AVERY'S POV
Six hours until my mother arrived.
Six hours until our world exploded.
We drove back to Vancouver in Marcus's car—mine and Julian's were still at the lake house, part of the crime scene. Julian sat in front with Marcus. I sat in back, watching the sunrise paint the sky pink and gold.
Beautiful. The world was ending and the sunrise was beautiful.
"You two need a plan," Marcus said, breaking the silence. "Diane's going to be furious. Hurt. She'll want blood."
"I know," Julian said quietly.
"Do you?" Marcus glanced at him. "Because from where I'm sitting, you just chose to face a scandal that could destroy everything. Your partnership. Your reputation. Avery's relationship with her mother. Are you really ready for that?"
"No. But I'm doing it anyway."
Marcus shook his head. "You're either the bravest man I know or the stupidest."
"Both, probably."
I leaned forward between the seats. "What about the law firm? What are they going to do?"
Marcus sighed. "Emergency partners meeting this afternoon. They'll decide whether to ask for Julian's resignation or just put him on leave while they investigate."
"Investigate what? We haven't done anything illegal."
"No. But you've done something that looks bad. Really bad. Senior partner having an inappropriate relationship with his stepdaughter?" Marcus grimaced. "Even if it's technically legal, it's a PR nightmare. Clients will leave. Other lawyers will question his judgment. The firm might decide he's not worth the trouble."
Julian's jaw clenched but he said nothing.
"I'm sorry," I whispered. "This is all my fault. If I hadn't sent that photo, hadn't pushed—"
"Don't." Julian turned to look at me. "None of this is your fault. We both made choices. We both have to live with them."
"But you're losing everything—"
"I'm not losing you. That's all that matters."
Marcus made a disgusted sound. "You two are either disgustingly romantic or totally insane. I can't decide which."
"Can't it be both?" I asked.
Despite everything, Julian smiled. Just a little. But it was there.
We pulled up to the house at seven AM. The same house where this had all started. Where Julian had caught me drunk with Derek. Where we'd confessed our feelings. Where everything had changed.
Now it was about to change again.
"I'll stay with you until Diane arrives," Marcus offered. "Moral support. Also to make sure nobody murders anybody."
"I appreciate that," Julian said.
Inside, the house felt different. Smaller. Like the walls were closing in.
"I need to shower," I said. "Change clothes. Try to look like someone who hasn't been held at gunpoint."
"Good idea." Julian looked at his watch. "Five hours and twenty minutes."
I went upstairs, feeling his eyes follow me the whole way.
The shower helped. Clean clothes helped. But nothing could calm the terror building in my chest.
My mother was coming home.
My mother, who I'd betrayed in the worst possible way.
My mother, who'd left me with Julian and trusted us both to behave appropriately.
My mother, who was about to find out her husband and daughter were in love.
I sat on my bed, wet hair soaking through my shirt, and tried not to cry.
A knock on my door.
"Avery? It's Marcus. Can I come in?"
"Yeah."
He entered, looking uncomfortable. "Julian's on the phone with the senior partners. It's not going well. I thought you might want some company."
"Thanks." I gestured to my desk chair. He sat.
"How are you holding up?"
"I'm terrified. You?"
"Same." He studied me. "Can I ask you something? And I need you to be honest."
"Okay."
"Do you really love him? This isn't just rebellion or daddy issues or—"
"It's not daddy issues." The words came out sharper than I meant. "My actual father died when I was seventeen. Julian became my stepfather three months later. He never tried to replace my dad. He was just... there. Stable. Kind. Safe."
"So when did it change?"
I thought about it. Really thought. "Maybe it didn't change. Maybe I always felt this way and just didn't have words for it. I was seventeen and grieving and he was the first person who made me feel okay again. Not better. Just okay." I looked at Marcus. "Is that wrong? That I fell for the man who helped me through the worst time of my life?"
"I don't know," he said honestly. "It's complicated."
"Everything about this is complicated."
"Does he make you happy?"
"Yes. When he's not torturing himself with guilt, yes. He makes me feel seen. Valued. Like I matter." My voice broke. "No one's ever looked at me the way Julian does."
Marcus was quiet for a long moment. Then: "For what it's worth? I think he loves you too. Really loves you. I've never seen him like this with anyone. Not even Diane."
"That doesn't make it right."
"No. But it makes it real."
Downstairs, I heard Julian's voice rising. Angry. Defensive.
The partners meeting wasn't going well.
Marcus stood. "I should get down there. Be his backup."
"Marcus? Thank you. For helping us. For not judging."
"Oh, I'm definitely judging. But you're still people I care about. So I'm helping anyway." He paused at the door. "Avery? Whatever happens with Diane? Don't let her make you feel like you're nothing. You're not a child. You're not a victim. You made a choice. Own it."
