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CHAPTER NINE : Cracks In The Routine

Author: Steph stories
last update publish date: 2026-06-12 22:21:04

Work felt impossible the next day.

Helen called in sick, the lie sitting bitter on her tongue as she spoke to Marcus over the phone, her voice carefully steady.

The apartment closed in around her after the call, so she pulled on her oversized coat—the fabric heavy and concealing against the mild but damp Boston air—and walked the streets near Birch Street.

The pavement was still slick from overnight rain, carrying the crisp scent of wet leaves and distant coffee shops.

Her sneakers scraped rhyt
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    Helen’s hands trembled slightly as she set her phone down on the coffee table, the chilling midnight message still glowing on the screen. The blurry photo of her building entrance felt like a violation, another crack in the fragile walls she had rebuilt around her life.Rain continued its steady patter against the window, but now it sounded less like a soothing backdrop and more like a warning. Alexander stirred beside her on the couch, his arm still wrapped protectively around her shoulders.His dark eyes sharpened instantly when he saw her expression, the sleep fading from his face as he sat up.“What is it?” he asked, voice low and rough from the interrupted rest. He picked up the phone, reading the message quickly. His jaw tightened, that familiar muscle jumping under the faint shadow of stubble.“This isn’t just Victoria or Nina anymore. Julian needs to see this now.”The apartment felt smaller in the early morning hours, the dim lamp casting long shadows across the faded couch a

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  • The Billionaire’s Runaway Wife   CHAPTER FIVE : Open The Door

    She opened it.And there he was.Three years. A thousand quiet mornings of telling herself she was over it. Fourteen weeks of carrying his child without his knowledge. All of that — and Alexander Sinclair still managed to look like something the world had been specifically designed around.He wasn

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