The sky was overcast the next afternoon, painting the city in muted greys. The kind of day where everything felt dull—except for Monica’s racing heartbeat as she stood across the street from the Coles residence in a delivery van she “borrowed” under a false name.
Her father had given her strict orders:
No more Sky.
But Monica never listened when it came to Sky. Because despite the madness, despite the lies and destruction—he was the only thing in the world that made her feel real.
And she wasn’t going to let him go. Not yet.
She lifted the phone from the passenger seat and stared at a photo she’d taken—Sky on the schoolyard weeks ago, laughing, free. The image made her chest tighten.
“I just need five minutes,” she whispered to herself. “Five minutes to tell him the truth. To remind
