The One-Legged Bride and The Hidden Billionaire

leg hitting the pavement is

Click.

ff the buildings like a drumbeat marking the st

dy here. I can

in my chest as I s

metown are quiet this morning

the biggest decision of my life, and someho

forward

k. C

ter, my heart thu

iac

en caught doing something I was not

mother, standing across the street with

It is the one she always gives me when I a

calm, too calm, as if she already

y, trying to sound casual, b

row. "And what is 'out' s

ht of her gaze, the invisible

in the pit of my stomach, li

ys expecting more. Always waitin

" I mutter, my words b

You are never going

an they should, but I am n

trol, before she sees the tears t

look back

Click

oring the sudden ti

ed t

round me, oblivious to t

icing me, as if I am just

verything I have ever known. No one ca

iac

ice again, sh

ster, Vanessa. Her tone is full of concern, th

op. I do not turn to face h

e I can feel the weight of my mothe

she asks, her

talk to her. I

, I'm

ent, just the sound of the

waiting for me to say something, anyth

out this," Vanessa says. I ca

the world drown her out for a second.

life. I cannot be the pe

erate. I finally turn to face her, and her eyes are

you saying

ng. I need to find something for myself. So

per than I intend, but

her lips parting as if

eyes; eyes that still think I am her little sister, the one who

" she finally says, the words

from everything and be fine? You wi

her, tell her she do

llow the frustratio

," I say quietly. "At le

see the hurt in her eyes, but I cannot bac

n you," she mutters befor

Click

e, feeling a strange mix of relie

not with the expect

eathe. I nee

p wal

front of the bus station

, the words Tickets Sold Here blinking in my face.

hands shaking as I scrol

everything else is a blur. I cannot go

r of its engine making my heart race.

f leaving. The uncertainty. Th

uncertainty i

, my leg clicking lou

ide. The air inside is cool, a stark

quick look, but he d

find an empty seat by t

g. I do not know what I am do

hind me, and the b

ss my forehead against the window, watc

ears, I feel like I am