the floor when

he sound was an intrusion, a connection to

d faded into a low murmur, then silence. The sky outside wa

ad burned away everything else, leaving behind a stra

I finally reached for it, my moveme

n calling for an hour." He

n voice sounded distant, like

He fell down a flight of stairs. He' s at St. Ma

ry sense of inevitability. Of course this would h

y,"

ung

door. It was locked from the outsid

gainst the wood. "Mark! Mark, I need t

uest room. Footsteps. The l

a silk robe, his hair dish

ll is all the

ospital. I have to go,"

, it' s five in the morning. Your father is proba

Mark. My aunt c

or this. We have a breakfast meeting with the bo

d to clos

rd felt foreign in my mouth. I h

readable in his eyes. It wasn't sympathy. It was more

y. He closed the door

back to the guest room. I didn't knock again. I didn

ne buzzed again. It w

heart gave out. I' m so s

to my ear, list

thought pushed its w

o

, so monstrous, that it fel

my head whispered. And so

k room. I was laughing at the absurdity, the sheer, tragic comedy of it all.

n me. I was becoming a

y a cold resolve. I had to get out. Not ju

looked a narrow service balcony, twenty stori

set. I didn't take anything of value. No jewelry, no designer clothes. I took my wallet, my phone, and

the narrow ledge, my back pressed against the cold brick. I didn't look

d back inside, my heart pounding. The apartment was sile

silent on the marble floor. I slipped o

ssed the button for the elevator, the doo

neighborhood, long before Mark and his millions. He was a successful entrepreneur h

see me, standing there

full of genuine concern. It was a sound I

we' d only had brief, polite conversations in the hallway. Mark hated him, saw him as a reminder of a past he wante

I' ve seen... other things. The way he talks to you." He hesitated. "I just want

ent, I was tempted. So tempted to just break down, to

f my brother. Of the cage that love and obl

r potential chain. A kind one, to be sure, bu

voice as empty as I felt. "But

father, for my helpless brother, for kind-hearted Ethan. I was tired of being tangled u

one. I wanted to be no

rrived. The do

to go,"

ound floor, leaving him standing there in the hall

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