I let it happen.
I didn’t protect her.
She trusted me.
And I gutted her.
Publicly.
Viscerally.
I don’t know how my legs move, but they do. Shoving through the stunned crowd. Ignoring the voices calling after me.
I have to find her. I have to fix this.
I have to tell her that none of this matters. That she’smorethan her past. More than her wounds. More than every scar that stupid report dragged into the light. That she’s everything.
Everything I want.
Everything I need.
The conference doors slam behind me as I hit the hallway, my breath scraping raw in my throat.
“Rorie!” I call out, but my voice feels swallowed by the cavernous, echoing halls. She's nowhere. Just flickers of retreating footsteps and the distant creak of an exit door swinging shut.
I sprint, not thinking, not breathing, justmoving.
Down the hall. Past a stunned staff member. Shoving open the glass door to the terrace.
Outside, the mid-morning heat slams into me. The ocean churns in the distance, mocking my frantic heartbeat with its slow, calming rhythm.
There—
A flash of dark hair. A sway of a yellow blouse disappearing toward the private paths that thread toward the cottages.
“Rorie!”
She doesn't stop. Doesn't even glance back.
Chasing her down the winding trail, gravel crunches beneath my shoes. Every step driving the guilt deeper into my chest like a nail.
When I finally catch up, she's standing at the edge of the path, her back to me, her shoulders shaking in silent, furious sobs.
I don’t touch her. I don’t deserve to.
I stand there, pulse pounding in my ears, trying to find words whennothingcould possibly be enough.
“Rorie,” I rasp, voice broken. “I’m so fucking sorry.”
She turns—cautiously, as though eventhatcosts her something—and when her eyes meet mine, it’s like being carved open with a blade I handed her myself.
“You were supposed to be different,” she says, her voice shredded and raw. “You were supposed to besafe.You’ve hurt me too many times.”
I shake my head, throat tightening painfully. “I was. Iam.I didn’t... I never meant for any of this?—”
“You stole my life,” she cuts in, voice rising. “Youknewthings about me I neverwantedanyone to know. You knew about my mom. My dad. Aboutme.”
Each word lands like a slap.
