Chapter 14

I spent my days curled up on the window seat, watching the snow fall. Nathan would try to engage, but I could barely muster the energy to respond. The silence felt safer than whatever this twisted reality had become.

“What would make you happy?” he asked one evening, his voice dripping with false concern.

I glanced up from my book. “I miss Lucy. Could I see her?”

He smiled that practiced smile. “You’re still recovering. Why not have her visit instead?”

My heart skipped – a possibility I hadn’t dared hope for. “Really?”

He brushed my hair back, a gesture that once brought comfort but now made my skin crawl. “Anything for you,

sweetheart.”

True to his word, he brought Lucy up the mountain the next day.

She rushed to hug me, her warmth so familiar it hurt. “Emma! God, so this is where you’ve been hiding – some fancy

mountain retreat!”

tight, joy and terror warring

my carefully folded note,

oblivious to the undercurrent. “Dad’s so excited, he convinced the whole family to go all in! We’ve even leveraged everything for more

out on us!” She laughed, the sound echoing off the high ceilings. “Or we’re completely

course not. Emma’s friends are family.”

was crystal

me, all warmth and concern. “Isn’t it nice having friends visit, darling?”

I nodded mechanically.

he

time I saw you, you were hooked up to machines. Thank God

too well – the gambling father, brother in prison, autistic son. Her

Not for

deceptively peaceful. Our laughter carried across the grounds – probably the only genuine sound this

06:49

Years of Love, Seven Minutes fru

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