LOGINFor the first time that night, Colin hesitated.It was brief.But she saw it.The coldness cracked for just a moment, and underneath it, there was pain.Real pain.Then he looked at her fully.“That depends on your relationship with Miranda from now on.”Melissa froze.Colin’s voice remained calm.“If you settle things with her and continue being friends, then I’ll consider you my sister too.”Melissa’s chest tightened.“But if not,” he continued, “then I have no business making friends with my sister’s enemy.”The words were gentle.The meaning was not.Melissa understood him perfectly.He was putting her exactly where he believed she belonged now.Not as a woman he once wanted.Not as someone who had a chance to be loved by him.Just Miranda’s friend.And if Miranda rejected her, then even that small title would be gone.Melissa’s lips trembled, but she forced herself not to cry.“I understand.”Colin held her gaze for another second.Then he nodded.“Goodnight, Melissa.”She wanted
Melissa sat on the hospital bed with her left leg stretched out, her ankle raised on a small pillow while the nurse wrapped a bandage around it.She had cried earlier.Not because the pain was unbearable, although it was sharp enough to make her hiss whenever the nurse touched the swollen area.She cried because of everything else.Richard.Miranda.Colin.The way the night had collapsed so quickly that she still could not tell where the first crack had started.“Try not to put pressure on it for a few days,” the doctor said, scribbling something on a chart. “It’s a sprain, not a fracture, but you’ll worsen it if you walk carelessly. Use the support when you need to move. Ice it. Rest it.”Melissa nodded quietly.“Thank you.”Colin stood by the wall with both hands in his pockets.He had been there from the beginning.He was there when she was brought in. He was there when the nurse examined her ankle. He was there when the doctor asked what happened. He even stepped forward once when
Noah’s smile softened.“You tell me.”Miranda looked at him like he had just signed up for a storm without checking the weather.“No, Noah. I’m serious.”“So am I.”She inhaled slowly, her fingers tightening around the edge of his jacket.“You’re looking at this like it’s simple. You’re looking at me like I’m just some woman you like, and all you have to do is prove it.”“Is there something else I need to do?” Noah asked innocently. Miranda’s voice grew quieter."I'm saying I’m not simple.”“That’s fair.” “I’m serious, Noah." She shook her head. “Look at me; I’m divorced and pregnant.”“I noticed.”She glared at him.He gave a small, guilty smile.“Sorry. Continue.”Miranda looked away, frustrated that he could still make her want to laugh when she was trying very hard to be serious.“You’ll be raising another man’s child if this becomes serious.”“I know that.”“You think you know, but you don’t. It’s easy to say it now because everything feels emotional. But later, when people s
Miranda stood frozen.Not shocked anymore.Not confused either.Just… recalibrating her entire understanding of the last ten minutes of her life.Her eyes moved slowly from Noah to Melissa.Then back again.Like she was checking if the world had suddenly changed language without informing her.Finally, her voice came out carefully.“…So Melissa… the person you like is Richard?”Melissa blinked.Then sighed.Then nodded slowly.“Yes.”The word dropped like a weight.Miranda’s face tightened immediately.“Wait.” Melissa quickly lifted her hands. “Before you say anything, just listen…”"No," Miranda cut in, voice sharp now. “Let me speak.”The room went quiet again.Even Colin stopped adjusting Melissa’s ankle. The two men exchanged a worried look.Miranda took a step forward.“You couldn’t tell me because it’s Richard?”Melissa’s lips parted.“I tried.”“No,” Miranda repeated. “You didn’t try. You hid it. You were tiptoeing around, making me believe it was Noah. You two weren’t that clo
The name left Miranda’s mouth like she had forgotten how to breathe properly.Noah stood at the end of the hallway, one side of his face still freshly dressed. He looked like he had run out of the hospital with unfinished treatment.Because he had.Colin stood beside him, face hard, eyes moving from Miranda to Adrian, then to Richard, then back to Miranda.Noah didn’t move.He didn’t even blink.His eyes were on Miranda like the rest of the world had suddenly become background noise.Miranda’s heart dropped into her stomach.No.No, no, no.How much did he hear?Her lips parted, but nothing reasonable came out.“Noah, I…”Noah took one slow step forward.His voice was low.“Did you mean everything you just said?”Miranda froze.Her throat closed.Colin looked away briefly like even he knew this was too naked to watch.Noah’s eyes stayed on her.“Everything you just said,” he repeated. “Did you mean it?”Miranda swallowed.Her mouth opened.Closed.Opened again.“I… I didn’t know you w
Richard’s mind stopped working.For one second, he forgot every lie he was supposed to tell.Forgot Adrian was somewhere outside, waiting for his grand entrance like a devil with timing.All Richard saw was Miranda.Breathless, terrified, and now confused. His mouth opened before his brain could stop it.“How did you get here so fast?”The room died.Melissa’s hand slowly dropped from behind his neck. Then, very slowly, she pushed herself away from him.Richard felt the separation immediately.Melissa stared at him.Miranda was still standing by the door, one hand against the frame like she needed it to stay upright.Her eyes moved from Melissa to Richard.Then back again, waiting for any of them to tell her what’s going on.Richard stood also.“Melis…”Melissa cut in first.“You knew she was coming?”It was a catch. Even Richard’s guilty expression confirmed it. Melissa’s face shifted.“Wow?” Melissa mumbled. He couldn’t look at her.Miranda took a small step inside, directing her
Miranda lowered her eyes slowly toward her stomach.For several seconds, she didn’t answer.“Yes.”Colin stayed still.Miranda inhaled softly before looking back at him.“I’m keeping the baby.”Silence filled the room immediately afterward.Colin leaned back slightly in his chair and nodded once.“
Miranda thought she had seen luxury before.She hadn’t.The moment the gates of the Jones estate fully opened, she leaned slightly forward in her seat without even realizing it.The mansion didn’t just stand.It dominated.Tall white pillars.Glass walls that reflected the morning sky.A fountain s
Miranda’s voice barely came out above a whisper.“Oh my God.”The entire driveway looked like a high-level security operation.Black luxury vehicles stretched across the compound one after another, their tinted windows reflecting the morning sunlight coldly.Several armed security men stood around
Miranda woke up with a sharp pain in her neck.She groaned softly and blinked against the faint morning sunlight leaking through the curtains.For several confused seconds, she couldn’t even understand why she was on the floor. Then slowly… Memory returned.The door.Adrian’s voice.That exhausti







