Sinclair Ashes

Chapter 4: Gone Without Goodbye

Lily’s Pov

Three months later

It has been three months since the night Ava vanished. Three months since her car exploded on that lonely road, lighting up the sky.

Three months since the world decided she was gone- and I couldn’t accept it.

Every day I hoped to see her walk through that door with her bright smile and tell me about her day. Since the day she disappeared, I won’t say dead because I know my Ava is alive.

Anyways I was saying since the day she disappeared I moved into the Sinclair household just to feel closer to Ava. Her so called father didn’t seem to have a problem with it because he just doesn’t care. He is too busy being a father to Sophie.

I sat on the edge of the bed, the morning sun bleeding through the curtains like it had every day since. But nothing felt warm anymore. The Sinclair estate buzzed with preparations – flowers, gowns, rehearsals. The wedding of Sophie and Dominic was just weeks away, and the air was thick with celebration.

But none of it felt real.

Because Ava was missing. And they were pretending like she never existed.

Sometimes I wonder if I imagined her. If my memories of her laughter, her stubbornness, the way her eyes lit up she talked about her mother.

I sometimes find myself remembering the events of that night and they keep replaying in my mind.

Flashback…..

The air reeked of gasoline and smoke. Red and blue lights painted the trees as the police blocked the road with tape, their voices firm, and their expressions unreadable.

When I got to the scene it was too late, her car was engulfed in flames, the twisted metal glowing orange beneath the fire. The heat radiated across the road, and still I tried to push forward.

“Ava!” I screamed, shoving past an officer.

“Let me through!”

A strong arm grabbed me, pulling me back. “You can’t go over there. It’s not safe!”

“She’s in there!” I sobbed, fighting against him. “That’s my best friend! I need to see her- please!”

Another officer steeped in, and together they held me, anchoring me to the pavement while my heart shattered.

I dropped to my knees, the gravel cutting into my skin, but I didn’t feel it. I couldn’t feel anything but the fire inside me. The disbelief. The rage. The terror.

“She’s not dead,” I whispered, tears spilling down my cheeks. “You don’t understand. She wouldn’t just…. she wouldn’t…” I couldn’t find the right words to say as I chocked on my tears.

The officer knelt besides me, his voice too calm. “The vehicle exploded on impact. We’re still working through the wreckage, but…” he paused. “The damage was extensive.”

“No,” I shook my head. “You don’t get to say that unless you have proof. Did you find her body? Huh? Did you see her? Because if you didn’t see her, then she is not dead.”

These guys were messing with me. They didn’t know Ava the way I did. She was fireproof. If anyone could survive something like that, it was her.

…..

They told me to grieve. To move on. That it was “time to heal.”

But how do you mourn someone when your soul refused to believe they’re gone?

Robert didn’t wait. Not even a full week. No press statement. No investigation. No search beyond what the police were required to do. The man who used to claim Ava was the light of his world acted like she was a shadow he’d brushed off his shoulder.

He buried her in silence.

And now, he wore a smile every time Sophie tried on another wedding dress, every time Dominic held her hand. I watched them from across the room sometimes, trying to understand how people could be so cols. So cruel.

Dominic barely spoke to me anymore he avoided my eyes. Maybe he felt guilty. Maybe not. Maybe all he ever cared about was Sophie.

But I remembered Ava’s face the night she found them- her voice cracking as she whispered, “They’re in love.” Like the words had broken her ribs.

No one cried for her after the first week. Not in that house.

Only me.

Sometimes I still hear her laugh. I still expect my phone to ring and see her name on the screen. I still wake up thinking it was all a nightmare and she’ll come barreling into my room with that sarcastic grin, mocking for sleeping in too late.

But she never comes.

And yet- I still don’t believe she’s dead.

Today I decided it was time I left. It has been three moths staying in this hell hole of a house. I finally understand why Ava never like staying here, and what she meant when she said her father never mourned her mother instead he just threw her with a new family.

I was finally done with my packing and I headed out. I bumped into Sophie at the door and I hoped for her sake she would not say anything because I wasn’t in the mood for any of her shenanigans.

Luckily she didn’t say anything she just left me and I went on. I reached my car got in and drove out.

I only hoped that one day Ava would just show up and put an end to Sophie’s charade.