May We Never Meet Again

Charlotte's POV“Charlotte, your sister and Nathan are engaged now.”My father’s voice landed heavily in the living room, calm and detached, as though he were announcing something trivial. He sat on the couch, one leg crossed over the other, cigarette between his fingers. Smoke curled lazily into the air, filling my lungs, making it hard to breathe, as if the house itself was rejecting me.Beside him sat my mother, Megan Dean, her posture straight, her eyes sharp, already waiting for me to react. Waiting for tears. For protest. For drama.“Stop bothering Nathan,” my father continued coldly. “I’ve already bought you a plane ticket abroad.”He leaned forward and slid the ticket across the glass table toward me. The sound it made felt louder than it should have, slicing through the silence. “You’ll stay there for a few years. Don’t come back until your sister’s wedding is over.”I stood there, unmoving. My mind felt distant, as if I were watching the scene from outside my body, like a s

I woke up to a sharp sting in my head, the kind that makes your whole body feel heavy. For a few seconds, I couldn’t remember where I was. The white ceiling above me felt strange, too bright, and too empty. Then the pain in my arm dragged the memories back one after another.A soft voice pulled me out of my thoughts.“You’re finally awake.”A nurse was standing beside the bed, relief written on her face. I tried to speak, but my throat felt like sandpaper.“You’ve been unconscious for two days,” she continued. “Your parents and brother-in-law are in the next room taking care of your sister. I’ll go call them over.”“No…” I whispered, though even that whisper felt like it scraped my insides. “No need.”She didn’t understand the weight behind those words.They wouldn’t want to see me. And I don’t want to see them either.I kept that part inside me.The nurse moved closer and held out a crutch. “Let’s take you for a checkup.”I forced myself to stand. My legs trembled as my weight settl

I woke up to a voice shouting, sharp and familiar, the kind that always found me even when I tried to hide inside sleep. My head throbbed, my chest felt tight, and before I fully opened my eyes, my mother’s voice cut through the room like a blade.At first, I thought it was another dream. Since the accident, sleep had been cruel to me. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw water, felt my lungs burn, felt myself sinking while someone watched and walked away. But the voice didn’t fade. It grew louder, sharper, cutting through my head until I could no longer pretend I was still asleep.“Charlotte, do you even know what you’ve done?”My eyes opened slowly. The hospital room felt too bright, too quiet apart from my mother’s voice. My head was wrapped in thick bandages, my body heavy and weak, like it no longer belonged to me. Standing beside my bed were my parents. My mother stood closest, arms folded tightly across her chest, anger sitting comfortably on her face. My father stood a litt

Dr. Harrison turned back to face Nathan, his steps slow, his brows drawn together in concern. The atmosphere in the room had shifted completely. What had started as a tense conversation now felt like a ticking bomb. He could sense it clearly, the way everyone’s breathing had changed, the way Megan’s fingers were clenched too tightly at her sides, the way Johnson refused to meet his eyes.Dr. Harrison opened his mouth, then hesitated. He was a doctor, trained to speak the truth plainly, but even he could tell this was not a normal family matter. Still, he inhaled, steadying himself.“Mr. Mills,” he began carefully, “there is something important I need to—”The door flew open, cutting the doctor off.Celine walked in.She was dressed neatly, her hair perfectly arranged despite having supposedly been “traumatised.” Her steps were confident, measured, carrying her usual air of dominance. The moment she entered, her sharp eyes swept across the room, taking everything in within seconds.

A few days later, the house was unusually quiet.Charlotte sat alone in the living room, the curtains half drawn, the late afternoon light spilling softly across the carpet. In her hands was a small stack of photographs, slightly worn at the edges, corners bent from how often she had looked at them. Her fingers trembled as she flipped through them one after the other.There they were.Her and Nathan.Smiling. Laughing. Close.One picture showed them sitting side by side in a hospital room, her head resting lightly on his shoulder while he pretended to be annoyed. Another caught a moment where he had leaned forward to wipe something off her lips, his eyes focused only on her. There was one she loved the most, taken secretly, where he was looking at her the way people only look when they are deeply in love, unaware that the world could ever turn cruel.She swallowed hard.Back then, she had planned everything. She remembered lying awake at night, rehearsing the words she would say o