Prologue
Dahlia
Twenty years old
Hot tears etched their way down the delicate skin of my face. My heart leaped into my throat. I tried to scream to expel all the fury broiling inside me. In vain. No sound came out of my mouth. Not even the sobs building in the depths of me.
This day should’ve been one to remember. One to celebrate.
The happiest of my life so far. One to bring sparkles of joy to my eyes.
Instead…
I was a train wreck.
A ball of sadness.
A bomb about to explode.
Anger and grief twisted around inside me. I didn’t know where one ended and the other began.
How could this happen?
My day should’ve been blissful—or I always thought that was how it was supposed to be. I had no idea, as I’d never put too much thought into this before.
Right now, I didn’t have anything to feel festive about. I was about to shatter the heart of one of the two people I loved the most in this world. My insides roared and ignited into a blaze, burning everything in their wake.
What had I done?
My back found the wall behind me, and I slid down it, curling into a ball on the floor.
I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to ease the pain. I wasn’t sick, not really, but the thought of breaking someone’s heart—someone I loved most of all—was enough to draw me into a spiral of darkness.
I closed my eyes.
My breath caught in my lungs. I coughed, trying to get rid of the heaviness in my chest.
It wouldn’t go away.
A faint knock on the door startled me.
“Hey, Dah. Are you in here?” he asked.
I said nothing. Because I had nothing to say, anyway. He’d find out soon enough.
I closed my trembling fist and let reality kick in.
Nothing would ever be the same again.
I breathed in. One... Two... Three...
Time to face the music.
Yeah, no pun intended.
Just a new chapter of life. One I wasn’t sure I was ready to tackle.