Chapter 13
Thanks to prompt treatment, Jack pulled through and slowly began to recover.
On the day of sentencing, my brother laid me to rest beside our parents.
He knelt at the headstone, head bowed in remorse.
“Dad, Mom, I’m sorry. I didn’t protect my sister.”
“I let hate blind me for years. I trusted the wrong person and got her killed.”
“Dad, Mom, wait for me a little longer. I’ll come and beg your forgiveness in person.”
“Sis… you’re not alone now, right? You found Dad and Mom? Did you tell on me? This time, it
really was my fault. I wronged you. Wait for me, okay?”
I looked down at my form, turning more and more transparent.
My time here was ending.
Watching him weep at the grave, I felt peace at last.
Brother, I forgive you. We were just two siblings passing briefly through each other’s lives. No one
else to blame.
We have no future in this world.
It’s all right. In the next life, I’ll still choose you as my brother.
But if you bully me again, I will never–ever–forgive you.
This time, my soul didn’t follow him.
I watched his back and smiled.
Brother, be happy. For me and for our parents–be happy.
I rest here now.
Leaving the cemetery, my brother went to see Jack.
“If it hadn’t been for you that night, I wouldn’t be here,” he said.
Chapter 13
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Jack sighed. “Good thing I stayed sharp and slipped a tracker on you. Otherwise we never would’ve found you in time.”
“In the end, this wasn’t on you,” he added. “No one could’ve guessed what those siblings had in
mind.”
My brother lowered his head. “Ivy died because of me. I can’t get past it.”
“Don’t,” Jack said softly. “If Ivy’s watching, she wouldn’t want to see you like this.” He paused.
“This, too, is fallout from what your father and I left you with.”
My brother only nodded.
Not long after, he submitted his resignation.
No one knew where he went.
When Jack got the news, a chill ran through him.
He drove straight to the cemetery. He found my brother there, just as he’d feared.
He was too late.
My brother had swallowed a bottle of sleeping pills and lay collapsed beside our graves.
Jack’s tears finally spilled over.
“Colin… I failed your children.”
In the end, Jack buried him with us.
“Ivy, don’t hold it against your brother. He came to apologize.”
As the sun went down, my brother and I held hands and waved goodbye to Jack as he walked away.
Brother, this time, nothing will part us again.
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.