“W-what?” I croaked out and it felt like the world had stopped in that split moment, nothing else mattered but the determined look in his steel blue eyes that were burning into mine.“I love you.” He repeated effortlessly. A tear rolled down my cheeks and my eyes widened. “I love you so, so much Danielle.” He continued and I took in a sharp breath. “I don’t know when it happened or how or...” He trailed off and stood up from where he had knelt in front of me. “I don’t know...” He took a few paces from me before he turned and continued. “I don’t know when and how this happened. But I know it did, And maybe I do know but—”“How?” the word rolled out of my mouth. Tyler froze in his step. He looked like he was about to say something but I beat him to it and rolled my wheel towards him. “How can you love someone like me? Are you insane?” I questioned with tear-filled eyes.“Have you ever seen my track record? Everyone I’ve loved or who has loved me either ends up leaving me or dying.” I i
I took in tentative breaths as I stared at Tyler completely shocked. My eyes scanned his facial features as I struggled to read the emotion that was currently plastered on his face but apart from the quirky smirk and sparkle in his blue eyes.“The flash drive is with Rye,” I spoke after a while, Tyler perked up at my words, his forehead creased in confusion and a strand of his hair fell out of place.“Flash drive?” His thick voice reminded me that he was staring back at me and I should probably stop gawking. I sighed and breathed.“There’s this um… flash drive…” I trailed off. “It— it’s a footage of Alice ki—mur— hurting my dad” it was one thing to think about it and another thing entirely to say out loud. “It proves that…that she murdered him.” I bit my lip as I stared at Tyler. Deep down I was waiting for a repeat of what happened with Jared.For him to burst into laughter and completely invalidate my thoughts, A part of me needed him to hu
“How do you feel today?” Tyler asked as he strolled into my hospital room, He had a plate of what I assume was my breakfast and Charlotte was right behind him, a small smile played on her lips and her nude lipstick made me crave makeup for the first time in a while.“I assume he filled you in on my decision to undergo surgery?” I said as she took a seat and Tyler placed the small table on the bed, in front of me. I sighed as I glanced from the food to the two people in the room “What did George say?” I asked.“He said a specialist will be coming today to check you out and choose a date for the operation,” Tyler informed me. I forced a tight smile. “This is the best decision you could have ever made.” He assured me, I rolled my eyes.“I need to get out of here as soon as possible,” I responded sharply. “Were you able to get what I asked for?” I had directed my question to Charlotte who seemed to have been engrossed in her thoughts. I wasn’t the only one who noticed
“I’m nervous,” I confessed before Tyler could ask, The dark-haired man snorted at my antics before he squeezed my hand and locked eyes with me.”Everything is going to be fine, Danielle.” He reassured for the millionth time. It was finally the day of my surgery and as much I would like to be one of those main characters who have their entire thoughts in one box and think with a leveled head, I was terrified inside.It wasn’t only that I was scared to lose my legs, but the fact that I would like the only opportunity I had to repay Derek if I died during the surgery. I had spent the past few hours wondering why I had agreed to something I wasn’t certain would work out. This wasn’t like me at all, but lately, a lot of things about me were changing without my permission.“What if it turns out better than you could have ever imagined?” Tyler pierced through my thoughts and I resisted the urge to jump at his thick tone. His gaze burned into my memory and I sque
The surgery was a success. For someone who was quite pessimistic, it had been a great push to shift my faith a bit. The truth was, the whole process had just begun. I spent the next few weeks guilt-tripping myself while I struggled to learn how to walk all over again.Tyler never left my side as I went through the physiotherapy, He supported me every step of the way and even tried some exercises by himself. He was always there to remind me that all my effort would pay off. He told me that I was trying my best and every single effort I put in was a step closer to getting justice for Derek.Boy, He had no clue how far those words of encouragement took me. We got to know each other better over these past few weeks, I found out more about his sister, Matilde, She had died of an overdose after she was sent to a hostel in Germany.Tyler told me that she struggled with severe anxiety disorders and trauma from their mother’s death, which she appeared, never a
“Is what she’s saying the truth?” I assumed that question was directed toward George, the man shrugged and looked away, the girl, however, looked like she had a few colorful words to add. I watched as she parted her lips to speak but Tyler beat her to it.“How long have you known about this?” He asked in a calm tone.“Two days ago.” She admitted casually as she tucked a strand of her perfect dark hair behind her ear, Tyler sighed as he glanced between them.“This was not the right place to do this.” He informed them.“I don’t think there will ever be a right place to demand that this child stop meddling in my life and doing little jobs for his dad how about you try and respect that coat you talk about.” George looked like he was going to let out a tornado but Tyler boomed and successfully stopped him.“And you?” I was painfully reminded of the fact that I was in the same space with then when I heard that, I perked up at her and o
