Oh, God, it was Danica.She had tried to run her over.
She didn’t say the words, but they were there, heavy and unmistakable.
Chloe’s nails bit into her palms.
“I broke into your apartment,” Danica went on with her litany of crimes, the shame finally cracking her voice.“I needed proof that I still mattered somehow.That I could get close to you if I wanted to.”She shook her head.“God, listen to me.That’s not love.That’s sickness.”
Silence pressed in, thick and suffocating.Chloe didn’t trust herself to speak.
“I kept telling myself I just needed a win,” Danica whispered.“One thing.But the truth is, I need help.Real help.”
Emotion clogged in Chloe’s throat.
“I’m going to therapy,” Danica announced.“And I’m taking time away.From you and from everything.”Her gaze dropped.“I don’t want to hurt you anymore.”
Chloe drew in a slow breath.Then another.The aching knot in her throat filled with anger, grief, and betrayal finally loosened enough to let air through.
“I forgive you,” she said.
Danica looked up, startled, as if she hadn’t allowed herself to hope for that outcome.
Chloe didn’t smile.Forgiveness didn’t mean forgetting.It didn’t mean excusing.It meant she was done carrying Danica’s poison inside her own body.
“But this is the last time you get to choose pain for me,” Chloe added softly.
Danica nodded, tears slipping free at last.
Chloe reached out and squeezed her sister’s hand.“I love you.That hasn’t changed.”
When she left the room, Chloe felt lighter.Not healed or fixed, but steadier.Stronger in a quieter way.Maybe Danica would get better.Maybe not.But Chloe was done feeling guilty about their relationship.
She returned to Kayne’s bedside and sank back into the chair, watching the slow rise and fall of his chest.For the first time since this nightmare began, she believed the future might be something she could step into without fear.
She stayed right there, keeping watch, because love, she was learning, wasn’t just about surviving the danger.It was about choosing what came after.
Chapter Thirty-Four
