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publish date:
2026-07-05 18:03:52
Latest chapter
37 Times You Called My Name •037
Mia POVThe weeks after the final closure felt like the first real chapter of a new book. The garden at my mother’s house was in full bloom now, a riot of color and life that mirrored the way we were all starting to heal. I spent my mornings there with her, hands dirty from the soil, talking about small things that mattered — her favorite recipes, the birds that visited the feeder, the way the light hit the roses in the afternoon. The final secrets had been laid bare, and instead of destroying us, they had cleared the air for something honest and new. This morning my mother was the strongest I had seen her in a very long time. She sat in her favorite chair watching me prune the climbing roses, her hands steady on the armrests, a peaceful smile on her face.“You look happy, baby,” she said softly. “Really happy. Like the weight is finally gone.”I wiped the dirt from my hands and sat beside her on the bench, taking her hand in mine. “I am. We both are. The threats are gone. The
37 Times You Called My Name •036
Mia POVThe garden at my mother’s new house had become my favorite place in the entire world. The roses climbed the trellis Ryder had built with his own hands during one of his careful visits, their blooms heavy and fragrant with the full force of summer. I spent most mornings there with her, my hands deep in the rich soil, talking about everything and nothing at all. The final secrets had been laid bare weeks ago, and somehow the truth — as painful as it had been — had freed us instead of destroying us completely. The drama that had nearly broken everything we had fought so hard to rebuild had finally quieted, leaving behind a fragile but growing space for real healing.This morning my mother was stronger than I had seen her in months. She sat in her favorite wooden chair under the shade of the old oak tree, watching me prune the climbing roses with steady, careful hands. Her color was better. Her eyes were clearer. The garden seemed to give her life in a way the hospital rooms nev
37 Times You Called My Name •035
Mia POVThe revelation about the child’s real father hung over us like a final shadow, but it didn’t break what we had rebuilt. If anything, it solidified the choice we had made to face everything together. My mother’s confession had been painful, but honest. She had hidden the truth to protect me from more heartbreak during the worst time of my life. Ryder had carried guilt for a child that wasn’t biologically his, but emotionally, it had always been ours in the broken way our story had unfolded.We spent the next week in a strange but healing limbo. I divided my time between my mother’s house and the penthouse, but the distance was no longer forced. It was chosen. Ryder and I made love every night, slower and more intentional, the passion no longer a way to drown out pain but a way to celebrate survival. No counting. No games. Just us, learning each other again without the weight of secrets.This morning I woke up to Ryder cooking breakfast in the kitchen, shirtless and humming a
37 Times You Called My Name •034
Mia POVThe morning after the press conference felt like the first real breath we had taken in months. Sunlight streamed through the penthouse windows as I woke up tangled in Ryder’s arms, his body warm and solid against mine. For the first time since the threats began, there was no immediate danger waiting in my phone. No new messages. No shadows from the past clawing at us. Just us, and the quiet promise we had made to face whatever came next together.Ryder stirred beside me, pressing a soft kiss to my shoulder. “Morning,” he murmured, voice still rough with sleep. “No more secrets. No more distance.”I turned in his arms and kissed him properly, slow and deep, the kind of kiss that rebuilt everything we had almost lost. The slowed romance had served its purpose — it had forced us to see each other clearly, without the fire consuming us. But now, with the threats finally buried, the passion was returning stronger than before. We made love that morning with a new tenderness, every
37 Times You Called My Name •033
Mia POV The final revelation hung between us like a guillotine blade. I lay beside Ryder in the dark of the penthouse bedroom, close enough to feel his warmth but far enough that our skin didn’t touch. The last secret — the rumors he had deliberately spread to isolate me completely after the hallway incident — had shattered the fragile peace we had fought so hard to build. The stress he manufactured had contributed to the miscarriage. The child we lost was partly his doing in ways I hadn’t even imagined. “I need to know everything,” I whispered into the darkness. “No more half-truths. No more protecting me from the full weight of what you did.” Ryder turned toward me, his face illuminated by the city lights filtering through the windows. His eyes were haunted. “After the hallway, I was terrified you’d move on. So I made sure you couldn’t. I started rumors that you were unstable. That you had made up the diary entries for attention. That you were dangerous to be around. I
37 Times You Called My Name •032
Mia POVThe trust fund message wouldn’t leave me alone. I stared at my phone in the dark of Ryder’s bedroom, his arm heavy across my waist, while the words burned in my mind: *The child was only the beginning. There’s more. Ask him about the trust fund he set up in your name the day you left.* Another secret. Another layer of control I hadn’t known about. The drama of our love kept peeling back, revealing wounds I thought had healed.I slipped out of bed at dawn, making coffee in the kitchen while Ryder slept. When he found me there an hour later, hair messy and eyes concerned, I showed him the message without a word. He read it and sat down heavily at the island, running a hand through his hair.“I set it up the day you left,” he admitted. “A trust fund with enough money to give you options. I told myself it was guilt money. But it was also a way to keep you connected to me. I never told you because I knew you’d see it as control. Which it was.”The confession hurt, but it didn’t su
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