He left.
I sat alone in my room, watching the clock tick down.
Four hours.
Three.
Two.
At eleven AM, Julian knocked on my door.
"She landed early. She's in a car. She'll be here in twenty minutes."
My heart stopped. "Twenty minutes?"
"Avery, you don't have to be here for this. Marcus can take you to his place. Let me handle your mother—"
"No." I stood up. "We do this together. You said so."
"I don't want her to hurt you."
"She's going to hurt both of us. At least we face it together."
He looked at me for a long moment. Then he pulled me into a hug—the kind that felt like goodbye.
"I love you," he whispered into my hair. "No matter what happens. I love you."
"I love you too."
We went downstairs. Marcus was in the living room, looking grim.
"She just texted. Five minutes out. She's bringing someone with her."
"Who?" Julian asked.
"Her lawyer."
Oh God. This was really happening.
The five minutes felt like five seconds and five hours at the same time.
Then we heard it: a car in the driveway. Door slamming. Footsteps on the porch.
The front door flew open.
My mother stood there, and she looked nothing like the elegant woman I remembered. Her hair was messy. Her eyes were red. Her face was twisted with rage and grief.
Behind her was a man in an expensive suit carrying a briefcase. Her lawyer.
Diane's eyes found Julian first. Then me.
"You." Her voice shook. "Both of you."
"Diane—" Julian started.
"Don't. Don't you dare speak." She walked into the house like a storm. "I got photos. Videos. Messages. Everything. My ex-boyfriend, my own daughter, and my husband having some disgusting affair behind my back."
"Mom, it's not—"
"Not what? Not what it looks like?" She laughed, bitter and broken. "You were kissing him, Avery. Your stepfather. The man I married. The man who helped raise you."
"We didn't plan this—"
"I don't care!" Her scream echoed through the house. "You destroyed our family! Both of you!"
The lawyer stepped forward. "Mrs. Hawke, perhaps we should—"
"Shut up, Gerald." Diane turned back to us, and her expression was pure hatred. "I'm filing for divorce. Julian, you'll be hearing from my lawyers. You'll give me everything—the house, your assets, alimony. Everything."
"Fine," Julian said calmly. "Take it all."
That seemed to surprise her. "Fine? That's it? You're not going to fight?"
"No. You deserve the house. The money. All of it. I failed you as a husband. I'm not going to fight you in court too."
Diane stared at him, fury warring with confusion. "And her?" She pointed at me. "What about her?"
"That's between you two."
"No." Diane's voice dropped to something deadly. "You don't get to decide that. Avery is my daughter. She's twenty-three years old. She's confused, manipulated—"
"I'm not confused," I said firmly. "I'm not manipulated. I'm an adult who made a choice."
"A choice?" My mother looked at me like I was a stranger. "You chose to sleep with my husband?"
"We haven't slept together."
"Yet. You haven't slept together yet." She laughed bitterly. "But you want to. You love him. I saw it in the photos. The way you look at each other."
I couldn't deny it. "Yes. I love him."
The admission hung in the air.
My mother's face crumpled. "How long?"
"Six years," I whispered. "Since the beginning."
She staggered like I'd hit her. "Six years? You've been in love with my husband since you were seventeen?"
"I didn't want to be. I tried to stop. But I couldn't."
"And you?" She rounded on Julian. "You've been lusting after my teenage daughter this whole time?"
"Yes." He didn't flinch. "I hated myself for it. Fought it. But yes."
Diane looked between us, and something in her expression shifted. From rage to something colder. Calculating.
"Fine. You want each other? You can have each other." Her smile was poisonous. "But here's what's going to happen. I'm going to destroy you both. Julian, your law career is over. I'll make sure every client knows what you did. Avery, your reputation is finished. Everyone will know you seduced your stepfather. No decent family will want you near their sons. No employer will hire you. You'll be a scandal for the rest of your life."
"Mom—"
"I'm not your mom anymore." Her voice was ice. "You stopped being my daughter the moment you kissed my husband."
She turned to leave, then stopped.
"Oh, and one more thing." She looked back at us. "I wasn't having an affair in Milan. That photo Robert sent you? It was my gay colleague Giuseppe kissing me on both cheeks. European greeting. So congratulations—you destroyed our family based on a lie."
The floor dropped out from under me.
"What?" Julian breathed.
"I've been faithful this entire time. While you two were sneaking around, falling in love, I was in Milan working. Being loyal." Her smile was vicious. "So you don't even have that excuse. You're just selfish. Both of you."
She walked out, her lawyer following.
The door slammed.
Silence.
Julian and I stood in the wreckage of our lives, and I finally understood what we'd really done.
We'd destroyed an innocent woman.
For love.