Therapy sucks.Any form of it, it’s not fun, it’s not entertaining. The only thing that is it — is extremely useful because nothing felt better than walking on my two feet for the first time in three months.“Another step forward, there you go, Miss Hasty.” Tyler encouraged me as I took tentative steps toward him, It was the first time in two weeks that I would be walking without crutches or leg braces or the accursed wheelchair.“I’m doing it Tyler, I’m doing it.” My voice had wavered as I spoke with watery eyes. Tyler nodded and smiled. That had been Five days, Fifteen hours, Thirty minutes, and forty-five seconds ago. We had just arrived at my house and I was sitting in the car with an overwhelming feeling bubbling inside of me. Tyler squeezed my hand and reassured me with a grin. I nodded and could feel my wavy hair bounce a bit.“Are you ready?” Tyler had asked after a while. It was funny how I had been waiting for this moment for the past five months that I had been stuck in tha
I couldn't breathe.It felt like my entire world stopped. It was funny how countless times I had begged the world to stop for me, now it had finally stopped and it felt like I was frozen, I felt my limbs ache and my heart clenched and for a minute I forgot that it was the organ I used to breathe because it felt like my lungs had walked out on me.I could vaguely hear Tyler yelling but I couldn't move, the entire scene was painfully familiar to me. The scent of iron, the trail of blood, my inability to move or react, the isolated environment, the chills down my skin, and how the hairs on my skin rose and I knew it wasn't out of fear,Dread trailed down the edges of my spine and I felt my legs buckle beneath me, I fell right into thick red blood. My eyes traced where Charlotte had been but she wasn't there anymore and I could still hear the drowned-out voices of Cole and some other people I did recognize. I didn't know how long I had been here, but I also didn't care.I wanted to move. T
5 years later. “What happened here?” I sucked in a sharp breath as I glanced around what was supposed to be the children’s room but seemed like a battleground. World war three happened here. “It was him!” Bella cried in her high-pitched voice, I cringed at her tone and glanced in the direction of her voice. My heart skipped a bit when I could not find her, but if the mop of blonde curls that peaked out from beneath the bed was anything too go by; I was definitely on the right track. I took tentative steps toward her and crouched down to her height, “Baby, what’s going on?” my voice trembled slightly with worry but that was not the only thing threatening an anxiety attack from me at this moment. It was already 10:00 am and I wasn’t even dressed — forget about dressing up, Tyler wasn’t even around to handle the kids and he promised me. Today was my big day and he promised he would fill in, but as always, he just runs off with his burger. Bella reluctantly reached out to me and
You know how you can spend your entire life walking on the wrong path. You can feel like you have it all figured out even though you are just starting and struggling to be a good version of yourself. There are some memories, that don’t die when dawn comes barging in. Some dark times that even the sun can’t chase away. My point is: They are too many things out of our control and the last thing you want to do is get stuck with the guilt of not fixing or doing things that were never in your control, to begin with. As I ran my hands through my soaked scarlet hair, a lone tear crawled down my cheek and I swallowed sharply. I bit hard on my bottom lip as I thunderstruck and pierced my skin. It was almost scary how three years had felt like decades, how much I had linked to come here, all the promises, the guilt, everything that had built up to this exact moment. I wiped my tears which were mixed with rain. I found to hear the hesitant footsteps from Rye, but I did not turn. My fists cle
“There’s still time for us to run.” I glanced at Emilia as if she had grown two heads, but she had a serious expression on her face and I knew that she was freaking out deep down.So was I.“Run to where exactly?” I decided to humor her risky thoughts with a raised eyebrow, her stance deflated and she let go of my hand. We were outside the church now. It was crazy how much time had passed and how things were happening so fast.Until two weeks ago I was at Alice’s grave. Now I was walking down the aisle. I frowned and breathed. “When did Rye say she was going to get here?” I asked Emilia, the blonde seemed to be too engrossed in starting anything but the church that waiting for her. Her blonde hair had been styled in a perfect bun and Isabel had performed magic with her makeup. Her dimples were visible and she wasn’t even smiling. Emilia took a hold of my hand again, a small smile broke out on her plump lips.I held my breath as she stared me dead in the eyes before she broke out into
