Page 144 of Sinful Games

Why wasn’t she here?

“CAIA!”

Nothing.

No answer. No sound.

Just the silence.

That thick, choking silence clawed at my throat like a ravenous beast, scraping my skin raw and gnawing at my bones, suffocating me with its relentless, insatiable hunger.

My legs barely carrying me as I sprinted down the hallway with my son’s body still in my arms.

Where was she?

She couldn’t be gone too. She couldn’t be?—

No. No.

I shoved open the office door, my breath catching in my throat, and then?—

I froze.

Blood.

So much fucking blood.

My stomach dropped, my vision blurred, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the sight before me.

Caia.

My Caia.

She was lying there, lifeless, drenched in blood. Her white dress?—

The dress she’d been wearing this morning?—

Soaked, drenched, sticky with it, the crimson pooling around her like a sickening halo. Her hair, once golden, now matted, tangled in the blood, her face pale. Too pale.

I fell.

Not knelt. Fell to my knees, the breath leaving my lungs in a shuddering gasp, the world spinning around me.

“Caia!”

Her name ripped from my throat, but it wasn’t a name anymore. It was a cry, a scream, a raw, broken sound that shattered the air.

I reached for her, my hands trembling so violently I could barely grasp her.

“No—no, baby, wake up. Wake up.” My voice broke, the words falling from my lips like shattered glass. “Please, wake up. Please… I can’t do this without you. I can’t.”

I shook her, gently at first, then harder, my hands desperate, frantic.

But she didn’t move.

She didn’t fucking move.

Gone.

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