Chapter 505

“I’ll make it up to you for what my father did.”

The words felt like a dull knife twisting in my chest. I looked straight at him. “Hayden, are you really just accepting this?”

“Haven’t you been digging into this the whole time?”

“Is this all you found—that your father tampered with the brakes and caused my parents’ deaths?”

We’d suspected it might be true, but he’d promised me answers, promised me closure. And now, instead of giving me that, he was just… accepting this inconclusive report. Even the police couldn’t say it for sure.

Was this some kind of brush-off? Or did he just want me to hate him, to resent him because of his dad?

He didn’t look at me, didn’t say a word. The bitterness tightened in my chest as I thought about how easily he’d pushed me away. “Hayden… did you already know about this? Is that why you broke up with me over what happened in Houston? Was it—just an excuse?”

“No,” he said firmly.

My eyes wavered. He looked down, watching the raindrops splatter on the ground. “I’m still investigating. If I find anything… I’ll tell you the whole truth. But right now, all we have is this report, and it names my father as the prime suspect.”

I felt my breath hitch. “If… if Houston hadn’t happened, and we were standing here with this report, would you still have broken up with me?”

He met my eyes, his gaze dark, almost haunted. “I don’t know. Maybe… maybe I would.”

“Maybe”? What does maybe even mean?” I demanded.

“Because I don’t want you tied to the son of a murderer. I don’t want you carrying that weight over your own parents,” he said, his throat bobbing as he swallowed, “Keira, maybe we were never meant to be together.”

Fated, huh?

I stared at him, a hollow laugh escaping. “Hayden, if you don’t want to be with me, you don’t need excuses or justifications. And don’t act like it’s for my sake.” I looked him over, and suddenly, he felt like a stranger, even though he looked the same as ever.

Funny how just a few days apart could turn someone so familiar into someone so distant.

“I won’t cling to you. If you want to break up, then fine, we’ll break up. And as for whatever happened between our parents? Even if it was your father’s fault, I won’t hold that against you,” I said, glancing toward my parents’ graves.

They’d always taught me that hate only breeds more hate.

Once, I’d asked if they resented their own parents for abandoning them, for leaving them to grow up as orphans. They’d just laughed and said no. They told me that because of that life, they’d met each other at the orphanage. And eventually, they’d had me.

“Hayden, you’re you, and your father is your father. I knew from the start my dad’s death might be connected to yours, but I still chose to be with you.” I gave a small, tired smile. “When it came to loving you, I didn’t waver. I never once thought of leaving you over this.”

I saw a flicker of emotion flash across his face, the turmoil in his eyes. My words hit hard.

So he did still love me—just less than he feared I might not trust him.

Turning back, I took a few steps closer to my parents’ gravestone. “Mom, Dad, this report finally explains why you were taken, why you left so suddenly. But in the end, it doesn’t change anything. You’re gone, you’re not coming back.”

I placed the report down on their graves, watching as heavy raindrops soaked it, the ink bleeding and fading until the words blurred out of existence.

I looked back at Hayden. “Goodbye, Hayden.”

That single goodbye closed the chapter. From this moment on, he was on his own, and so was I. No love. No hate. Just… nothing.

Chapter 500