Contents
Chapter 12
Overview
At the dock bar, West tends Skylar’s injury and opens up about why his relationship with Mia failed. Skylar reveals her parents’ divorce and financial betrayal. When tabloids strike again, West throws her phone and challenges a week offline, forcing a reset. Back alone, Skylar unravels and faces raw anger.
Summary
On the dock, West presses cold beer cans to Skylar’s swollen nose and keeps her grounded with calm attention. Their banter shifts serious as West explains why he and Mia split—no friendship, mismatched lifestyles, and a commitment to respectful co-parenting. Skylar counters with her own crisis: her parents’ looming divorce and the revelation that her earnings and rights were funneled into a company she barely owns.
A fresh tabloid alert about her bloody-nose incident spikes Skylar’s anxiety. West takes her phone to block the spiral, then hurls it into the lake, insisting she deserves better than being treated as an object. In the heated aftermath, West admits he likes her enough to be honest; he names the fierceness in her “wild eyes” and dares her to go a week without a phone.
Skylar tacitly accepts the challenge, unsettled by how seen she feels. They finish their drinks in tense quiet, the unspoken shift between them clear: West will steady her, but on terms that protect both of them and the kids.
Back at the bunkhouse, Skylar crashes into a private meltdown—pacing, cursing, and wrestling with panic and fury—until Cherry the parrot mirrors her swears and breaks the spiral. As her breathing steadies, a mouse scampers over her feet, and Skylar screams, ending the chapter on raw, chaotic emotion.
Who Appears
- Skylar StoneSongwriter under tabloid fire; reveals parents’ divorce and lost earnings; suffers panic; accepts West’s no-phone dare; breaks down alone.
- Weston (West) BelmontTrainer and single dad; tends Skylar’s injury, shares Mia backstory, throws her phone, challenges a week offline, steadies her.
- Skylar’s fatherTexts about managing her career and appearance, highlighting control and emotional neglect.
- CherrySkylar’s foul-mouthed parrot; echoes her anger and unintentionally helps defuse her panic.