A heavy cart loaded with construction materials had broken loose above us and was tipping forward, sliding off the elevated platform.
Everything seemed to slow down.
My heart began pounding violently against my ribs. A wave of cold fear rushed through my body.
Oh my God. It’s going to fall on Liam.
My legs moved before my brain had time to process anything else.Without thinking, I lunged toward him.With quick strides, I reached my brother and shoved him hard out of the way.
His body stumbled backward just as the cart came crashing down.
A deafening boom exploded around us as metal and debris slammed against the ground.
The sound rang through my skull.
Everything spun.
Then darkness rushed in like a curtain dropping.
And I slipped into unconsciousness.
35
JIYA
Isat in the office beside Jack while he went over the monthly summary with me. Papers were spread across the desk in front of us—receipts, invoices, supplier reports—and Jack’s voice moved steadily through the numbers as he explained them one by one. Normally, I would have been following along carefully, asking questions and making notes, but that afternoon, I was barely listening.
My mind was tangled in thoughts—thoughts of Cole, of the tension between us, of the way he had looked sitting in the restaurant with Stephanie that night.
The image replayed like a cruel loop I could not escape.
Cole sitting across from her.
Stephanie leaning close to him.
Her hand on his.
His fingers brushing hers.
The way he had kissed her hand.
The memory made something twist painfully inside my chest.I had tried to stay composed while standing at their table that evening, acting like nothing inside me had shattered. I had forced myself to smile, forced my voice to stay even as I wrotedown their order. I had kept my head down so no one would see the storm building behind my eyes.But the moment I walked away from them, my stomach had burned, and my chest had felt tight enough to suffocate me.Seeing him with her had hurt far more than anything.
I had felt guilty for sleeping with Cole, but I had also felt horrible the day he had left my kitchen after our argument.
Over the following days, I had rerun that conversation in my mind.
Every word.
Every look.
Every painful silence.
And with each replay, new realizations slithered into my head.
It had been unfair of me not to share my past with him.
Unfair to keep him at a distance while expecting him to somehow understand the walls I had built around myself.
