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Chapter 12
Logan’s hand trembled as he turned the next page.
My handwriting continued.
“Logan wrote a diary for me and that made me a little happy.
But I hope he never read this one.
If there is a next life, I won’t take him in at the convenience store that night.”
His chest felt as though it were gripped by a giant hand. Pain twisted through him, suffocating and unrelenting.
Logan clutched the tombstone. The sharp edge dug into his palm, drawing blood, but he couldn’t feel a thing.
It turned out I had known all along he was pretending.
It turned out I had dragged my failing body to care for him, day after day.
It turned out he couldn’t let me go, far more than he had ever imagined.
He thought of the first time he saw me, in that quiet little shop under the dim light. I had worn a tired smile.
He remembered the way I fussed over drinks behind the counter, always trying to make something better just to make him feel a little less miserable.
He remembered the way I kicked at loose stones as we walked side by side under streetlights, chatting softly.
I never put myself first. Not once.
His heart thudded wildly.
At the time, he had thought of me as a way to pass time after Grace left.
He never realized how deep he had fallen.
And now, that person had completely vanished from his world.
A low rumble sounded in the sky.
Rain began to pour, cold and drenching.
James ran over, umbrella in hand.
“Logan, it’s no use. You can’t bring her back-”
Before he could finish, Logan’s fist slammed into his face.
James stumbled to the ground, stunned.
Logan didn’t care how he looked, rain pouring down, hair soaked, eyes red with fury.
“Why did you encourage me to fake my death? Why did you let me treat Emily like that?”
“You’re a doctor. You’re a damn doctor. Couldn’t you tell how sick she was?”
“Why didn’t you stop me? I could have-”
He broke off, chest heaving.
Chapter 12
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“I could have saved her…”
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James stayed on the ground, rain soaking his shirt.
Of course he had seen how unwell I was. But Logan never said he cared and Grace had pressured him to get rid of me as quickly as possible.
James had been too eager to secure his position with the Logan and Grace alliance. He
had never cared about me.
I was just collateral damage.
Logan’s laughter cracked through the air, brittle and hollow.
The rain mixed with tears on his face, indistinguishable.
What right did he have to blame James?
He had lived with me, seen me wasting away, felt how light my bones were when he held
- me. And he hadn’t noticed.
I vomited every morning and he assumed I was pregnant.
I swallowed painkillers by the handful and he ignored it, too busy plotting his escape.
He was the one most responsible for my death.
The rain grew heavier, misting the ground in a fog.
Logan scrambled to place the diary back in the transparent box so it wouldn’t get wet.
My phone rang again.
It was the insurance company, urging me to come in and sign the documents for the fifty million dollars.
Logan’s voice broke as he screamed into the rain–drenched silence.
“Get out!”
The call cut off immediately.
Rain splattered across the screen. Logan rushed back into the car, shielding the phone in
his hands.
He wiped the water from the screen carefully.
It was the last thing I had touched.
He couldn’t let it break.
The air conditioning hummed softly. Rain soaked into his bones and a shiver rolled through his body.
By accident, the phone opened to her messages.
Logan froze.
One after another, the messages appeared.
Photos.
The ones Grace had sent.
Hand–holding. Kissing. Even in bed.
Chapter 12.
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Each one had been delivered Each one had bun ond
Logan’s mind went blank
(had known.
From the beginning, I had seen it sli
