Page 76 of Bittersweet Revenge

“Answer the question.”

“What’s not to love?” he replied. Whilst he didn't say the words, I knew exactly what he’d meant.

“You need to be strong for her. You need to remember that what Esmeralda wants and what is good for her might sometimes be two diametrically opposed concepts.”

“Why are you telling me all this?”

“Because I know what you did in Port Harbor.”

“Oh…”

I leaned back in the chair and closed my eyes.

“Did she tell you?”

“Does it matter who told me?”

He laughed. “Yes, it does. Because if she had, you wouldn’t be calling me conceding defeat.”

I opened my eyes, looking at the door. “I’m not conceding anything. She isn’t mine to keep.”

He sighed. “Listen, man. It’s no secret I care about her a lot. I kick myself every day for letting her go without telling her, but it’s done now and there is no turning back.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that I tried to kiss her in Port Harbor and she pushed me back. She never said it was for you, but–”

“It wasn’t for me.” I’d made up my mind; we were bad for each other. I was dimming her light and she was driving me to the borders of insanity.

“If you say so. But I promise, I’ll keep her safe.”

“Your statement lacks conviction.”

“Because she’s not coming back. I’d like her to. I really would, but she won’t.”

I shook my head. “Okay, whatever, just... Just be good to her.” I hung up before I could hear his irritating voice anymore.

I needed to go to school now, speak with Esmeralda and Archibald. We needed to decide on a plan of action before Esmeralda and I went to the lawyers. I knew Luke had contacted my father to help him pay for college. It was something that Archibald and I could easily do.

I was halfway down Mount Hill when I was stopped by a barricade of police cars.

I hit the horn with frustration. Fucking stupid kid had probably raced down the hill with his new sports car without any idea of how to control the horsepower. It happened all the time.

A policeman approached me.

“I need to go through,” I growled. We owned the police. There was no reason to pretend we didn’t.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Astor. I wish I could let you, but there’s a casualty on the scene. You have no other choice than to turn around.”

I followed his gesture with my eyes to the coroner’s truck and I froze. Between the police lines and truck, there was a flash of red. Even from this distance, I could not miss the license plate, the one I had customized to say, ‘Ang3l5’. Bile rose up my throat as cold sweat ran down my spine. It couldn’t be…

I opened my door, dodged the chubby cop, and ran to the accident scene, all the while ignoring the screaming man behind me.

My knees gave in. I hadn’t even realized they had until they met the unforgiving asphalt.

The car was wrapped around a tree. The lifeless body that had gone through the windshield was resting crookedly on what was left of the bonnet. Her long brown hair was caked with blood. Her lifeless mangled arms dangled, dropping blood on the pavement. This was the moment I felt it - my death. I’d thought it was a figure of speech, but it wasn’t. Esmeralda was dead and I was dying inside.

My heart stopped. My breathing stopped. Fuck, mylifestopped as I realized, much too late, that I couldn’t do this without her.

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