LOGINMelissa 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
Richard stared at Adrian, who looked too innocent for the chaos he’s capable of. Adrian stood near the window, one hand tucked into his pocket, his eyes moving lazily between Richard and the quiet street outside Melissa’s apartment.“You’re wasting time,” Adrian said.Richard looked up sharply.“I know what I’m doing.”Adrian’s mouth curved. “Do you?”Richard didn’t answer immediately.That was the problem.He didn’t know anymore.The plan had sounded simple when Adrian said it.Get Miranda out.Get her away from the Jones Mansion.Make sure she came alone.Let Adrian “run into her” like it was some grand coincidence.That was all.No violence. No chaos. “Please, you know this is the only way Miranda can come here.”Richard hated how easy Adrian made terrible things sound.“How sure are you that she’ll come alone?” Richard asked“That’s the whole point of getting you involved. You need to make it seem like Melissa was the one asking her out for an important talk and does not want a
Darkness had a way of stretching time.It pressed in on Miranda from all sides, thick and suffocating, until she couldn’t tell how long shehad been sitting there.Minutes.Hours.It all blurred together.The room was empty, no furniture, no light, nothing but cold walls and silence that echoed too
The drive felt endless.Or maybe it was just the way every second dragged against Miranda’s bones, heavy and slow,like her body was fighting to stay conscious.Adrian didn’t say a word.Not to her.Not to the driver.Not even to himself.His jaw was locked so tight it looked like it might crack.M
Adrian Cole did not come home that night.By morning, Miranda Jones understood something worse than abandonment had taken place.He had already moved on.The night dissolved into dawn without him, the hours stretching hollow and impersonal inside the penthouse. The city outside remained awake, rest
Eight days.That was all that remained of the marriage Miranda Cole had once believed would last a lifetime. Eight days before the legal structure holding her to Adrian dissolved. Eight days before, she was no longer his wife in any sense that mattered.Just eight days.There had been a time when







