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Testing the Waters
publish date:
2026-07-02 14:02:00
Latest chapter
SHATTERED BY CHOICE Testing the Waters
Evelyn's POVAnthony asked me to dinner the following week. Just the two of us. No Luca. No family. Just a chance to see if we could be something other than co-parents.I changed my outfit three times before I finally settled on jeans and a sweater. I didn't want to look like I was trying too hard, but I also didn't want to look like I didn't care.He picked me up at seven. We drove to a quiet restaurant on the edge of town, the kind of place that didn't get too crowded and where we wouldn't run into anyone we knew."You look nice," he said as we sat down."Thanks. So do you."We ordered food and made small talk about Luca, about work, about the weather. Safe topics. Easy topics.But then Anthony set down his water glass and looked at me seriously. "Can we talk about the elephant in the room?""Which elephant? There are several."He smiled. "The one where we're both pretending this is just a casual dinner between frien
SHATTERED BY CHOICE The Possibility of More
Anthony's POVI couldn't stop thinking about that conversation with Evelyn. For days, it played on repeat in my head. The way she had looked at me. The way her voice had softened when I told her I saw her.Reuben noticed."You're distracted," he said one afternoon when I was supposed to be reviewing contracts with him."I'm fine.""You've read the same paragraph four times. You're not fine." He closed the folder in front of me. "What's going on?""I think I might have feelings for Evelyn."He blinked. "Your ex-wife Evelyn?""Yes.""The woman you spent eight years blaming for ruining your life?""Yes."He leaned back in his chair and laughed. "Well, that's unexpected.""Tell me about it.""How did this happen?""I don't know. We've been spending more time together. Talking. Working through everything with Mirabel and the evidence. And somewhere in the middle of all that, I started seeing her dif
SHATTERED BY CHOICE Small Moments
Evelyn's POVLuca's school was having a parent event, and both Anthony and I had agreed to go. It was the first time we would be attending something together since the divorce, and I was nervous.I got there early and found a seat near the back. The room filled up quickly with other parents, all of them chatting and laughing. I felt out of place, like everyone could tell I was the divorced mom trying to pretend everything was fine.Then Anthony walked in. He spotted me immediately and came over, sitting in the seat I had saved for him."Thanks for saving me a spot," he said."Of course."We sat in awkward silence while the teacher started talking. Luca was up on stage with his class, singing a song about the solar system. He saw us sitting together and his whole face lit up."Look, he's happy we're both here," Anthony said quietly."Yeah. He is."The program went on for another thirty minutes.
SHATTERED BY CHOICE Moving Pieces
Anthony's POVLuca asked me a question I wasn't ready for on a Saturday morning three weeks after the agreement was signed.We were making pancakes in my kitchen, flour everywhere, and he looked up at me with those big serious eyes and said, "Dad, do you still love Mom?"I stopped mid-flip. "What?""Mom. Do you still love her?""Where is this coming from?"He shrugged and poured more batter onto the griddle. "You've been talking to her a lot. And you don't look angry when you say her name anymore. So I was just wondering."I set the spatula down and leaned against the counter. "It's complicated, buddy.""That's what grown-ups always say when they don't want to answer.""Okay. Fair point." I thought about how to explain it in a way an eight-year-old would understand. "Your mom and I have been working through some things. Big things. And in the process, I've realized she's not the person I thought she was.""Is that
SHATTERED BY CHOICE When the Apologies Began
Evelyn's POVSylvia agreed to meet Mirabel two weeks after the agreement was signed. I offered to be there, but Sylvia said she wanted to do it alone. I respected that, but I couldn't help worrying.I was at home when Sylvia called me afterward."How did it go?" I asked."She cried a lot. Apologized a lot. Tried to explain herself a lot." Sylvia's voice was tired. "I listened. I didn't forgive her, but I listened.""Do you think you ever will? Forgive her?""I don't know. Maybe someday. But not today." She paused. "She gave me something, though. A letter. She said she wrote it years ago but never had the courage to send it. She wanted me to have it now.""What does it say?""I haven't read it yet. I'm scared to.""Do you want me to come over? We can read it together.""No. I need to do this alone. But thank you for offering."We hung up, and I sat on my couch wondering what Mirabel had written. Knowing my sis
SHATTERED BY CHOICE The Confession on Paper
Anthony's POVI spent three days working with a lawyer to draft the agreement. It had to be airtight, clear, and legally binding enough that if Mirabel or Samuel or my father tried to back out, we would have grounds to take action.Reuben helped me fine-tune the language, and even though he didn't agree with my decision to keep things private, he respected it."You're being more generous than I would be," he said as we sat in his office reviewing the final draft."I'm not being generous. I'm being practical. A court battle would take years and cost a fortune, and at the end of it, all we'd have is a legal victory that doesn't actually change anything.""And you think this will change things?""I think it gives people a chance to prove they can do better. If they don't take it, then we still have the evidence."He slid the document across the desk to me. "It's ready. All you need now is their signatures."I picked it up and
SHATTERED BY CHOICE The Wrong Side of a Mirror
Anthony’s POVI have a photograph of Sylvia on my phone but not as my wallpaper. It's buried three folders deep in an old album I have never deleted. I don't look at it often, but I know exactly where it is.That night, after I dropped Luca at my parents' house, I sat in my car in their driveway fo
SHATTERED BY CHOICE The Man In The Mirror
Evelyn's POV I drove back to Mercy General just before nine that night. The parking lot was quieter now. Just a handful of cars and a security guard doing slow rounds near the entrance.My mother's room was dim when I slipped in. The corridor nurse had let me through without trouble. I pulled the
SHATTERED BY CHOICE The Room Nobody Saved a Seat For
Evelyn's POV Mercy General Hospital smelled the same as every hospital I had ever been in. Cold air and something clean that doesn't quite cover something sad underneath.I found the waiting area on the second floor, where the nurse at the front desk had pointed me. My older brother Francis was al
SHATTERED BY CHOICE The Paper That Changed Everything
Evelyn's POV The envelope sat in my bag as if it was a rock.I had driven three times around the block before I parked. My hands were not shaking because of the cold. The air in the city of Harlow was warm that afternoon, the kind of warm that sits on your skin and refuses to leave. My hands were
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