CHAPTER 91 – Time of Death

After I took off the white dress, I stood under the shower longer than necessary, letting the water run over me like it could rinse the day away. It didn’t.When I came out, wrapped in a towel, I went straight to the closet and pulled on a black T-shirt and shorts.I stepped out of my room, not wanting to be alone with my thoughts.Jesse was already in the living room, sitting on the couch with a movie playing. He wasn’t really watching it. I could tell by the way his eyes stayed fixed on the screen without following anything.I sat beside him. We didn’t speak for a while, just two people sharing the same space, both too tired to pretend everything was normal.After a long stretch of silence, he finally spoke.“So… what’s next?” he asked. “Are you moving in with Cade?”“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “We’ll figure it out.”That was the end of the conversation.At some point, exhaustion caught up with me. I fell asleep right there on the couch, my body giving in after everything it ha

Last Updated : 2026-01-14

CHAPTER 92 – The Final Farewell

I couldn’t cry. I wanted to, but the tears wouldn’t come. Cade was next to me, breaking down in a way that made the air feel suffocating. His sobs came in heavy waves, his body shaking with grief so raw it felt like it might shatter him.But me? I just sat there. Empty.Everything felt too real, too final. This couldn’t be happening. My brain refused to accept it. Zayne was still here, somewhere, in a way that made this feel like a cruel joke.I somehow drove myself home. I didn’t want to be alone, but I also didn’t know how to face anyone. My body was on autopilot. I was in some sort of numb space, detached from everything.When I stepped inside, Jesse looked at me, and without a word, he knew. He didn’t ask me what happened. He just watched me walk to the couch. I sat there, my eyes fixed on nothing, feeling like I was being swallowed up by my own mind.Jesse sat quietly beside me, letting the minutes stretch into hours. No one needed to speak. At one point, I got up and went to my

Last Updated : 2026-01-15

CHAPTER 93 – Another Truth

I stared at him for a second too long.“What did you say?” I asked.Mice didn’t move. He repeated it slowly, like he knew my mind hadn’t caught up the first time.“I’m your father.”The words didn’t land. My first thought was that he’d said them to the wrong person.I thought of the man my mother had always called my father. The one who left. The one whose absence shaped everything. And now Mice was sitting in my living room, telling me he was my father.How?And why now?I pulled my legs closer, because suddenly they felt unreliable.“Why are you telling me this now?” I asked. My voice sounded steadier than I felt. “Why should I believe you? And where were you all these years?”He didn’t rush to answer.“You can ask your mother,” he said. “If you think I’m lying, ask her.”That alone made my stomach turn.“As for where I was,” he continued, “I didn’t know you existed.”I looked up sharply. “What?”“I didn’t,” he said. “Not until recently.”He told me the first time he saw me was on t

Last Updated : 2026-01-19

CHAPTER 94 – Trust Me a Little

I was already carrying too much, and Mice’s wife showing up at my doorstep was the last thing I needed.The moment she introduced herself, I knew she hadn’t come with good intentions. From the way she dressed to her body language, everything about her screamed confrontation.I considered walking past her. Closing the door. Pretending she didn’t exist.But curiosity won.“What do you want?” I asked.She didn’t answer right away. She just looked at me. Slowly. Like she was measuring me against something in her head.Then she smiled, not friendly.“I don’t care who you are,” she started. “Or what story you think you belong to.”I waited.“I’m here to make one thing clear,” she continued. “There’s no way in hell I’ll allow you to touch what belongs to my children. Their inheritance. Their future. I’ve worked too hard to let anyone ruin it.”I stood there and let her talk.She went on and on about bloodlines and legacy. Subtle threats slipped in between her words. Warnings about what happe

Last Updated : 2026-01-30

CHAPTER 95 – Watch Your Back

By the time I got into my car, my hands were already shaking.I slammed the door, locked it, then leaned forward until my forehead rested on the steering wheel.And that was it.The tears came.Not the small, manageable ones. The kind that make your chest hurt, your nose burn, your throat ache like you swallowed sand.I cried like I’d been holding my breath for weeks.Because I had.Zayne’s death hadn’t hit me like this. And that sounded cruel, even to me, but it was the truth. With Zayne, I went blank. I went numb. I turned into a body that moved and existed and did what was expected.But what Cade did, what he said, the way he looked at me…It cut through the numbness.It reminded me I was still alive enough to feel betrayal.I hated everything in that moment.Cade’s lack of trust. His approach to everything. How easily he believed the worst. How he sat there with anger in his eyes like I was the enemy.And I hated the version of me I’d become.I used to be broke, hustling, struggli

Last Updated : 2026-01-31

CHAPTER 96 – Leaving Quietly

I didn’t respond to Cade. I turned back to Zayne’s grave instead, drawing a slow breath, like I needed to pull myself together before I fell apart again. I had come here to say goodbye. Not to argue. Not to explain myself. And definitely not to stand there defending my pain.This moment wasn’t for Cade.It was for Zayne.Cade spoke again, his voice sharp behind me, asking what I was even doing there, like I had no right whatsoever to be there.I didn’t answer him.In my head, I spoke to Zayne instead.I have to go now, I told him silently. I didn’t expect him to show up here.I stood up slowly, brushed the dirt from my palms, and walked past Cade without looking at him.He reached out and grabbed my wrist.“Why?” he demanded, pulling me back.I looked down at his hand around my wrist, then calmly removed it.“You’re free to think whatever you want,” I said quietly. “I’m done explaining myself.”Then I walked away.I didn’t look back.I had packing to do.When I got home, the house was

Last Updated : 2026-02-01