Chapter 123 Breaking point
Melissa’s POV
I couldn’t see.
The tears were coming too fast, blurring everything. The streetlights smeared into abstract streaks of gold and white. The road wavered like it was underwater.
I blinked hard, trying to clear my vision, but it didn’t help.
My hands gripped the steering wheel so tight my knuckles had gone white. My whole body was shaking.
Gavin killed my father.
The words kept repeating in my mind like a broken record.
Gavin killed my father.
Gavin killed my father.
Gavin killed my father.
The man I loved. The man I’d given everything to. The man who’d touched me and kissed me and made love to me and promised to protect me. Had murdered my father.
A sob tore out of my throat. It was raw and very ugly.
I couldn’t breathe. I couldn't think. Couldn’t…
A figure stepped into the crosswalk ahead.I saw them too late.
And I slammed on the brakes.The car screeched and swerved and then hit something.
Oh God.
Oh God, I’d hit someone.
I threw the car into park with trembling hands and stumbled out.
The street was quiet and dark. Not many people around at this hour. A woman was on the ground. She’d fallen when I’d clipped her.
“I’m so sorry,” I gasped, running toward her. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you, I…”
My legs gave out before I reached her.
I collapsed onto the pavement. My knees hit the concrete hard enough to hurt, but I didn’t care.
Everything hurts. Everything was broken.
A sound came out of me that didn’t sound human. Like an animal in pain.
I curled forward, my hands pressed against the cold street, and I cried.
I wailed like a child. Like I was five years old again, watching my father bleed out on the pavement.
Like everything safe and good had been ripped away and I was left with nothing but the jagged edges of truth that cut and cut and cut.
“Oh my God.”
I heard a soft feminine voice gasp confused. I couldn’t look up. Couldn’t stop crying long enough to form words.
“Honey, are you…” The voice stopped abruptly. “Oh my God. It’s you again.”
Something about the tone made me lift my head.
Through my tears, I saw her.
The woman with the red hair. Long and vibrant, catching the streetlight. A very beautiful face and dark red lips.The same woman who’d found me that day during my run. Who’d been so kind.
Sophia.
Her eyes widened with recognition, then immediately filled with concern.
“Oh my God, honey.” She knelt beside me, not seeming to care that the street was dirty. “What happened? Are you hurt?”
I tried to speak. I tried to explain. But all that came out was another broken sob.
“Okay, okay.” Sophia’s voice was soothing. Gentle. “It’s okay. You’re okay. Let’s get you out of here.”
She reached for me, her hands careful and steady.
I leaned into her without thinking. Desperate for anything that felt safe. Anything that felt like comfort.
She was a stranger. I barely knew her. But right now, she was the only person who wasn’t part of the nightmare my life had become.
Sophia’s arms came around me, supporting my weight as I cried against her shoulder.
“That’s it,” she murmured. “Let it out. You’re safe. I’ve got you.”
I clung to her like a drowning person clings to a life raft.
My whole body shook with sobs. It was violent and uncontrollable.
Everything I’d been holding back…the confusion, the fear, the heartbreak…came pouring out all at once.
Sophia just held me. She didn’t tell me to stop. Didn’t tell me to calm down. Just let me break apart in her arms. After what felt like hours but was probably only minutes, I felt her shift slightly.
“Can you walk?” she asked gently.
I nodded against her shoulder, though I wasn’t sure if it was true.
“Okay. Come on. Let’s get you somewhere safe.”
She helped me to my feet. I swayed dangerously, my legs barely holding me up.
Sophia’s arm wrapped around my waist, steadying me.
“My car,” she said to someone.
I looked up blearily. There was a man standing nearby. Tall. Professional-looking. Like security or a driver.
“Take hers to the compound,” Sophia instructed, gesturing toward my silver prototype sitting in the middle of the street, driver’s door still open. “Carefully. It’s expensive.”
The man nodded and moved toward my car.
“Where…” I tried to ask, but my voice was wrecked from crying.
“Somewhere safe,” Sophia repeated. “Don’t worry about it. Just trust me.”
Sophia guided me to a black Mercedes parked at the curb. She opened the back door and helped me inside with surprising care.
Then she slid in beside me.
“Drive,” she said to whoever was behind the wheel.
The car started moving.
I leaned against Sophia and started crying again.
She didn’t push me away. Just put her arm around my shoulders and let me soak her expensive-looking coat with my tears.
“Shh,” she murmured, her hand stroking my hair. “It’s okay. You’re safe now. Whatever happened, you’re safe.”
But I wasn’t safe.
I would never be safe again.
Because the man I loved…the man I trusted more than anyone…had killed my father.
And I didn’t know how to survive that knowledge.
“I can’t…” I gasped between sobs. “I can’t breathe. I can’t…”
“Yes, you can.” Sophia’s voice was firm but kind. “Breathe with me. In through your nose. Out through your mouth. Come on.”
She demonstrated, her chest rising and falling in an exaggerated rhythm.
I tried to match her. Failed. I tried again.
Eventually, my breathing started to even out. Just slightly. The sobs became hiccups. The hiccups became shuddering breaths.
But the pain didn’t lessen.
If anything, it got worse.
Because now that I could breathe, I could think.
And thinking meant remembering.
My mother with Jason. The betrayal in her eyes when she’d told me the truth.
Gavin’s face when he’d looked at me with that death aura. Like I was nothing.