TESSA.
My body shook as I stayed on the floor, my face wet with tears I couldn’t stop. My breathing came out uneven, shallow, like my lungs had forgotten how to work. I could still hear her voice echoing in my head — He killed your father.
Those four words twisted inside me like a knife.
My mother was still on the floor too, her body hunched, her sobs breaking the silence between us. I wanted to ask her again, to make sure I heard right, but I was too scared of hearing it twice. Because if I did, then it would mean everything was real — every fear, every doubt, every question I tried to push away.
My father was dead because of Victor Kane.
Because of Jaxson’s father.
The room felt smaller, tighter. I could barely breathe. My mother’s voice broke through my thoughts, soft but shaking.
