When He Disappears Let Him Go Novels & Stories

Mom and Dad have been divorced for ten years. One day, I come across a discussion thread. "Are all children of divorce having it hard?" I join the discussion. "Not always. Personally, I'm living pretty decently. After my parents' divorce, my sister and I were separated—one of us went to live with our paternal grandparents, and the other with our maternal grandparents. "For the last ten years, my parents have visited me once a year. Although they usually only stay for a few days, I can tell that they still love me." Within a minute, someone replies to my comment. "Girl, are you sure? My parents are divorced as well, but they can't bear to leave me at all. I've been with them since I wa

‎The man who had vanished into the night like smoke. ‎I smoothed Elias’s hair back, forcing my voice steady. “Sleep, Eli. Just sleep. I’ve got you.” ‎He slipped under again, fingers going slack in mine. ‎I sat there for a long time, staring at the wall, feeling the walls of the trap close tighter. ‎Disappear, Aleksei had said. ‎But how do you disappear from a man who owns half the city? ‎How do you disappear from a man who has started to feel like the only solid thing in a world that keeps trying to drown you?

Then back to me. A slow smile creeps into his voice. “They’re coming,” he says, almost amused. Panic floods me again. He stands, stepping back. “No,” I try to say, but it comes out as a broken whisper. I don’t know why I’m saying it. Why I don’t want him to disappear like this. But before I can even understand it He moves. Fast. Too fast. By the time the door bursts open He’s gone. Like he was never there.

“I wasn’t. I couldn’t respond. I’ve been… out of contact with my device. Completely off-grid.” Off-grid? My brow furrowed, confusion mixing with relief. “I’m safe,” he added quickly, as though anticipating my panic. “I need you to know that first. I’m safe. Nothing’s happened to me. No one’s hurt me. I just… had to disappear for a while.” Disappear. The word echoed unpleasantly in my head. Why would anyone *have* to disappear?

I don’t know where he is taking me. I don’t know if anyone is coming. I don’t know if anyone even knows that I am gone. And as his hand closes around my wrist and he drags me farther into the darkness, all I can do is struggle, because I refuse to give up, even when my strength is slowly disappearing. “I said LET ME GO!”

I'm excited that he is also the last of everything. I had to forgive and let go in order to get my happy ending. I close my eyes and let sleep take over.

Instead, all Lauren received was my farewell letter. It was brief but cold. "Dear Lauren, you tricked me once, so I'm returning the favor. Goodbye forever. Don't look for me or think of me. "Sincerely, Cameron." When she read it, her anger and heartbreak overwhelmed her. She coughed up blood and collapsed on the spot. At that moment, she finally understood what it meant to be given hope, only to be left in despair. … As for me, I erased every trace of myself from San Havilon and removed all contacts. Once on the plane, a sense of finality washed over me. "Goodbye, Lauren."

The word feels obscene. “There is no please,” I tell him. “Not after everything.” He steps aside slowly. I walk past him without looking back, load the box into the trunk of my car, return for the next. He follows me like a shadow, silent now. On the third trip, he finally speaks again. “You don’t have to disappear.” I stop. Turn to him. “I’m not disappearing. I’m leaving.” “For good?” “For good,” I repeat. “From your family. From everything they touch.”

she repeats, leaving me with silence to process her words. “Right, I heard you, but I’m going to need a little more from you about that. Like gone as in he has gone to the bathroom or gone as in he is....” I swallow, my throat aching, muscles tense. The thought of him being gone, where I can never see him again, where I have to live in a world where he doesn’t exist. I swallow, licking my lips as my eyes slide shut, trying to control my emotions until I can get clever answers. “He has disappeared, Tate. Like he asked to be on border duty and no one has seen him since. He never checked in for routine check.”

“I am completely done hiding in the dark. I am done pretending to be the perfect son while my heart is breaking. I have my own money—plenty of it in my private accounts, enough to keep us safe and comfortable for a very long time. I have a plan, baby. We’re going to disappear far away for a while. Somewhere where nobody knows our names. Just you and me.” He glanced back at the road, his jaw set with a hard determination. “I know it’s completely crazy. I know our parents might never talk to us again or forgive us for what we just did. But I cannot live another single day without you, Maryann. I won’t do it.” Hot, sweet tears flooded my eyes, blurring my vision as I watched the trees line the