bChapter /bb204 /b

    Mia froze in her steps, her eyes glued to the sight before her.

    She didn’t mean to follow, but something inside her, something she couldn’t exin, had pushed her feet forward the moment she saw that figure in ck being dragged out of the car.

    Her heart hammered in her chest as she ducked behind parked cars, keeping her distance but not letting them out of her sight.

    It didn’t feel right.

    It didn’t feel like someone was simply being escorted.

    It looked like someone being taken.

    Her palms were already sweating, her breath short as she crept behind them, each step careful, each movement weighed with fear.

    Her instincts screamed for her to turn around, to run back home to Aiden, but her curiosity–or maybe something stronger–kept her rooted to the path.

    The woman’s veil shifted as the wind blew, and Mia’s pulse shot up when it finally fell.

    Her eyes widened.

    It was Esther ckwell.

    Mia’s breath hitched in her throat, a shaky gasp slipping past her lips. She pped a hand over her mouth before the sound could escape further.

    Esther was crying.

    Not just crying, but screaming.

    “Leave me alone! Let me go!” Esther’s voice carried through the air, rough with desperation. “You tricked me and brought me back here! You’re threatening me with my sons, your own sons, just to keep me in this hellhole. You’re a monster, Charles ckwell!”

    The name struck Mia like a physical blow.

    Charles ckwell?

    Mia’s knees weakened, her body trembling with fear.

    That should be her queue to run but she wasn’t running. It was as if she was meant to witness what was happening.

    What the fuck?

    Her vision blurred. Her body felt strange. A deep heaviness pulled at her chest.

    The next second, she blinked, and another figure emerged from the shadows.

    Her heart nearly stopped.

    It was him.

    It was Charles ckwell.

    The air around her grew colder. She couldn’t move, couldn’t even breathe. She just stood there, frozen, watching the bscene /bunfold bbefore /bher.

    Esther stumbled forward, her hands trembling as she reached for him, her screams tearing through the air like bknives/b.

    b13:22 /bbTue/bb, /b19 Aug o

    “You ruined me! You ruined us!” she cried, her voice breaking as she wed at his chest, shoving against him with every bit of strength she had bleft/b.

    Mia panicked.

    Her legs moved before she even thought, rushing forward like she could somehow stop them, like she could protect Esther from him. Her arros liftedb, /bshaking violently as she tried to push herself between them.

    But then everything twisted.

    It happened too fast.

    A blink–just a blink–and the ground was gone beneath her.

    Mia’s scream ripped through her throat as her body plummeted. Her arms iled, reaching for something, anything to grab onto. Her stomach turned, the world spinning around her.

    And then-

    She hit the ground with a thud.

    Her knees scraped against rough concrete, pain shooting up her legs.

    Her chest heaved as she scrambled forward, her hands pressing hard against the floor to lift herself up. Her heart thundered in her ears, too loud, too.

    fast.

    Her eyes darted around.

    Her breath caught in her throat..

    There–below her, crumpled, broken….was Esther ckwell’s lifeless body.

    Mia’s entire body shook.

    “No…” she whispered, shaking her head violently. Her hands pressed to her mouth as tears welled in her eyes. “No, no, no.”

    Her legs wobbled as she staggered back, step after step, trying to distance herself from the horrific sight. But no matter how far she moved, Esther’s body was still there, still lifeless, still staring at her with empty eyes that weren’t supposed to be empty.

    Her vision blurred again. This time not from shock but from shes–shes she couldn’t control.

    Images of Esther ckwell.

    Her face. Her voice. Her eyes.

    Moments Mia didn’t even know urred.

    All the times she had seen and interacted with Esther ckwell.., even when she was a child?

    Something like lightning hit her again, memories started shing in her head, memories that didn’t belong to her….

    Everything shed through her head so fast it felt like iher /iskull might split in two.

    “No, stop-” she whispered, clutching her head as she dropped to her knees.

    But the shes keptingb, /boverwhelming her until her vision went white.

    Her body jerked.

    She gasped.

    312

    13.22 Tue, b19 /bAug

    And suddenly–she wasn’t falling anymore.”

    She wasn’t staring down at a lifeless body.

    She wasn’t in that nightmare.

    She was awake.

    Mia shot upright in bed, her chest heaving as though she had truly fallen from the tallest building.

    Sweat clung to her skin, dripping down her neck, soaking through her nightwear. Her entire body trembled, shaking so hard she thought her bones might break apart.

    Her hand instantly flew to her chest, feeling her heart pounding wildly. It was too fast, too hard, like it wanted to tear free

    Her body was shaking badly.

    Her breaths came out ragged, uneven, her throat raw as though she had screamed for real.

    Her eyes darted around the room, frantic, searching..

    Slowly, carefully, her gaze dropped.

    Her sweet boy was still sleeping, curled up beside her

    Mia’s heart ached as tears burned her eyes. She reached out with trembling fingers, brushing a strand of hair from his forehead.

    Her lips shook as a sob threatened to escape, but she swallowed it down, pressing it deep into her chest.

    That was so scary…

    She’s so scared

    She closed her eyes, inhaling deeply, then exhaling shakily as she pressed her forehead against her arm.

    The dream reyed in her head, every image sharp, every sound echoing. Esther’s scream. Charles’s shadow. The fall. The body.

    Memories that weren’t hers…

    Her stomach twisted until she thought she might be sick.

    She knows what it means, what she should do.

    Mia feels the tears drop down her cheeks.