Chapters (66)
- PREFACE
- Full Page Image
- ONE
- TWO
- One week ago
- THREE
- Present day
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- FIFTY-SEVEN
- FIFTY-EIGHT
- FIFTY-NINE
- SIXTY
- SIXTY-ONE
- SIXTY-TWO
Taking a step forward, I raise myself on the tips of my toes and plant a quick kiss at the corner of his lips. Yet just as I lean back, his image starts distorting, the memory shaky.
"Nikki?" I frown, reaching out for him. Before I can touch him, I'm thrust back by an unknown force, almost as if I'm being swept in a vacuum.
Before I can blink, I find myself between four familiar walls.
THIRTY-SIX
Tears course down my cheeks as I stare at the broken mirror and the shards of glass scattered across the floor. My white dress is stained with red, blood dripping from my hands onto the lace I'd so carefully chosen for this special occasion. There is pain. But it's not just physical. There's a fire burning inside my chest that no medication could cure.
I heave loudly as sobs rack my body, my legs shaking uncontrollably until I buckle to the ground, my knees hitting the hard floor. Pieces of glass break through the surface of my skin, and a muffled cry escapes my lips as I bottle up even more pain.
There's one last intact piece of the mirror in front of me, my pathetic reflection staring back and taunting me with all my shortcomings. I should have never left the hacienda. How did I survive when everyone else died? Why the hell am I still here?
Images of my last day at the hacienda flash before my eyes. Instead of saving Noelle, I doomed her to a worse fate. And it was all because I left when I shouldn't have; it was all because I let Nikki convince me to leave.
It should have been me who died in that fire, not Noelle.
From the start, it should have been me...
My hands wander around the floor, picking up a piece of glass and tracing my fingers around the sharp edge. The pain helps, the familiar sting jolting me back to the past—to an era I can't possibly forget.
The door to my room bursts open, Nikki charging inside with a wild expression on his face. He's wearing a three-piece suit, looking dashing for what was supposed to be a happy occasion.
His eyes widen as he sees me hunched over in my bloodied dress, holding tightly onto the sharp glass in my hand.
"Luce, sweetheart..." he whispers in a ragged, pained voice.
He falls to his knees beside me, unclasps my fingers from around the glass, and throws it aside. My blood transfers onto his hands, seeping into his skin, forging yet another connection between us.
"What's wrong? What's happening?" he asks, breathing harshly.
"I can't do this, Nikki..." I sob. "I can't do this..."
"What? What is it? Tell me and we'll fix it," he tells me in a pleading tone, his eyes glistening with tears as he takes in my disheveled appearance.