Page 76 of Sage Haven

---

But there I was, breaking my own rules.

Again.

Something about her made me do this.

Made me question every line I’d drawn in the sand.

Every boundary I swore I’d never cross.

And then I crossed them.

Every single one.

But the longer I watched her, the harder it became to justify what I was doing.

She wasn’t doing anything suspicious.

She wasn’t making calls to Klay.

She wasn’t plotting.

She wasn’t anything I should’ve feared.

She was just existing.

Barely.

She stayed inside, hidden away, like a ghost haunting her own skin.

The fire I’d seen in her—gone.

Snuffed out.

The woman who had walked my field with peace in her eyes, who had knelt in the wildflowers as if they were sacred—empty.

And maybe she always had been, even before she met me.

She barely left for work.

And when she did, I saw the weight dragging behind her like chains.

She was unraveling and I hated that I was the one who pulled the thread loose.

Sam tried.

I saw her in the background sometimes—her pleading by the door.

Trying to draw Sage out.

Trying to stitch her back together.

But Sage refused.

Again.

And again.

And I felt relief at her refusal because it meant she was safe inside that apartment.

---