Chapter 8
That year is burned into my memory, like being swept up in an avalanche, tumbling endlessly through the blinding snow. Suddenly, someone grabbed hold of me, pulled me out of that nightmare, and held on tight, patting my back gently to calm me down.
Terrified, I bit his hand, not realizing what I was doing. He cried out in pain but never let go. I eventually blacked out, and from that moment on, our lives veered off in different
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directions.
But fate, it seems, had other plans for me. After all those twists and turns, somehow, the right person found his way back to me.
He held me close, his voice thick with emotion as he said, “You hurt me with that bite. You owe me big time.”
I laughed, wrapping my arms around him. “Alright, I’ll take responsibility,” I said softly.
From that day forward, our relationship grew in ways I couldn’t have imagined. We were like a couple caught up in the thrill of new love, inseparable and deeply content. For a long while, Alex and Elijah stayed out of the picture, and life finally felt peaceful.
Then, one day, as William and I were curled
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up on the couch watching TV, my phone rang out of nowhere.
I answered, and a frantic voice on the other end cried, “It’s terrible! Alex and Elijah are threatening to jump off a building! The media is livestreaming the whole thing right now!”
I frowned, feeling an immediate surge of irritation. This was a twisted attempt to manipulate me through public spectacle. William’s worried eyes were on me, his reluctance for me to go written all over his
face.
I leaned over, kissed his cheek, and said,
“Don’t worry. I won’t let them get to me. Wait for me here–I‘ ll be back soon.
وو
When I arrived at the building, cameras flashed from every angle, and reporters
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someone else? Don’t you think it’s irresponsible to toy with people’s emotions
like this?”
I took a deep breath, incredulous at his words, and met his gaze firmly. * “As a journalist, don’t you think it’s irresponsible to make judgments without knowing the full story? Where’s your professional integrity? I’m here to solve a problem, not to feed your twisted narrative.”
The reporter’s face went pale, and I brushed past him, heading up the stairs without another glance.
When I reached the rooftop, Alex and Elijah stood near the edge, smirking like they‘ d won some game. Alex took a step forward, calling out with a smug grin. “Nina! I knew
vou still cared about mel”
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When I reached the rooftop, Alex and Elijah stood near the edge, smirking like they‘ d won some game. Alex took a step forward, calling out with a smug grin. “Nina! I knew you still cared about me!”
“Yes, Nina,” Elijah chimed in, his tone laced with arrogance. “You still love us, don’t you?”
I clenched my fists, feeling a surge of bitter irony. They had driven me away, yet they were practically begging me to return.
Why couldn’t they just let go?
It was like people only realized love‘ s value when it was slipping through their fingers when the pain they‘ d inflicted finally came back around.
The emotions I’d buried for so long came
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when the pain they’d inflicted finally came. back around.
The emotions I’d buried for so long came flooding to the surface. Without thinking, I marched forward, grabbed each of them by the collar, and slapped them hard.
“Why?” I shouted, my voice echoing into the cold, open air. “Why should I have to come and go on your terms? Time may dull the memories, but the scars, the shadows- they‘ re forever. You brush off my pain, handing out empty apologies like they‘ re supposed to fix everything.”
Tears blurred my vision, but I kept my eyes locked on theirs, my voice trembling with the weight of all the hurt and anger they’d left me with.
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weight of an the nun anu anger they me with.
They were stunned, caught completely off guard by my outburst. Slowly, they stepped back from the edge, looking genuinely remorseful for the first time.
“We’re sorry, Nina,” Alex murmured, his voice softer, almost sincere. “I didn‘ t realize just how much we’d hurt you. We’re really sorry for how we’ve treated you all this time.”
Elijah reached out, hand lifted as if to wipe away my tears, but I instinctively stepped back, putting space between us.
Just then, out of nowhere, a figure stumbled forward. It was a woman, her clothes
disheveled, her face streaked with tears, and her eyes bloodshot and wild.
