sitting open on the table.Custody recommendations. Financial disclosures. Character evaluations. I’m so fucking tired. My eyes burn again
Last Updated: 2026-05-16
Chapter: Chapter 50COLIN’S POVThe conference room feels suffocating.Cold lights shine down over polished glass tables, legal folders stacked neatly in front of everyone like this is some normal business meeting instead of people tearing each other apart over a child.Rain hits the windows again softly. The sound fills every quiet second between conversations.I sit near the end of the table, jaw tight, fingers pressed too hard against the armrest while lawyers talk in circles around me.Custody arrangements. Parental evaluations. Temporary recommendations. Every word sounds worse than the last.Across the room, Nadia sits beside Diane, shoulders tense, arms folded tightly across herself like she’s physically holding herself together.And fuck she looks exhausted, worn down in a way that makes something twist painfully in my chest.Her eyes stay mostly lowered while Melissa’s lawyer flips through paperwork calmly. Like they’re discussing schedules instead of her entire life.I hate this. I hate all of
Last Updated: 2026-05-15
Billionaire’s Twin Deception
Five years ago, Janice Soto stepped into her dying twin sister’s life to keep Eden Duncan from falling apart. Pretending to be the woman he loved was supposed to be temporary, a final promise made in a hospital room filled with goodbye and grief. But somewhere between borrowed kisses, late-night silences, and the life they built together, Eden fell for the wrong sister without ever knowing the truth.
When the deception finally shattered, it didn’t just destroy them, it nearly killed him. And before Eden could wake up and face what she had done, Janice disappeared carrying the one secret that belonged to both of them.
Now she is back in New York, stronger, colder, and no longer willing to lose herself for anyone again. But Eden hasn’t forgotten the woman who betrayed him, and he definitely hasn’t forgiven her.
Then he meets a quiet five-year-old boy with his eyes, his heartbeat, and a smile that feels painfully familiar. Because the truth isn’t just a lie from the past anymore. It’s a child standing right in front of him.
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Chapter: Chapter 53JANICE'S POVI don't even realize I've said it until the words are already floating through the apartment."Our family needs groceries."Silence.I freeze halfway through writing a shopping list.Eden looks up from the couch.Jack slowly lowers the dinosaur comic he was reading."Our family?" Eden repeats carefully.Heat rushes into my face."I meant…… I…..."Jack jumps off the couch before I can embarrass myself any further."I like that one!""What one?""Our family."He grins so brightly my heart almost gives up."We should keep it."Eden looks at me."So…..." I hide behind the shopping list. "......Don't.""I wasn't going to say anything.""You were absolutely going to.""I was."Jack claps once."Good. Family meeting."Neither of us remembers agreeing to one.Ten minutes later Jack stands in the middle of the kitchen wearing my apron that nearly reaches his ankles while holding a wooden spoon like a microphone."I've decided," he announces proudly, "that tonight I will cook dinne
Last Updated: 2026-06-30
Chapter: Chapter 52EDEN'S POVThe kiss changes everything because it feels like coming home.When we finally pull apart, neither of us says anything for several long seconds as we simply stand there smiling like two complete idiots who forgot how conversations work.Janice is the first to laugh.".Well."I nod. "Well."She points at me."That was your fault.""My fault?""You stepped closer.""You kissed me.""You were standing there looking... looking—""Looking what?"She groans and hides her face in both hands."I don't know.""You started a sentence.""I regret it already.""I'm not letting you escape."She peeks at me through her fingers."You looked kissable."I blink."That's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.""Oh, don't get used to it.""I absolutely will."She laughs again, shaking her head before lightly pushing my shoulder."You smile differently now.""So do you.""I do not.""You absolutely do.""I'll deny it forever.""You won't.""Probably not."The next morning I wake up earli
Last Updated: 2026-06-30
Chapter: Chapter 51JANICE'S POVThe article is supposed to come out tomorrow morning.Strangely, I'm not thinking about tomorrow.I'm thinking about the way Eden quietly slips the envelope back into his jacket before anyone else at the party notices, then reaches for my hand beneath the table without looking at me, his fingers warm around mine like he's already made a decision I haven't heard yet."We're leaving," he says softly.I blink."What about the party?""They'll survive.""The anniversary—""They'll survive that too."Amanda appears beside us before I can argue."I heard my name."Eden doesn't even hesitate."I'm taking her home."Amanda studies both of us for one long second before smiling in that annoyingly knowing way she has."I figured.""You're not even going to ask why?""I've met both of you.""Fair."She gently squeezes my shoulder. "Go."The drive back is unusually quiet, but not the uncomfortable kind. The city lights slide across the windshield while soft music plays through the sp
Last Updated: 2026-06-29
Chapter: Chapter 50EDEN'S POVThe black SUV changes everything.The moment Janice shows me the photographs from the aquarium, every instinct I've spent years trusting starts screaming that someone isn't just watching us anymore. They're studying us.Jack doesn't need to know that.He deserves one more ordinary morning.So when he wanders into the kitchen wearing dinosaur slippers and rubbing sleep from his eyes, I smile like nothing happened."Morning."He yawns."Why do adults always wake up before the sun?""Because bills exist."He frowns."I've decided never to have bills."Janice looks up from the frying pan."I support this dream.""You can't.""Why not?""Because you're an adult."She sighs dramatically."You caught me."Breakfast is loud, messy and completely normal as Jack insists pancakes taste better cut into dinosaur shapes, then complains mine looks more like "a confused chicken.""It has artistic value.""It needs medical attention."Janice laughs so hard she nearly drops the spatula."I
Last Updated: 2026-06-29
Chapter: Chapter 49JANICE'S POVEvery answer creates another question, but the strange thing is that Eden doesn't leave after the photograph or after Amara's visit. He stays, and somehow that's the part I still haven't learned how to handle because every morning he walks into the kitchen like he's always belonged there, every evening Jack falls asleep halfway through telling him dinosaur facts, and every ordinary moment makes my heart more dangerous than any secret ever did.Saturday begins with a loud knock on my bedroom door."Mom! Dad! Wake up before I become an adult!"I blink at the ceiling."Jack…... it's seven-thirty.""Exactly.""Exactly what?""Half the day is already gone."A laugh escapes before I can stop it.When I step into the hallway, Jack is already wearing a tiny backpack almost bigger than he is while Eden stands beside him holding two travel mugs and looking equally confused."He woke me up twenty minutes ago," Eden says, taking a sip of coffee. "Apparently sleeping is now considere
Last Updated: 2026-06-28
Chapter: Chapter 48EDEN'S POVThe photograph sits between us like it belongs to another lifetime, yet somehow it's still powerful enough to steal every bit of warmth from the ballroom. Around us the orchestra keeps playing, champagne glasses keep clinking and guests keep laughing, but none of it reaches me anymore because all I can see is Janice walking toward Chloe's apartment five years ago.She doesn't try to explain.She doesn't run.She just stares at the photograph until her fingers begin trembling."Janice…..."She closes her eyes."I know.""No." I shake my head gently, sliding the photograph back into the envelope before anyone else notices. "Not here."She looks at me, surprised."You're…... you're not going to ask?""I am.""When?"I reach for her hand beneath the table, hiding the movement from the guests surrounding us."When you're ready to answer."For a second she simply looks at our hands.Then her fingers quietly tighten around mine. Neither of us says another word.The rest of the ga
Last Updated: 2026-06-28
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