“This was the last place I thought I would ever come,” The words rolled out of my mouth and left a bland taste in my mouth, I could feel the heat from the ground tear my skin apart, and my eyes stung with fresh tears and my fists clenched.If anyone had told me, years ago, or even a month ago that I would do this, I would have laughed in their face and given them a fitting reply, yet here I was, tears pouring down my cheeks with a void in my heart that I was not sure time could heal.“It wasn't supposed to end like this, Alice. This wasn’t the plan. This wasn't the freaking plan,” I whispered and I could barely see from my clouded vision. “You always hurt me when it was alive and I always used to think that I would be happy when you died...” I trailed off and wiped my tears.“I’m not Alice,” I admitted. “I’m not happy at all ad it feels like my heart got ripped out. You took a part of me with you and it space you left stings a lot.” I swallowed and sucked in a sharp breath. I ran my
Tyler chuckled and his hand went to his neck for a nervous moment. “I don’t think you have realized it but… Alexander is in love, and it’s not with you,” I blinked in confusion.Tyler laughed at what seemed like my facial expression. “Alexander is madly in love with Lee.” My eyes widened and I immediately clicked the dots.Lee’s strange behavior ever since Alexander came into the house, her sudden change of heart, the reason she begged me to stop the wedding, why she was so devastated during the shoot-out, why she kept her gaze on Alex, and most of us, why she was bosses with taking care of Bella. “But she’s just a child and he- he’s twenty-five or something! This isn’t right!” I informed him.“She’ll be eighteen in a few weeks, by then she will be an adult, right?” Cole asked in a calm tone.“Well yes, but…” I trailed off and walked past him, I turned and continued. “She’s still a child, he’s five years older than she, and I don’t know, I’m just not comfortable with the idea.”“It’s
"Are you okay?" Tyler was standing at the doorwhen I came out, I nodded and walked past him. "Where's Gemma?" I asked with a straight face and glanced around the place. "She left," Tyler informed me absentmindedly. "She asked for a divorce." He added."Why? Did she finally realize that you are nothing like you claim you are?" I spat at him and he shrugged."She was pregnant for someone else," He continued. My eyes widened and I shrugged. "Oh wow." I chuckled. "You sue to surround yourself with the best kinds of people," I informed him and he relaxed on the wall"You don't seem okay, do you want to get some rest?" He asked and I rolled my eyes at his fake concern."I want to leave. Why did you bring me here?" I demanded in a sharp tone."You fell unconscious, I had no other choice," Tyler admitted bashfully and ran his hands through his hair. His lips were pursed into a straight line and he kept his gaze firm on me."Want some coffee?" He offered and walked towards what I assumed w
"I never thought you would come here." I heard a voice as I sat on the closest rock.From the view I had, the lake was breathtakingly beautiful, it had been months since I came here and I was dying for a breath of fresh air."Do you remember the last time we came here?" the voice continued on a steady pitch, I rolled my eyes at the tone and turned away. "Danielle, you are going to have to face me at one point or the other." Tyler finally confessed in what sounded like a defeated tone, I scoffed at his words. "There's nothing to settle." my voice came out strained. It had been one entire month since Alice was murdered and Aiden died at my hands. The memory still sends chills down my spine and for many days I refused to leave my home because I was terrified of the outcome, I sucked in sharp air and glanced at him."You ended this, remember?" I added in a soft tone, my eyes stung with tears but I blinked them away. Tyler sighed. He broke the small distance between us and sat beside me
I lunged at him. With all the force and anger I could muster at that moment. This was the moment I had waited for so many years. Three long years — I lived with that guilt and pain for three long years. I was broken, I had to deal with the pain and nightmares and the intense feeling that I could not protect the man who did nothing but love me. The only thing I had consoled myself with back then was that I would avenge his death.And only when I had avenged his death, would I visit his grave. Today, I would fulfill that promise.Aiden lost balance in shock, the gun went off immediately. My eyes widened when we hit the ground. I was basically on top of him, dangerously close with the gun between us and my breath hitched.My heart raced and it took me a few seconds to register the fact that the bullet had not hit me, rather it was stuck in Aiden who was bleeding from his nose.I must have taken too long to connect all these dots because the next thing I knew was hands around my neck, c
"Aiden," I growled and he smiled. He had a fun held up straight to my face and I was almost thrown off by the audacity of the man. Here, in broad daylight, he was pointing a gun at me, a smug grin plastered on his face as if he had just been given hot coffee on a stressful morning."Danielle" His voice was calm and held no remorse at all, his eyes narrowed at me and rested on Alice's body which was behind me. I watched as Aiden's grey eyes darkened for a bit before they returned to their previous form."For the first time in my entire life...I'm sad I was right about something." The words were not directed at me, rather it was where his gaze rested. Completely fixed on Alice. "If you cared about her, you would have stopped this a long time ago." I shot a glare at him, and he scoffed and stared at me with a piercing gaze. "It's because of her, I did this!" He snapped and shot one of the medics, I stumbled on the side of the van, my eyes went wide and I clenched my fist."That's a li