Love's Redemption (Chris and Maddie)

Chapter 617

Steve steadied me as I took a shaky step forward.

We reached the door just as someone walked out, cradling a small black box in their arms. Their face was etched with grief, and 1 froze. My breath caught in my throat. My gaze locked on that box.

Steve's grip on my hand tightened, grounding me, keeping me from falling apart then and there. He guided

me inside.

And that's when I saw her.

Yara stood in the middle of the room, her back to us. She was stiff, unmoving, her entire frame radiating the kind of despair that mirrored the storm inside me.

I stopped dead. My legs refused to move.

Steve froze beside me. Neither of us said a word.

Yara must have sensed us, because she turned slowly. Her hands cradled the same black box, and sight of it sent everything spinning. My vision blurred, my knees buckled.

the

She walked toward me. "This is what Hayden wanted. He said for you to take him back. To bury him in that place you both loved."

I stared at the box, but I wasn't really seeing it. My mind drifted to that place. I could almost hear his voice, almost feel his hand in mine.

promise. He swore

he wanted me to bury him

act? To make me suffer even

didn't you wait for me?" The

held me just hours

box

didn't want you to face that cruel moment,"

her blank

hands. "He was afraid that if you ever had to face this, you'd hate him. He thought it might hurt a little less this way." "He knew this day would come?" My

he knew," Yara

Houston

of

was all part of a conspiracy. And now, it all clicked. Hayden had known

But he still walked

And for what?

For me?

believe that, I

reason. I was just the bait. And Steve...

mind raced, clawing for the fragments of Hayden'tst words. His warning:

wasn't random. He'd known something-something about Wayne

me as Wayne's diary flashed in my mind. The secrets, the lies, the

had orchestrated this, he wasn't just cruel-he was a

him pay for