Chapter 6

Sean Parker didn't know that my lowest point wasn't right now.

The year we graduated, we made plans to move to the same city, start our careers together. I was supposed to go home for a bit to pack, and then we'd head off.

But when I stepped through that door, I found a nightmare waiting for me.

My stepfather had my mother pinned to the ground. One hand was pressing her face into the floor, while the other was raining punches down on her.

When he saw me, he didn't stop. He hit her even harder.

"You worthless bitch! You're just as cheap as your daughter. You eat my food, drink my booze, and when it's time to serve me, you don't want to? I'll beat you to death!"

His words and my mother's screams became a blur of noise that stabbed at my ears, twisted my insides.

I couldn't just stand there. I rushed toward him, shoving him off her.

But I was no match for him. In an instant, he was back on his feet and slapped me hard across the face.

My mother, gasping and bleeding, tried to crawl to him, clutching his leg. "Please... stop. The child will make money in the future..."

The mention of money only made him angrier. He shoved her away and lunged at me, hands around my throat.

I couldn't breathe. For a moment, I thought I was going to die there, in that house, suffocating.

Then my hand found a fruit knife on the table. Without thinking, I drove it into his chest.

Just like that, at barely twenty years old, I became a murderer.

The day I was waiting for my sentencing, I called Sean Parker.

When he answered, the first thing he said was, "Why'd you go cold on me?"

I wiped my eyes, though the tears had dried long ago, and for the first time, I spoke to him with real bitterness.

"Sean," I said, my voice sharp. "I'll be honest. In a couple of days, I'm leaving. I'm going abroad. I'm going to live the good life."

I didn't care anymore. "Only an idiot would stay with someone like you."

Those words were like a knife to his chest.

He was struggling, broke as hell, and I knew those words crushed him.

His voice trembled when he said, "Don't regret it."

And just like that, we never spoke again.

I was sentenced to five years for manslaughter. A week later, my mother hanged herself.

I lost everything. My mother. My freedom. My whole damn future.

I regretted it more than I could say, but it didn't matter. It was too late.

Sean Parker... he was incredible. No one would ever compare to him.

And I? I wasn't even a shadow of the person I used to be.

After I got out of prison, no company would hire me. I finally scraped together a job as a food delivery driver.

But when my criminal record came to light, the manager who had been kind to me turned stone cold.

"You little brat," he hissed. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you could cause this company? Get out. And don't ever come back."

Who would've guessed? Me, a graduate from a top university, now unable to even be a delivery driver.

I barely survived, doing odd jobs and small businesses with the skills I learned in prison. Every day was a grind, working nonstop just to make ends meet.

The money Sean handed me today? It was probably what I'd make in a whole month.

But I couldn't take it.

That money hitting my hands felt worse than a slap to the face.

Later, I got a call from my old college roommate, Claire White.

She was the only friend I had left from my old life.

"Thea, I invited Sean to my wedding next month," she said, sounding a little guilty. "My dad's working with him now, so I didn't really have a choice."

She paused. "But you *have* to come. We promised we would."

I looked at the money Sean had given me, still sitting there untouched on the table. I folded it up slowly and tucked it away.

"It's fine," I said, my voice calm. "I've got something to return to him anyway."

Once I give it back, I can finally let go.