ie's
e wound. it was from the soft echo of Calhoun's footsteps fading, his tall fram
that. He
e whispering, their eyes darting at me in pity, but I couldn't bear to look at them. I hated their stares, hated the way they remi
and mop leaned. My hands shook violently as I grabbed them, the wooden handle diggin
t the mess through blurred eyes. My body was trembling, dizziness clawing at my head until I
a gentle voice
around me, while anoth
, her voice shaking with guilt. She knelt,
and saw her carrying that broth. The steam was rising off it. If
chest heaving, b
y would she throw it like that? That wasn't an accident. That was. that was almost l
. My stoma
now, dancing to Carmela's tune. She's the real ruler of this place. And we all know it, if any of us
hrough me deeper tha
ou," I w
ft with sympathy, and nodded. "C
s, past the whispers, pas
epped out of the ro
They accused me, pointed their fingers, tried to humiliate me in front of everyone. My hands had shaken, my words
ad growled, his voice like thunder. "You fault her,
ed. And Calhoun. Calhoun had turned his face toward me, his expr
ken. Defiant. Protecting me with a
it meant something. That maybe. just may
reathe through the ache of k
y stupid I mu
t his property, not m
, or that Calhoun didn't even blink before believing her. Not a single question. Not even a flicker
hattered r
st? Just once? Even half of w
aningless in his world, a
building, I was nothing more than a hollow shell. I didn't even remember w
I would crumble if she held me too tightly. When the car arrived,
" she whispered, her eyes heavy with
roat too raw to form words,
ke it was the only thing tethering me. I left it by the door the secon
. It was sharp, too sharp, stinging the b
amp skin. I didn't care that my hair was dripping, that my bed would get
t to crawl into bed, m
t into my stomach whe
lh
, ready to swipe and answer, desperate to hear his voice ev
st tightened when I saw the message pop up on my screen
I had become, I slipped into another wear, tied my hair up with trembling hands, and left my apartment. My
prepared. A wave of nausea slammed into me the mome
ng was d
little bonsai tree I had planted with his grandfather before the old man passed. gone.
t. Expensive handbags and shoes scattered at every corner, perfumes linin
ropped so
greeting. Without a word, he plucked the bag from my hand, rummaging through it. Only whe
rrowing. "Your injuries look ter
rd. Slowly, I
lways does. It wasn't because she wanted to hurt you, alright? She's just. she's just having a rough
could stop it. "That won't be necessary,
because you need to be strong. You'll be putting togeth
them. My lips parted, but no sound came out. My
was about to speak again, but then a
al
her face twisted-pure venom flashing in her eyes. But the second Calhoun turned toward her, she s
"I'm feeling pain all over my body, Ca
mach l
gentle. "Don't hurt your feet. Go lay on the bed. I'll get
hispered, smi
er-while all I ever got was indifference. I remembered the night I almost broke a tooth from clenching down against the stress, the day
leave form.
No call. N
imper was all it
p it. I turned and walked out, my legs carrying me like they didn't belong to me anymore. A
t one t
/1/110682/coverbig.jpg?v=0a07f9693f4a8af55f32f5ad1eb9ca97&imageMogr2/format/webp)