***"Baby, we don't stand a chance, it's sad, but it's true***
***I'm way too good at goodbyes."*** *\- Sam Smith*
***Alissa Blake***
I stayed in the shower until my fingertips wrinkled. By the time I finally stepped out, I couldn’t tell if the water streaming down my face was from the shower or the tears I’d been holding back.
Grabbing the robe from the hook next to the stall, I wrapped myself in it without bothering to dry off, leaving a trail of water on the carpet as I made my way to the living room.
I looked around the apartment. Empty, cold, lifeless. It felt like an extension of myself at this point. I didn’t think I was meant ever to feel whole. Whenever the slightest hint of it began to take shape within me, life would come crashing in like an avalanche, tearing apart anything I’d managed to build.
I couldn’t say Holden and I had a concrete relationship. But we had broken through some of the heavy, emotional barriers that kept me from truly letting someone in. For the first time, I’d started to accept the idea of sharing my life with someone.
But life is a sadistic bitch, and I should’ve known better. When that child messaged me on my phone, I should’ve seen the chaos it would bring—just as I should’ve taken the venom from Denver and Blake Young as a prelude to more destruction.
They don’t need a reason to hate me, but hate doesn’t require one to exist. I gave up trying to understand it a long time ago. It’s difficult to make sense of something when you don’t know what you did wrong. Still, I knew that malice existed, and no matter what I did, it would find me as long as I left the door open.
Falling for Holden Young again was the open door that led me right back into the path of Denver and Blake Young. Blake, with her perfectly styled blonde hair and expensive jewelry, her ivory skin always flawless like a sculpture of ice. Affectionate only to Holden but a fortress to everyone else. A fraud.
And Denver? He never bothered to hide who he was. Even back when Holden and I were in school, he was the topic of whispered complaints among parents and staff—always rude, always lost in his self-centered world, believing he was, in fact, the center of the universe.
I didn’t believe it at the time, but now I see he had a point. It’s easy to feel that way when money can buy you everything. Mansions, jewelry, luxury cars, designer clothes. Someone’s downfall.
It even brought two parents against their own child. It wasn’t hard for them to find a reason to get rid of me. They were convinced I was just a rebellious brat because I wouldn’t conform to their fanatical, absurd ideologies.
And now, thinking of them raising another child in that house felt like a cruel joke.
I glanced at my phone and saw no missed calls. Maybe Holden had finally given up on convincing me that we were a good idea. Nothing could persuade me of that after hearing what his parents said—all in their desperate attempt to keep their precious son away from the “gold-digging commoner.”
They give themselves far too much credit, I must admit. Acting like I was desperate to leech off the Young's wealth and influence as if I were incapable of building my own life.
Well, they certainly did their part in making that more difficult.
I used to be a good student—sharp and attentive. But surviving in a reform school I didn’t belong in drained me. It numbed parts of me I’ve never fully gotten back. I suppose that was their way of putting me in my place.
People from lower social and economic classes must always remember not to overstep. Building a career that elevates you to a new level? That’s too big a threat, and that’s likely why they’ve always seen me as one. A delinquent girl who might rob Holden of the privilege handed to him before he was even born, simply by existing.
I don’t blame him. I never have. But he doesn’t see the world through my eyes. We’re too different, and no matter how much we try to ignore that when we’re together, something always reminds us why we carry this burden.
And so, I made a decision. For myself and for that little girl. Even though my legs shook, and my bones ached at the thought of stepping back into that house, I had to. I had to make sure she wouldn’t end up like me.
I didn’t want to tell Holden yet—not while everything was still raw. He’d understand eventually. I knew he would when he heard the full story. He was understanding, far more good than bad. I was sure of that.
Maybe that was the real tragedy: Holden was the right person at the wrong time. I loved him. I knew that now, even if it was hard to admit. He was everything I wanted but couldn’t have.
But now, I needed to take control. A life was at stake, and I needed to know the truth—or it would destroy me.
I looked at the suitcase next to my bed. It was time to take a trip. A journey I never thought I’d have to make.
It was time to face the monsters.
*Or rather, it was time to visit Mom and Dad.*