LOGINThe bedroom remained pitch-black and silent, except for a thin sliver of light that cut through the cracked doorway, cutting across the floorboards like a blade.Autumn lay motionless on the mattress. Her limbs felt heavy, anchored by a physical tiredness, but her eyes were wide awake and unblinking in the dark. She stared fixedly at the window pane, her gaze never straying from the glass. Images from her life stretching from her earliest childhood memories back home, through her rise, to this exact moment flashed behind her eyes in a rapid montage. The faint hum of the city outside filtered through the glass, distant car horns and the occasional siren blending into a drone.Dark circles marred the skin underneath her eyes, a telltale sign of both her total lack of sleep and the marrow-deep exhaustion of the past forty-eight hours. Her good hand rested on her stomach, fingers occasionally pressing against the tender scar there as if to hold herself together.“I should probably get out
The car stopped in front of the apartment building she had been temporarily residing in during her fight with Eric. Looking up at the concrete through the window, it felt more like a premonition of her entire future than anything else.She stood in front of the building as the heavy silence of the street seemed to mock her. Taking slow, agonizing steps, she walked inside the lobby accompanied by the driver, who helped her carry the heavy luggage through the doors. The lobby smelled of damp concrete and stale air freshener. Fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, one flickering and casting erratic shadows across the scuffed tile floor. Her footsteps echoed too loudly.The ride up to her floor was just silence as they rode the elevator upward, a heavy, suffocating silence she wanted to just bury herself in. In the mirrored walls, her reflection stared back, eyes hollow, skin drawn tight. She looked away.The elevator doors opened with a ding as she stepped out into the hallway, walking hers
The taxi stopped in front of the gates of the estate. The once beautiful place she had, once upon a time, called home just felt strange to look at now. It was like looking at somewhere not her own, a monument to a life that had vanished.She paid for the taxi with her right hand and took her remaining belongings with her. Balancing the heavy cardboard box carefully with her one good arm, she stepped up and knocked firmly on the iron gate.Standing outside waiting on the pavement felt humiliating, but it also clarified her stance to herself. She was stripped of the Kingston title now; she was still that exact same girl from way back then, before the money.The gates were cracked open from the inside. A stoic bodyguard stepped aside, keeping his eyes fixed straight ahead, most likely letting her pass due to specific instructions given to him by Eric or Gabriel. She walked inside the grounds, her body protesting with every single step she took across the gravel path. The physical strain
Autumn lay flat on her back, staring blankly outside through the large glass window. Her entire body felt completely hollowed out both from the agonizing physical pain radiating from her injuries, the dull throbbing pain from her surgery, and the feeling of suffocating hopelessness she felt from the discovery of the destroyed tablet.She was mentally and physically exhausted from everything that had happened over the last two weeks. Her mind was in constant turmoil, relentlessly spinning in circles and making her feel terrible for the choices that had brought her here.“I sacrificed my child for this,” a single tear slipped silently from her eyes as she spoke aloud to the empty room, her voice a cracked whisper. “I sacrificed Eric...” She tightly gripped the rough hospital bedsheets with her one good hand as she quickly wiped her eyes, forcing her expression to harden.A soft, rhythmic knock suddenly brought her snapping back to the present.“Good day, Mrs. Kingston,” the attending d
It had been over a week since the accident, a long, suffocating week since she had first woken up in the sterile hospital room, and almost a week since she and Eric had finalized their divorce, putting an end to her marriage.She had been stuck inside the hospital alone ever since that afternoon, with no one left by her side to comfort her. She spent her days either talking listlessly with the doctors or the nurses and other passing patients, or just lying flat in bed, thinking.Her mind had always been her biggest asset, but right now, it was also her biggest obstacle. It was constantly playing mind games with her, making her feel terrible for what had happened on that road, relentlessly tormenting her with the loss of her child(ren) and the dissolution of her marriage.No one had visited her ever since that day. She was sure Eric either hadn't told Chloe about her whereabouts at all, or he had forbidden her from coming. She was guessing the former scenario was true, since she vividl
They stood just as they had yesterday, but this time with a crisp divorce certificate resting between them on the bedside tray. Eric had sped up the entire procedure to a mere twenty-four hours, making well on his promise to divorce her without a moment's delay.Autumn just stared blankly at the ink on the page, her mind numb to everything around her. She looked at the unfolding scene like she was watching another person's life implode on itself, not her own.Just like yesterday, Nigel handled everything with a court-appointed clerk standing quietly by his side to authenticate the immediate decree.“We don't have all day,” Eric murmured coldly from where he stood by the glass window, his jaw tight, his posture rigid as he looked out into the city.Theresa leaned closer over the mattress, adjusting her glasses. “Ma'am, take a look at it and sign right here,” she pointed out, indicating a specific, dotted line left blank for Autumn.Gripping the plastic pen, Autumn's hand shook a bit as
Eric’s POV"—so that's why it's important I go do this alone," I said to Autumn. I didn't look at her as I spoke, focusing instead on the metal teeth of my suitcase as I pulled the zipper shut. The sound was loud in the quiet bedroom, echoing like a final decision."But still, I
Autumn POVI sat down on the sofa, staring at the TV. A broadcast of an interview was playing on the screen, the bright lights of the television reflecting in my eyes. The words being said echoed in the vast, space of the living room. It felt like the house was too big now, especially with the
We had finally returned home after spending three grueling days at the hospital. The sterile smell of antiseptic seemed to have seeped into my skin, and the constant beep of monitors still echoed in my ears. Finn was much better, his laughter returning as we walked through the front doors of the es
The ride back to the hotel was quiet, but the air was different. The tension had shifted from anger to something much more potent. When we stepped into the hotel room, the city lights of Milan were sparkling through the windows, but all I could see was Eric.He closed the door behind us, locking it







