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I needed him here. I couldn’t do this without him. He was the only person who could protect me from my father.
I winced, thinking about what my father. What he would do when he found out what I’d done. If I didn’t get out soon, I’d leave this hospital in a body bag.
My chest filled with hope as the door opened, but it was only Britney. I propped the pillows up, moving into a sitting position as she crossed the room to stand by my bed.
“Is he here?” I couldn’t hide the eagerness of my voice. Or the misery. He should’ve been here by now.
“No.” She shook her head as she looked at me. Her eyes clouded as she reached for my hand. It was the same look all the doctors had given me. Pity. Like that could bring back what I’d lost. “He’s not coming.”
My mind felt foggy. I must have heard her wrong. Because Adam would never leave me like this. Alone. In pain. “Of course, he’s coming. You told him, right? He knows I had a miscarriage?”
I had to send a message through Britney because my father watched my phone. I could never trust that what we said on there was safe. So we never sent messages or had phone calls. It was why we always met in the woods. Passed notes in person.
Her smile was sad as she stroked my hair. “He knows.”
No. This didn’t make sense. If he knew I was hurt, he’d be here. He hated seeing me in pain. “H-he’s going to come. M-maybe he’s worried about my father. You have to tell him my father’s not here.”
My chest rose with each labored breath. My throat clogged as the panic set in. What was I supposed to do without him? How was I going to handle my father? This loss.
“He’s gone.” Britney’s voice sounded like it was coming from underwater. Like my brain couldn’t process her words.
“Gone?” I heard myself repeat it. But I felt disconnected from my body, like I was floating away.
“As soon as I told him, he packed a bag and left.”
“That’s not true.” Warm tears rolled down my cheeks, but I didn’t bother swiping them away. I couldn’t. My limbs felt too heavy to lift.
“Ariella, come on.” She tilted her head as she looked at me. It made me feel small and stupid. “He stayed because you were pregnant. Now that you’re not, he doesn’t have to be with you.”
“No.” I croaked. The anguish in my chest made it hard to speak. My words were forced, using all my energy just to get them out. “H-he loves me.”
Her lip twitched as she looked at me with pity again. So much goddamn pity. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.”
I whimpered as the dam burst inside me. My mind and body flooded with overwhelming misery. The stupidity of being foolish. The torment of loss. And heartbreak.
It drowned me. I felt like I was gasping for air. Struggling to keep my head above the water as wave after wave of anguish hit me.
My phone pinged, ripping me from the edge. I lunged for it, ignoring the ache in my stomach I grasped it from the nightstand. Hope swelled in my chest as I saw Adam’s name.
But I should’ve known it wasn’t good. He never texted me. I was too frantic to hear from him to see it for the bad omen it was.
I clicked the message open, and immediately, a video started playing. It took me a second to realize what I was seeing. My father in his shed, killing my mother. I retched as nausea rolled through me.
This was what he had on my father. This was the thing that was supposed to protect us from him. And he was sending it to me.
Adam would understand the kind of pain this would cause me. It wasn’t a secret what my father had done. He’d told both Zara and I, used it to keep us in line. But seeing it was different. It was visceral.
And that’s when I knew. Adam wasn’t coming. I frantically typed a message back, begging him to come to me. But his number was blocked.
He was giving me my way out. Alone.
9
Ariella
Isnapped the sketchbook closed. I couldn’t do this. I wasn’t going to sit here and dwell on the past. Let it rip apart my heart again. I hadn’t come back for this. For him.
I was here for Zara. To make sure my father didn’t screw her over. And maybe to get to know her again.
