Koch

d have secured my future, the one that perfectly aligned with my passion. He had stripped it from me, handed it to Britney like a toy. I remembered asking Britney about it, a

I' d had that job, the one Jake stole, Mom would have gotten the best care. She might still b

I ignored the stares, the whispers, the mocking pity in the eyes of the other visitors. I pleaded, I begged, my voice raw and broken. "Please," I

, my ears buzzed, the world around me fading into a dull roar. It was like I was back in that phone booth, the same cold voice, the same impenetrable wall. I lunged forward, a desperate, animalistic cry escaping my lips, but t

a triumphant smile on her face. That' s when the sympathetic guard from before found me, his face etched with sorrow. "He' s been sending a

e, of love, of anything connecting me to Jake, s

licate diamond ring, sparkling in the sunlight. He gently placed it in my palm. "Alena, I know I messed up. But I' m here now. I' m back. I' ll make it up to you. I promise. I' ll take care of you,

said, his voice soft, "Alena and I need to do this. Come, you too. We' ll knee

rged through me, fresh and overwhelming. Tears streamed down my face, not for him, but for Mom, for the life she lost, for the disresp

truly am so sorry! I should have never taken that job! I should have never caused you so much pain!" Her voice was laced with desperate tears, a performance so convincing, Jake' s gaze immediately softe

f the ground, but directly into Mom' s headstone. The stone wobbled, then with a sickening scrape, a corner

ith her face, a resounding slap. I launched myself at her then, blind with rage, clawi