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chapter 59

Author: muse
last update Last Updated: 2025-04-18 08:32:22

Later that evening, the weight of the message still hung heavy in my chest.

“E.”

It was just a single letter, but it had shaken something loose inside me—a distant memory, a flicker of something unresolved. I kept trying to brush it off, tell myself it was nothing, maybe a prank or an old contact resurfacing with the worst timing imaginable. But deep down, I knew better.

Still, I needed a moment to breathe. A break from pretending. From questions. From my spinning thoughts.

So, I pushed the message out of my mind, tucked it into the mental box labeled ‘Do Not Open Unless Necessary’, and did what I should’ve done weeks ago—I called my dad.

The phone rang twice before I heard his voice, gruff but familiar. “Evelyn?”

“Hi, Dad,” I said, the word catching slightly in my throat. “It’s me.”

There was a pause, long enough for guilt to twist inside my stomach. Then a heavy sigh came through the line. “Took you long enough.”

“I know,” I whispered. “I’m sorry. I’ve been… all over the place latel
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