EMILY
I stayed at Elijah’s place that night. Then the next. He didn’t hover, but sometimes I could feel his eyes on me… watchful, cautious. Like I was a rabbit too close to running away. He wasn’t wrong, I almost did, more than once. My bag was always half-packed. I never unpacked the whole thing. Just in case.
Nicholas still tried to reach me.
Calls. Texts. No pleading. No threats. Just silence that echoed louder than any screaming could. Until those three words flashed across the screen like they had teeth.
Please talk to me.
I stared at that message for so long it burned into the back of my eyelids. But I didn’t respond. I couldn’t. So I did what I had to. I threw the SIM card in the trash and watched Elijah crush it under his heel.
He handed me a new phone, a new number. Clean sl
