Chapter 5

Aminda POV

The sickening crack of bone meeting bone was the loudest thing I had ever heard.

Colton stumbled back, his shoulder crashing into the wall. He looked at Jayden with a mask of pure disbelief, touching his bleeding lip.

"Jayden! Have you lost your mind?"

"I'm not the one who's insane!" Jayden roared. He didn't stop. He grabbed Colton by the lapels of his tuxedo and slammed him against the doorframe so hard the wood groaned.

"Look at her! Just look at what you did!"

Isaias rushed to my side, snatching a towel to dab the scalding soup from my neck. His hands were trembling, though his touch remained gentle.

"Amy, are you okay? God, Amy..."

I couldn't speak. My mouth felt like it was filled with broken glass and fire. I just nodded, tears streaming down my face in hot, silent tracks.

"She broke Dad's box!" Colton yelled, shoving at Jayden's chest in a desperate attempt to free himself. "She accused Charlie of poisoning her!"

"You idiot," Jayden spat, his face inches from Colton's. "Charlie has been playing you since she got off the plane! Aminda spent three months restoring that box with a toothbrush and oil! Why the hell would she break it?"

"Because she's jealous!" Colton shouted back, his eyes wild. "She's obsessed with me!"

"She's not obsessed with you," Isaias said, his voice cutting through the noise like a blade of ice. "She loved you. And you just beat that love right out of her."

Colton froze. For a second, the words seemed to penetrate his rage. He looked at me-really looked at me-huddled in the bed, covered in broth and blood.

Then Charlie stepped between them.

"Don't let them bully you, Colty," she cried, her voice pitching up into a perfect, wounded whine. "They've always hated me. They want you to be with the help because she's easy to control."

Colton's eyes hardened again. The wall went back up, impenetrable and cold.

"Get off me, Jayden."

Jayden let go, shoving him away with visceral disgust. "We're done, Colt. You and me. Done."

"Fine." Colton straightened his tie, regaining his composure with terrifying speed. "Choose the help over your brother. See if I care. But if any of you come near Charlie again, I'll have you arrested."

He looked at me one last time.

"You heard me, Aminda. You're dead to me. Disappear."

"I will," I rasped. My voice was a ruined wreck.

Colton grabbed Charlie's hand and stormed out of the room.

The silence they left in their wake was suffocating.

"I'm going to kill him," Jayden whispered, pacing the room like a caged animal. "I'm going to destroy his company."

"No," I said. It hurt to talk, but I forced the words past my swollen lips. "Jayden, stop."

"How can you protect him?" Isaias asked, looking at me with pained eyes.

"I'm not protecting him," I said. I sat up, wincing as my head throbbed in time with my heartbeat. "I'm protecting you. He's powerful. He's vindictive. And right now, he's blind."

I reached for my suitcase.

"I need to go. Now. Before he changes his mind and calls the police to stop me."

"We're coming with you," Jayden said instantly.

"No." I shook my head. "You have lives here. You have jobs. If you leave, he wins. He destroys everything."

I stood up. My legs were shaky, but I forced them to hold my weight.

"I need to do this alone," I said. "I need to find who I am when I'm not 'Colton's therapist'."

Jayden looked like he wanted to argue, but Isaias put a restraining hand on his shoulder.

"Let her go, Jay," Isaias said softly. "This place... it's poison to her now."

They drove me to the airport in silence.

At the terminal, Jayden hugged me so hard I thought my ribs would crack.

"Call us," he said, his voice thick with emotion. "Every day. If you need money, if you need anything."

"I have the check," I said, patting my bag. The severance. "I'm going to use it. I'm going to build something he can't touch."

I walked through security.

I didn't look back at the city skyline. I didn't look back at the friends I was leaving behind.

I found a trash can near the gate.

I pulled out my phone. I scrolled through my photos. Three years of memories. Colton learning to stand. Colton smiling at a joke I made. Colton sleeping.

Delete. Delete. Delete.

Then, I took out the SIM card.

I snapped it in half, the plastic crunching under my fingers-a sound eerily similar to the hair clip I had broken earlier.

I dropped the pieces into the trash.

My flight was called.

I boarded the plane, found my seat by the window, and closed my eyes.

A single tear escaped, sliding down my cheek to sting the burn on my lip.

That was the last tear Colton Carlton would ever wring out of me.

When I opened my eyes, they were dry. The plane taxied down the runway, gathering speed. We lifted off, leaving the gravity of my past behind.

I looked down at the shrinking lights of the city. Somewhere down there, Colton was celebrating his engagement, thinking he had won.

He had no idea. He hadn't won. He had just set me free.