Chapter 82

The Departure

Charlotte paused mid-motion, the suitcase half-filled with clothes, she was leaving for good.

Leaving the city again, leaving everything behind, felt both like the only escape and an unbearable choice. But what was she supposed to do?

Every inch of her being screamed to flee, to keep herself and Jasmine away from the storm she had waded back into, the storm that now felt impossible to outrun.

The apartment was quiet, save for the soft hum of the refrigerator. Charlotte’s eyes wandered to the small stack of things that had once belonged to her mother.

They’d been tucked away in a cardboard box, hidden in the...