Page 64 of Die For Me

“Free, Hana? Youarefree. You’re free to do whatever the fuck you want,” Jack responded harshly. “You’re free to leave me. You’re free to leave Michael. You’ve had this power the whole time, damnit!”

I turned to him and shook my head. Tears were streaming down his face now as well. “I’m powerless with you two. Even when I’ve been given it, I won’t ever be able to use it.”

His eyes widened.

“Hana, maybe we can all calm down and talk at the apartment,” Michael said gently beside us.

“No.” I shook my head again. “You two stay here. I need space. I need time alone.”

The elevator doors pinged open, and I quickly walked in. “Don’t follow me.”

I watched their confused, hurt faces as the elevator doors closed.

Emily

Adam and I were watching reruns of a trash TV show, both of us mindlessly on our phones and only half-paying attention to the show, when I suddenly heard something odd in the hallway. I quickly grabbed the remote to turn down the volume.

“What’s wrong?” Adam looked up at me.

“Shhh!” I looked around our apartment as if that would give me the answer.

It sounded like sobs coming from one of our neighbors.

“Do you hear that?” I asked Adam as I stood and investigated.

“Someone crying?” he wondered aloud.

I quickly went to the front door and looked out the peephole.

I gasped. “Oh my God.” I opened the door, finding Hana slumped down on the floor against the wall and sobbing into her knees.

“Hana!” I sat down in front of her, taking her hand. “Hana, are you okay?”

I swear I started seeing red. If one of them hurt her, I was going to prison for murder.

She shook her head no, still sobbing uncontrollably.

“Did they hurt you? What happened?”

I saw Adam in the doorway and I shooed him away, trying to give Hana privacy. I didn’t know what else to do other than put my hand on Hana’s back and rub around in circles. Somethingwas going on, and I needed to know what it was so I could take action. But first, I needed to make sure my cousin was okay. Seeing her this way broke my heart, and I started to cry too.

“Han,” I said quietly as her sobs lessened, her breath hiccuping in her chest. “Come inside. Let me get you some water.”

She shook her head again, finally looking up at me. Her tear-soaked eyes were red and puffy.

“I can’t bother you with this, Emily. You won’t understand. I just…I didn’t know where else to go.” Her voice was small and shaky.

I sighed. “You don’t have to talk. Just come inside. Who knows what the fuck kind of germs are on this shit hole floor.”

I got a smile out of her. She finally nodded and took my hand, both of us getting up and slowly walking through the door.

Adam sat casually at the kitchen table, looking down at his phone before looking up at us. I shook my head at him as I guided Hana into the privacy of our bedroom. I closed the door behind us as she sat at the edge of the bed, throwing her purse on the floor. Our bedroom was an absolute disaster, but Hana didn’t even seem to notice.

“We all went on a date at the new rooftop bar near Greenpoint,” she started, still looking down at the floor. “They wouldn’t stop fucking bickering. It made me realize that this was never going to work.”

She looked up at me with hesitant eyes and shook her head. “Why can’t I just fucking pick one, Emily? What’s wrong with me? I can’t live without them.”

I would never understand her love and loyalty to those two men who pretended to be perfect—she knew that. But she still wanted to confide in me. She trusted me, and I had to listen; I had to be her rock.

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