Chapter 21: The family dinner
ASHER Three weeks later, I host a family dinner. The whole Blackwood clan at the lake house—my parents, Ezra, and […]
Two years ago, Emilia disappeared—pregnant and broken. Now her ex is marrying someone else, and Emilia shows up at the church with a secret that will change everything.
ASHER Three weeks later, I host a family dinner. The whole Blackwood clan at the lake house—my parents, Ezra, and […]
DUAL POV EMILIA Asher asks me to meet him at our first date spot. It takes me a minute to
ASHER The letter arrives on a Monday morning, delivered by courier. I recognize Sloane’s handwriting immediately—elegant, precise, perfectly slanted. I
EMILIA Three days after the ER visit, reality crashes back in. I wake up alone—Asher went back to the guest
EMILIA The call comes at 2:47 AM. I wake to Miles screaming. Not his normal cry, not his “I’m wet”
ASHER I’m packing up my apartment in the city—the one I was supposed to share with Sloane—when I find the
EMILIA Cordelia Blackwood arrives on day five with enough designer luggage for a month-long stay. “I’m only staying for lunch,”
EMILIA It’s day three at the lake house, and I’m starting to forget why I had my guard up. That’s
Waking up knowing my son is down the hall is the best feeling I’ve ever experienced. I’m up at six—old
The house is not a house. It’s a compound. Set back from the road, behind gates and trees, all glass