Echoes of a broken past

d as if it might burst from her chest, and she could feel her palms growing clammy

e of a knife. His posture oozed confidence, his victory already secured in his mind. "Your

king flick of his wrist, he tossed them toward her. The papers flutte

of her uncle's words settling like a stone in her stomach. Slowly, she turn

ather's name scrawled in

disbelief and confusion. How could this be? Her father would never willingly han

darted up to Whittaker, searching his face for answers, but all she found

ker snapped, his tone lace

anger. Her grief had begun to mix with rage, forming a volatile storm in her chest. "Even if

r seat. Her face twisted with fury, and without hesitation

across her face, but it was the

dripping with venom. "Don't you get it? You don't belong here anymore. Everything your

her heart breaking from the cruelty of the words. Leticia's

ng to a shrill pitch. "You're leaving tomorrow morning, an

p Leticia's tirade. But he sat silently, his expression cold and indifferent. He d

ir. With no fight left in her, she trudged up the

onto the bed. The tears came in a torrent, hot

voice shaking with despair. "How can so many terrible thi

sity. His words echoed in her mind, a faint glimmer of hope amidst the darkness: "It is

cried herself to sleep, her bo

est was s

Bang!

sts pounding on her d

cia's voice cut through the silence, sharp and mer

ill groggy from sleep, but the weight of Letic

fe of humiliation even deeper. Leticia wasn't just trying to force her out-she

uppet with its strings cut, trying desperately to hold herself together. As she

g with sarcasm. "I was beginning to think

s. Her grief and anger swirled together in a toxic mix,

is expression unreadable. The man who had once been her father's tru

her father, her home, and now the people who should have been her family

e might have lost everything, but she refused