I CRY TEARS OF GOLD

◈THE NEXT MORNING◈

The house felt unbearably heavy from the moment I stepped into the hallway with my school bag hanging over my shoulder. My father's furious voice exploded through the living room suddenly, freezing me in place before I could take another step.

"How dare you," he roared while my mother stood facing him with trembling hands and tear-filled eyes.

"You brought another woman into our home," she fired back despite the shaking in her voice. "You slept with her in our bed while our children were under the same roof."

My father's face darkened instantly, still locked in her gaze.

"You have no shame left anymore," she continued while tears streamed down her cheeks. "Xavier lost his hearing because we could not afford proper treatment, and while I kept trying to hold this family together, all you cared about was another woman."

The slap came so suddenly that my entire body jerked violently at the sound of it.

“Mom!” Xavier’s scream tore through the room as he ran to her, collapsing beside her body. His hands shook violently as he grabbed her shoulders, desperate, refusing to accept what lay before him. I moved slower, my legs heavy, my heartbeat pounding so hard it hurt. By the time I reached them, blood had already spread across the floorboards beneath her like a crimson shadow. 

My trembling fingers brushed against her arm, and the coldness of her skin sent something sharp tearing through my chest. I looked up at my father, expecting rage, but the fury that had twisted his face moments ago was gone, replaced by fear, regret, and shock all crashing together in his eyes.

The memory shattered violently, throwing me back into the present as a broken breath escaped me. Xavier’s arms wrapped around my side while we both stared at the photograph in silence, another tear slipping down my cheek before I could stop it.

“You promised you’d stay with us,” I whispered, my voice cracking under the weight of it. “Momma... where are you now?”

My throat tightened painfully as the grief I had been trying to suppress finally overwhelmed me. “If tears could bring you back, I’d drown this world with them,” I choked out before a sob escaped my chest. “But they can’t... and you’re gone.”

I lowered my forehead against Xavier’s hair as my shoulders trembled uncontrollably. Her smile flashed through my mind for one fleeting second before another face replaced it. Jace.

The way he looked at me had been soft, intense, dangerously gentle in a way that still unsettled me.

My chest ached painfully as I lifted my tear-blurred gaze back toward her picture. “How am I supposed to love anyone when love destroyed you?” I whispered brokenly. “I miss you, Mom.”

******

✦ CRIMSON’S POV ✦

◈ SILAS HOUSE ◈

Silas Dragunov sat at the center of it all, relaxed against a massive sofa like a king resting inside his den. One man stood behind him while two guarded the corners of the room, and a half-filled wine glass rested on the table beside a cigarette pack and a gun placed within easy reach.

His eyes lifted slowly to mine, cold, and predatory.

“You are before...”

“Silas Dragunov,” I interrupted smoothly, my voice cool enough to freeze the air between us.