LOGINThe memory hits me without warning.I'm back in the car. The rain is pounding on the roof like fists, like the sky is trying to break through, like the world is trying to end. The wipers can't keep up. The headlights are blinding. The road is slick and unforgiving. My hands are gripping the steering wheel. My knuckles are white. My heart is racing. My breath is shallow. My mind is spinning. My soul is screaming. My body is frozen. My vision is blurring."Ava?"I blink. Ethan is in front of me. His hands are on my face. His eyes are searching mine. His voice is pulling me back from the edge, from the darkness, from the past, from the nightmare."Ava, where did you go? You were gone. You were somewhere else. You were lost. You were far away. You were drowning. You were dying. You were disappearing.""The accident," I whisper. "I was back there. I was in the car. I was reliving it. I was dying again. I was losing everything again. I was losing our baby again."He pulls me close. His arms
The truth of the accident still hangs in the air like smoke that won't clear.Ethan is still on his knees. His hands are still holding mine. His eyes are still wet. His face is still pale. His heart is still broken. His soul is still bleeding. His world is still spinning. His life is still unraveling. His hope is still flickering."I was pregnant," I say.He freezes. His whole body goes still. His breath catches. His heart stops. His world tilts. His life changes. His reality shifts. His eyes widen. His hands tremble."What? What did you say? What did you just say? Say it again. I need to hear it again. I need to make sure I heard you right. I need to be sure.""Before the accident. Before everything fell apart. Before I left. I was pregnant. I was going to tell you that night. I was going to tell you everything. I was going to give you the world."He stares at me. His face is white. His hands are shaking. His eyes are wide. His soul is shattered. His hope is dying. His heart is break
The afternoon sun streams through the window, but the room feels cold.Ethan is still holding me. His arms are still tight. His heart is still racing. His breath is shallow. His hands are shaking. His whole body is trembling. His soul is bleeding. His world is crumbling. His life is falling apart. His truth is pouring out."The truth hurts," he says."What truth? What are you talking about? What truth could possibly hurt more than everything we've already been through?""The truth about everything. About my father. About Vanessa. About the years we lost. About the accident. About the lies. About the betrayal. About the murder. About the man he really was. About the monster he hid from everyone."I pull back. Look at him. His eyes are dark. His face is pale. His jaw is tight. His hands are cold. His voice is breaking. His heart is exposed. His soul is naked. His mask is gone."Tell me. Tell me everything. Don't leave anything out. I need to know. I deserve to know. I've been in the dar
The morning after the revelation, Ethan is quiet.He sits at the kitchen table. His coffee is cold. He hasn't touched it. He hasn't moved. He's been staring at the same spot on the wall for an hour. His face is empty. His eyes are hollow. His soul is shattered. His heart is bleeding. His world is collapsing. His hope is fading. His spirit is crushed. His life is unraveling. His everything is falling apart. His mind is racing."Ethan?"He looks up. His eyes are hollow. His face is pale. His hands are still. His soul is broken. His heart is bleeding. His world is collapsing. His spirit is crushed. His life is falling apart. His everything is gone. His future is uncertain. His past is haunting him."I never loved her," he says."Who? Who are you talking about?""Vanessa. I never loved her. I thought I did. I thought I was moving on. I thought I was healing. I thought I was putting the pieces back together. I thought I was finally whole. I thought I was finally free. I thought I was final
Vanessa finds me in the living room.Her face is pale. Her hands are shaking. She looks like she's seen a ghost. She looks like she's been carrying a weight she can no longer bear. She looks like she's finally ready to set it down. She looks like she's been waiting for this moment for years. She looks like she's been holding her breath and is finally ready to exhale. She looks like she's been waiting for forgiveness. She looks like she's been waiting for freedom."Ava, I found something. Something you need to see. Something I should have told you a long time ago. Something I've been hiding from. Something I've been running from. Something I've been afraid to face. Something I've been ashamed of. Something I've been carrying alone.""What? What is it? You look like you've seen a ghost. You're white as a sheet. You're shaking. You're scared. What happened? What did you find? What have you been hiding?""The engagement. It was fake. All of it. The whole thing was a lie. Every moment of i
Vanessa is in the kitchen when I walk in.She's drinking coffee. Her face is calm. Too calm. The kind of calm that comes from holding onto something you're not ready to share. The kind of calm that comes from sitting on a secret that's too heavy to speak. The kind of calm that comes from knowing something everyone else doesn't. The kind of calm that comes from carrying a truth that could change everything. The kind of calm that comes from being on the edge of a revelation. The kind of calm that comes from having the power to expose the truth. The kind of calm that comes from being the one who holds the key."You're up early," I say."I couldn't sleep. Too much on my mind. Too many thoughts circling around. Too many questions without answers. Too many possibilities. Too many what-ifs. Too many scenarios playing out in my head. Too many outcomes to consider.""Neither could Ethan. He's been pacing all night. I could hear him through the walls. Back and forth, back and forth. He's wearin
The house in the hills smells like dust and forgotten things.Vanessa's mother's house. Old lace curtains. Yellowed photographs. A piano no one plays anymore."There's coffee in the kitchen," Vanessa says. "There's also a gun in the drawer next to the coffee. Don't touch it unless you need it."I s
The black SUV has been behind us for forty-seven miles.Same plates. Tinted windows. Always three car lengths back."You're sure it's Vanessa?" I ask.Mason's knuckles are white on the steering wheel. "I recognize the driver. He works for her father.""Her real father? The truck driver?""Her real
Morning light cuts through the bedroom windows like a blade.I'm alone in his bed.The sheets smell like him. Cedar. Ice. Something darker underneath.My dress hangs on the closet door. Red. Wrinkled. Evidence."Ethan?"No answer.The bathroom is empty. The shower is cold. His toothbrush is gone.I
His mouth is on my neck.Teeth. Tongue. Three years of hunger."I've dreamed about this," he says against my skin."How many times?""Every night.""Liar.""Count the nightmares, Thompson. That's how many."His hands slide under my dress. Find bare skin. No underwear. Just like Mason said."You pla







