Baxt

d bronze, plummeted with terrifying speed. Its trajectory was undeniable: straight towards

ipped through the c

throwing her clear of the falling mass. He didn't have time to save himself. The chandelier crashed down, a deafening exp

re primal fear. Cinda, miraculously unharmed, lay sobbing on the floor, surrounded by brok

pulling me away from the danger. "Kylie! Are y

something akin to a primal fear for him gripped me. Despite everything,

aramedics rushed in, their movements swift and efficient. They stabilized Jax, his body covered in b

s. The waiting room was a sea of anxious faces. Cinda, her clothes torn and smudged, wept i

s, with fear, with the lingering stench of smoke and disas

essful. He has multiple fractures, a deep laceration to his arm, and a sev

ough the room. Mrs. Mathews broke int

er voice soft, "he saved her. He was so brave. Doesn't that... d

I thought of Jax, lying broken in that room, the man who had abandoned me twice, who had called my pain "drama," who had sys

lute. "It doesn't change anything. He st

lder. "She's right," he said, his voice firm. "We've seen enough. If this is

napped up

is face. "Your grandmother's house needs fixing up a

k, were giving me not just their blessing, but their presence. They were uprooting their li

, embracing them both tig

, now felt like a launching pad. I

d a lifetime of memories. I kept my distance from Jax, though I heard updates from mutual friends. He

t to Mrs. Mathews. She was sitting in

e you really going? Please, don't leave. Jax

hews, I truly wish I could. But I can't. It'

r something? He's a good boy, Kylie. He just got confused." She pulled out her phone, her fingers f

, her face falling. "He... he hung up. He said he's too busy with Cinda. He said she needs

eart heavy with a genuine sadness for her. She was a kind woman, caught in the crossfi

brimming with unshed tears.

pain and so many broken dreams, I pressed my face against the window. Below, San Francisco twinkled like a distant, fading memory. I fel

hand, but his eyes were distant, unfocused. He had done the "right thing," saved his sister. But an inexplicable emptiness gnawed at him. Kylie

I need to confirm Kylie Baxter's enrollment," he told the clerk, his voice conf

d up, her brow furrowed. "Kylie Baxter? I'm sorry, sir. There's no one by that name enr

ot show up." He remembered the shredded letter he' d glimpsed, the signe

her number. It rang once, twice, then a robotic voice cut