"Secrets don't die with the ones who keep them. They haunt the living until they're forced into the light..."
Aminah Clarke's life shattered the night her fiancée, Hailee, died in a tragic car crash. Now, a year later, she is left with a book bar, a...
Hello my veiled babes 🤍 I now present to you chapter 27.Look at me being on my zoom ;p I have a surprise for you guys! Please comment and vote (Your comments literally make my entire day! Like seriously)
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Aminah POV
The air was still. Too still, like the world itself was holding its breath, waiting for the inevitable chaos that seemed to follow me everywhere. The early morning light barely broke through the heavy curtains of my store, casting long, thin shadows that danced across the floorboards. I tightened my grip on the duster, sweeping it over the dark mahogany shelves, my movements slow, methodical—almost robotic.
It had been three days since I read Hailee's letter with Abby and Robyn. Three days since her words had peeled back my heart like the raw flesh of an open wound. It was all I could think about, even now, while trying to prep the store for the day. Hailee Stone, even in death she still controls my mind.
For months after her death, time had been stuck, an endless loop of hollow days and sleepless nights. The kind where the hours blurred together, bleeding into one another like the muddied watercolors of a painting left out in the rain. But then, Devyn showed up. Devyn—and someone new. Alex Carrington. Two storms that crashed into my life at once, ripping open the stagnant, suffocating silence.
I paused in front of one of my latest paintings, the fresh strokes still vivid against the canvas. It was dark, moody, with streaks of blue and crimson that seemed to seep through the canvas, the veins of a broken heart. My lips twisted into a wry smile, almost broken, as I remembered that night—running headlong into Devyn's arms, a desperate, reckless reunion after so much time apart. The warmth of her body had felt familiar, it was a dangerous drug, one that lingered far too long in my system.
My fingers grazed the edge of the painting, tracing the rough lines with a tenderness I didn't want to admit. The memory of Alex's lips against mine slipped in next, like a thief in the night. I could still feel the impulsive press of my mouth against hers, the soft urgency mixed with hesitation. The rush of adrenaline. I raised my fingers to my lips, the ghost of that kiss still haunting me. I couldn't help but wish for a different life—one where our paths hadn't been tangled by lies and betrayal. A life where Alex fought for what she wanted, and I wasn't so broken that I couldn't believe fathom the idea of loving someone again.
But we were here. In this mess. In our own twisted version of reality, where love is just another weapon, and trust is as fragile as glass.
With a heavy sigh, I pulled away from the painting, moving to the romance section. I began to rearrange the books, a mindless task that kept my hands busy while my thoughts spiraled. But even then, I couldn't escape. Devyn's voice was there, soft but insistent. "I love you, Aminah." The words had been playing on a loop in my head, a dangerous melody that I couldn't turn off.
