na'

arm as I drove away f

ng compared to the ache in my chest. I had told myself countless times that I would no

r still expecting someth

he blood soaking my sleeve was becoming impossible to ignore, and I had no inte

rived, my finger

arefully examined the wound on my shoulder. Her

asked. "This is a deep cut.

nt smile. "It w

as though she did

ing your life? If you're in danger

couldn't bring m

hreatenin

who had hurt me the most were the

I assured

the wound. She didn't press me further. Instead, she cleaned the injury and

hout the procedure, my e

structions to keep it clean and dry, avoid strenuous ac

fore leaving the

settled into a chair beside the window, care

siderably, but the ach

gone t

Cutting myself had been reckless. I knew that. For a brief moment, I had all

bered Vivienne k

y she had begged me to surrender my inheritance as

curled agai

e of them had genuinely asked whether I was all right.

anted

herit

remained of

n ringing ins

d saw my father's

stared at it before let

rived almost

. Please apologize to your gran

d it

I lau

rless sound that bare

cou

houlder. He wasn't wondering whether I had reached the hospital safely. He simply w

ways been

me to swallow my pain. He wanted a harmonious family, yet he neve

t was what made his in

he was caught between his wife and his daughter, that he was doin

g to a version of him that

red my

e to cut ties with

e a little, but not en

my phone and

nother face ent

that had carried neither mockery nor pit

re Cal

snappe

ld get m

rned with star

my lips

ter. I had replayed it enough times to know precisely how despera

, he had seen just how badly I wanted to es

alone made m

I been

anted to prove to myself that I could still make a

reckless moment, I

dore had

part I coul

red some hollow speech about how I would find the right man ev

that he couldn't h

e, his expectations, or what kind of husband he might become. A man l

I realized that I didn't need to understand h

offer st

eartbroken. Nor would I do it merely to mak

d my li

e of me. I wanted to own my decisions, protect what my mother had left me, and stop be

a risk. I und

e I was had become

chair, took one last look at the bandage beneath my sleeve, an

d his mind, I would ac

I would be the one