Chapter 4

"Let go of him!"

I did not let go. I held on to Jett as tightly as I could. At that moment, only one thought filled my head. I was going to shut his lying mouth for good and make sure he never spread another word of his garbage.

"Hails!" Jett shouted.

The next second, a hand shoved hard against my shoulder. It was Hailey.

I toppled sideways, and my foot missed the step. The back of my head slammed against the edge of a stair, and then I tumbled down the staircase like a rag doll.

Chaos filled my ears. The neighbors cried out in alarm. Jett was wailing, and Hailey was shouting. Over and over came the dull thud of my body hitting the stairs.

As the world spun around me, the last thing I saw was Hailey's back as she stood shielding Jett.

After that, everything went black.

…

When I woke up again, I was in the hospital.

The fluorescent light overhead stung my eyes, and the smell of disinfectant filled my nose and left my throat raw. I tried moving my fingers.

The hospital room was empty. Hailey was not there, and neither was anyone else I knew.

Just then, a nurse pushed the door open. When she saw that I was awake, she looked visibly relieved.

"Oh, thank goodness you're finally awake! Do you have any idea how bad this is? You needed six stitches in the back of your head, you've got a fractured shoulder blade, and don't even get me started on all the cuts and scrapes. How could you be so careless?"

She kept fussing as she changed my bandages, her tone scolding yet full of sympathy.

I only lay there, staring blankly at the ceiling. I did not shed a single tear. Maybe this was what it meant to be too heartbroken to cry.

After a while, I asked the nurse to hand me my phone. The screen lit up with dozens of unread messages, all from Hailey and Jett.

[Jake, I'm out of money. Send me 2,000.]

[Why aren't you answering me?]

[If you don't send me money right now, I'm done calling you my brother!]

Then came Jett's.

[If you don't clean your junk out of the hallway, I'm throwing it all out.]

[Hear me?]

[Fine. Don't say I didn't warn you.]

I read through them one by one. The soul-crushing pain I had felt at first was gone. All that remained was a cold numbness.

To her, it did not matter that I had been pushed down the stairs or rushed to the hospital. What mattered was that I had not sent her money yet. What mattered was that my things were in her way.

I opened Hailey's contact, blocked her, and deleted her number. Then I opened Jett's and did the same.

Once that was done, I called my boss. He picked up almost immediately.

"Hey, about that out-of-state assignment you mentioned before. I'll take it."

I had never dared to say yes before. The city was far away, and the assignment would last at least two years. I was afraid that if I went that far, I would not be able to look after Hailey.

I worried she would not eat well, that people would take advantage of her, and that without anyone keeping an eye on her, she would go down the wrong path.

Now, though, I was no longer afraid. I was not even worried anymore.

On the other end, my boss sounded pleasantly surprised. "Jake, you finally came around! You know the pay out there is three times what you're making here. If you're in, I'll have HR start the paperwork right away."

After I hung up, I looked up my landlord's number and sent a text: [Hi, I won't be renewing the lease on the apartment. Feel free to start looking for a new tenant.]

Once the message went through, I stared at the screen for a long time. It felt as though something inside me had finally snapped, and I felt lighter at last.

Three days later, HR let me know the paperwork had been approved. I packed up everything that same day, and with my suitcase in tow, I left the city I had lived in for 24 years.

…

That night, the doorbell rang at the apartment.

Hailey cursed under her breath, tossed her phone aside, and went to answer it. "Who is it?"

It was the landlord. He looked Hailey up and down, then motioned the movers to step in. "The lease is up. Get everything out of here and toss it!"

Hailey and Jett both froze on the spot.