CHAPTER 24: CHAPTER 24: BEFORE THE FALL

POV: Elena

6:15 AM — The Walls Are Breathing

I’ve always been good at pretending.

Smiling through awkward silences, laughing too hard at bad jokes, nodding at people I didn’t care to understand. It’s not dishonesty. It’s survival. It’s what women are taught to do — smooth over tension, make a life look good even when it isn’t.

But this morning, the air was thick. Like it had its own lungs. Like the house was watching me.

Milo wouldn’t look at me. Aaron was jumpy. And I... I was barely holding it together.

He knows.

Milo knows.

And if he decides to tell—

No. I couldn’t go there yet.

6:27 AM — Flashback: A Normal Beginning

When I first met Aaron’s dad, it wasn’t like this.

He was charming. Respectful. Steady. I’d been through enough chaos to think that was what I needed.

He cooked me pasta the first time we had dinner. Told me stories about Aaron, about how proud he was. About how he and Milo practically grew up in his living room.

He wasn’t perfect — nobody is. But I told myself: this could work.

It wasn’t love. Not real love. But it was safe.

And after the wreckage I’d survived before... safe felt like a miracle.

I never meant for safe to turn into suffocating.

7:10 AM — Aaron, the Storm I Never Planned For

He was just supposed to be the stepkid. The quiet one. Barely home.

But then one night, we stayed up talking. Just talking.

I told him about my dad — the alcoholic. About college. About the version of myself I used to believe in before I started making deals with life just to feel okay.

He listened.

Then he asked me questions no one else had bothered to ask. Like he saw the real version of me even I’d forgotten was there.

It felt dangerous. Not because of the rules we were breaking. But because I started to want to break them.

And then I did.

8:30 AM — Confronting Milo (Or Trying To)

I found him in the hallway, standing by the linen closet.

"Milo," I said softly. "Can we talk?"

He didn’t move.

"I just want to explain—"

"I don’t need an explanation," he said, not even turning around. "I just need it to stop."

I opened my mouth, but he walked away.

I wasn’t angry.

I was ashamed.

Because he was right.

9:45 AM — The Message That Changed the Day

Aaron walked into the kitchen and handed me his phone.

"He left this on the counter. For you," he said.

I stared at the screen.

From Milo:

"Secrets aren’t weapons until someone picks them up."

My hands trembled.

"Do you think he’ll tell?" I asked.

Aaron just stared at the floor. "I think he already has."

12:15 PM — The Invitation

The text came from my husband.

"Dinner tonight. Just us four. No excuses. We need to talk."

No emojis. No period. Just that.

For a man who never insisted on anything, that message may as well have been a court summons.

I felt sick.

6:01 PM — The Tense Table

The table was set like a holiday. Cloth napkins. Real wine glasses. Forks in the right place.

Aaron’s dad was in his usual seat. I sat to his right. Milo sat across from me, stone-faced. Aaron came in last, chewing the inside of his cheek.

"Glad we could all make it," my husband said.

He poured wine. Asked about everyone’s day like we were pretending to be normal.

Then, halfway through the salmon, he said it:

"I found something weird on your phone yesterday."

I choked slightly.

Aaron stiffened.

Milo didn’t blink.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You must’ve left it on the counter unlocked," he said. "I wasn’t snooping, but I saw a name in your notes. Just a name. Aaron."

Silence.

My skin flushed so fast it felt like fire.

"It was just... a list," I lied. "Groceries. I wrote ’Aaron’s cereal’ so I’d remember."

Smooth. That was almost believable.

He nodded slowly.

But something in his eyes told me he didn’t buy it.

6:47 PM — Everyone Knows, But No One Says It

The rest of dinner was a slow burn.

Every comment had two meanings.

Every glance was a question with no safe answer.

Milo kept his eyes on his plate.

Aaron looked like he wanted to crawl out of his skin.

And I... I was unraveling by the minute.

8:20 PM — Breaking Down

I locked the bathroom door and sat on the edge of the tub, my knees pulled to my chest like a kid hiding from monsters.

Only I was the monster.

I ruined everything.

I let something that felt beautiful grow into something poisonous. And now the people who trusted me the most were the ones I’d hurt the worst.

The guilt wasn’t abstract anymore.

It was heavy. Personal. Sharpened by every kind thing my husband had ever said to me, every time Milo had made me laugh, every time Aaron had looked at me like I was his world.

I was drowning.

And I deserved to.

9:10 PM — The Letter

I went to my room.

It was sitting on the bed.

Folded paper. My name on the front. Aaron’s handwriting.

I opened it with shaking hands.

Elena,

I can’t keep pretending this doesn’t hurt people. I thought I could handle it, but I can’t.

I don’t hate you. I just don’t know who I am anymore when I’m with you.

I’m going to leave for a while. I don’t know where yet. Maybe somewhere I can breathe.

Please don’t come after me.

— A.

📘 End of Chapter 24

💬 YOUR TURN!

Aaron’s gone. Milo’s on edge. Elena’s spiraling.

Is it too late to salvage anything?

👇 Drop your thoughts below — do you still feel for Elena, or has she crossed the line?

❤️ Tap the heart if that last letter wrecked you.

🔔 Follow for Chapter 25 — where the fallout spreads beyond the family.