NAH

sharpened my senses, cleared my head. I wasn't a victim anymore. I was a witn

g to the coast to mourn a ghost. I knew he was goi

the steering wheel so tightly my knuckles were white. He wasn't heading towards the ocean.

cient trees. I parked my car on the shoulder of the main road, hidden from view,

ansion, all glass and white stone, overlooking a vineyard that str

n the manicured grass, and hid behind a large, ornate founta

ere th

Caleb was there. And my parents, Ro

, was on his hands and knees in the grass, letting his grandson ride on hi

d come to my school's family day. "Hannah," he'd said, patting my hand condescending

od. I had alwa

ld he had kept secret from me, I finally understood the truth. It was ne

ly decorated cake. "Happy fifth birthday, my darling Caleb!" she sang

told me Morgan died. They had repl

I was the inconvenient truth they had to manage, the pri

fectly sculpted rose bushes, the thorns diggi

day, David," my mother said, b

lied smoothly, sliding her arm around m

shared history I could never be a

oked at Morgan, his eyes soft. "Just a little longer, I promise. After the merger goes throug

s lit up. "Y

worried someone might be listening even here, in their secluded paradise.

't be a

anaged. An obstacle on their path to happiness. Every promise, every "I love you," ever

d began to back away, my movements clumsy with pain. I was so focused on their voices, on the

letting out a small, sharp

tion on the

the roses, my heart ham

dy went tense, all traces of the doting fath

s scanning the manicured gardens, peering d

voice cutting through the silenc