Chapter Isabelle Campbell
ISABELLE CAMPBELL
Watching Colin lying there on the grass, crying, tore something inside me.
I knew I was intruding on a private moment, and part of me felt awful for it—but another part knew, without a doubt, that he needed help.
When he finally sat up, I acted before I could think.
“Hey… it’s okay.” I wrapped my arms around him, but Colin just kept crying, his whole body shaking with grief.
The weight he carried in his chest was crushing, and I had no idea how to ease it. How could I, when Maddison was never coming back?
He bottled up all his anger and pain, never letting any of it out. I was terrified of the day he’d reach his breaking point—when he’d stop wanting help altogether and drown in something so dark it might destroy him.
“You don’t have to stay here,” he whispered.
“Leaving you like this isn’t an option.”
“Isabelle, please…”
“I’m not leaving you! I’m not!”
I held him tighter. He didn’t fight me, but he didn’t turn to face me either. Listening to him cry while staring at his daughter’s grave shattered me in ways I didn’t know I could break. Watching that scene—his pain, his loss—was almost unbearable.
Minutes passed. Colin and I stayed there, both kneeling before Maddison’s grave. It felt too personal, too sacred, and I couldn’t help but think I didn’t belong in that moment. It was his.
“Dad.”
The small voice came from behind us, and Colin turned, startled.
His face was wrecked. His eyes looked darker than usual, lifeless.
The sadness etched into his features wasn’t ordinary—it was the kind that hollowed you out from the inside.
Seeing it undid me, piece by piece. I didn’t know why I cared so much for Colin Adams…
only that I did. And I wasn’t going to abandon him.
“What are you doing here?”
“I asked to come. I was worried about you. Isabelle brought me.”
Normally, he’d have lectured me for that. But instead, Colin forced a faint smile and said, “This is your sister’s grave. And your mom’s is right beside it.”
I’d assumed Joshua had been there for their burial, but apparently, he hadn’t.
“I was never brave enough to come before, Dad.”
“I’ll give you two some time alone.”
“Stay,” Colin said quickly, urgency in his voice. “You don’t have to go. I… I want you here.”
I nodded.
They stood there, both staring quietly at the gravestones. Neither spoke for several minutes.
“Dad,” Joshua finally said, “I’m not as scared to ride in the car anymore.”
“I’m proud of you, son,” Colin replied softly.
We stayed at the cemetery for a while longer before heading back to the mansion. Colin didn’t say a word about us having followed him; when we got home, he went straight to his room without speaking to anyone.
Helen was in the foyer when we arrived, watching us carefully, though she didn’t say anything at first.
“I think you know something about the accident that killed Colin’s wife and daughter,” I said softly. “Please, tell me what happened?”
Helen hesitated.
“Isabelle, you think I know, but I don’t.
What I do remember is that Jeniffer and Colin were fighting a lot during the month before she died—and that wasn’t normal for them.
They were always cheerful, always playing with Joshua and Maddison.
A normal, happy family. Something happened, yes, but I can’t tell you what, because I honestly don’t know. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” I gave her a small smile and nodded. There was no reason to doubt her.
But despite what I said, it wasn’t really okay. Something had happened—I just didn’t know what.
Not yet.
But I would find out.