The door closes behind Brad with a soft click. It shouldn’t hurt. Not after everything. Not after eighteen years of silence. Not after the way he looked at me, cold, distant, like I was nothing but a tool he’d outgrown.
But it does. It hurts so much I can barely breathe. The basement feels colder after he leaves. The shadows heavier. The air tighter. I press my forehead against my knees, trying to hold myself together, but the dam finally breaks. A sob rips out of me. Then another. And another.
I’ve held on for so long, for Drake, for Raven, for the tiny sliver of hope that someone would come but Brad’s words shatter something inside me.
You were always part of my plan.
I needed your magic.
Now I have Raven.
I squeeze my eyes shut, tears burning hot trails down my cheeks. He didn’
