Page 140 of Cruel Deception

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I stare at him. Long. Empty.

Then I take a step back.

Not mercy.

Just silence.

The rope stays taut. For now.

I turn away from him.

Toward the edge.

Where the sky ends and the black sea begins.

Charlotte left me.

She. Left. Me.

And I don’t know how to live in a world where she’s not mine anymore.

I lower myself down slowly, knees to stone, bones grinding, skin scraping gravel. The wind slaps my face. The cold doesn’t touch the fire inside me. That’s what grief does—it burns even when the world freezes.

The rain starts.

Not gentle.

Punishing.

Let it fall. Let it beat me. Let it drown me.

But it can’t fucking fix me.

I tip my head back. Close my eyes.

“Charlotte, I’ll wait here,” I whisper into the roar.

Two days, three days, four weeks... one year.

I’ll sit here on this cliff until my body can no longer take it.

Until my soul rots from the inside out.”

I press a trembling hand to my chest, over the place she once rested her head.

“Please...”

“Come back to me.”

“Come back to me.”

“Come back to me, Charlotte.”

“Come back...”

I fold forward, forehead pressed to my knees, whispering it like a curse, like a prayer.

Come back. Come back. Come back. Come back.

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