My fingers tremble as I sit down, trying to steady my breathing.
✧
The screen lights up again, flooding with notifications: dozens of them.
Most are from Tyler. Missed calls, messages piling up, each one more frantic than the last.
✧
But it’s the single message from my father that freezes me.
I click it open.
✧
The police said you’re missing. That something happened to you. My dear Hazel, I’m begging you: please be safe. Please come home. I’ll do anything. I’ll stop drinking. I swear. Just… come back to me.
✧
The words blur before I even finish reading.
I press the phone to my chest, clutching it like a lifeline.
✧
Tears spill freely, hot and relentless, streaking down my face as a choked sound escapes my throat.
My whole body trembles.
✧
I try to type back, but there’s no
