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Chapter 256

Chapter 256

-Ava’s POV-

I let out a shuddering breath, my fingers tightening around his hand. It felt cold, unnaturally still, and yet, somehow, I still expected him to squeeze back. To open his eyes. To scowl at me the way he always did when I challenged him. But there was nothing.

Silence.

Emptiness.

I swallowed against the lump in my throat, willing myself to be stronger than this, to be harder than this. But the moment I spoke again, my voice cracked.

“You were supposed to fix things.”

The words felt like acid on my tongue.

“I hated you for so long, and some part of me still does. But I would take us continuing how we’ve always been. For me me seeing you as the enemy and fighting with you than this.”

My chest tightened as I stared at him, his face slack, peaceful in a way that felt unnatural. Luther Pierce was never peaceful. He was absolutely dreadful and this was so wrong.

“I need you to wake up.”

My voice dropped to a whisper, raw and broken.

“I need you to fight like you always have. For once, not against me, but with me. I know it is impossible but I need you to find a way to do that still.

My breath hitched, and I squeezed my eyes shut. Damn it. Damn it, damn it, damn it. I had spent so much of my life trying to break free of his shadow, and now, sitting here, I realized how much of me had been built in reaction to him.

I sniffled, shaking my head as I wiped angrily at my eyes. This isn’t fair.

know what the worst part is?” I let out a breathless laugh, my voice shaking with anger and grief all at once, “Even now, lying there, you

myself to slump forward, resting my forehead

“Damn you, Father.”

a long time, I just sat there, the quiet hum of the healer’s quarters the only sound in the room. I thought about everything–about the years of resentment, the hard–earned moments of understanding, the way we had

had never gotten the chance to hear him say he was sorry.

I wanted to know what it would be like being on the sane page family and this time it

with my

his hand one last time before whispering, “Goodbye,

it happened.

barely–there movement beneath my

1/3

Chapter 256

heart pounded wildly as I stared at his hand, waiting, praying

it

twitch

a sharp breath, my pulse roaring in my ears. No. No, it’s not

wake up. The healers had said I shot to my feet,

back.

just as my vision blurred with tears, just as my mind

twitched

knew I had seen. But now, as I sat there, watching, waiting, there was nothing Just the same stillness, the same unnerving quiet that had filled the room

they hovered over his hand, waiting for another twitch

a shaky breath, pressing my lips together as my shoulders sagged. I imagined it. Just like I

been a hallucination? What if it had been him reaching out–calling to me from the In–Between?

was different because my father was dead

even sure existed. And then, before I could second–guess myself, I did something I never thought I

and pressed a

chest. It felt like a goodbye, even if I

him one last time before I

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