AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Silence was all I gave in return as I recalled his heartbreaking funeral service and all that it had forced me to look at in my own life.
“Did Archie hurt you, too?”
I twisted my head to the side and bit down on my tongue so I could focus on that pain instead of what was happening inside my heart.
Unable to stand this, knowing I was going to completely break under this line of questioning, there was only one thing I could do. Filled with tears, I brought my eyes back to the detective, and I rasped, “I’d like to contact an attorney.”
Frustration washed over his face. “That won’t be necessary, Hanna.”
“Pardon?”
“You’re free to go,” he said.
“Free to go?” Officer Hudson asked.
Detective Morris nodded and confirmed, “Free to go.” He slid his eyes to mine and said, “If you want to give me a few minutes, I’ll see to it that you get home safely.”
“No, thank you, Detective. I’ll find my own way back.”
With that, I stood and moved toward to the door. Detective Morris reached out, opened the door, and allowed me to step through.
I didn’t wait around for him to say another word to me, and instead, walked right in the direction I knew I’d find the exit. I was nearly there when something caught my eye.
Or, more specifically, someone caught my attention.
Leo had stood, and he was moving toward me with a look of sorrow on his face. I quickly looked away, focused my attention on where I needed to go, and pretended he didn’t exist.
Because he didn’t.
Not anymore.
And it was that realization that had me right on the verge of breaking down.
Unfortunately, to get to where I was going, I had to walk past him, and the moment I was close enough, he reached out to touch my arm. “Hanna—”
That was all I allowed to happen before I yanked my arm away from him and spat, “Don’t touch me.”
Leo was caught completely off guard by my reaction. I couldn’t say I didn’t understand it. My response was out of character and unexpected, especially after all that we’d had together.
But I’d had enough.
I’d gotten all I was going to get.
And now, I was done.
It seemed that no matter what I did, no matter how hard I tried, I always got screwed. And Leo was just another example of that.
I moved past him, my heart aching as I did, and I walked outside.
Hindsight really was twenty-twenty, because now it was all so clear to me. Leo wasn’t real. He had just been a figment of my imagination. While I’d put myself out there, hoping I was doing the right thing for myself, Leo had been scheming the whole time.
There was no way to quantify the betrayal I felt. And mixing that with the overwhelming and devastating grief moving through me, it was no surprise I was so close to having a meltdown.
I’d barely gotten my feet on the sidewalk when I heard, “Hanna, wait.”
The sound of his voice had always held me captive, but I refused to succumb to that now. I had to be strong, because I couldn’t take another blow. This was already far more than I could conceivably handle.
So, I didn’t turn around.
