Page 132 of Cruel Promise

I did this to myself. Because I couldn’t trust that Ava could love me for me. She’s right. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.

After I give her the address, she walks away, and I don’t do anything to keep her from leaving.

AVA

The apartment building’s front entrance is covered in trash. That’s to be expected in New York, but to know that my mom is living somewhere like this breaks my heart.

Our apartment back in New Haven was small, but it was cute. It was a home.

This place just feels devoid of life.

I walk up to the second floor where her apartment is. When I find the number—6A—I knock.

There’s still a part of me that doesn’t believe any of this is real.

Then the door opens, and there she is.

My mom.

She gasps at the sight of me. “Ava?”

“Mom?”

We’re in each other’s arms within seconds, clinging to each other and sobbing. We stay like this for a long time.

Being back in my mom’s arms feels like breathing. I’m finally home again. I have the one person in this entire world who I know I can trust and depend on. I thought I was starting to findthat with Nikolai, but he lied to me. He kept myown motherfrom me.

Sure, he wasn’t hiding her away, but he didn’t tell me he knew she was alive just so he could make sure I didn’t leave him. I don’t know how I thought I was falling in love with him. I must have gotten mixed up in everything.

“Baby?” Mom says, pulling back and cupping my face. It reminds me of how Nik would hold my face, and I hate that I even have that memory. “You’re really here?”

“I’m here. You’re alive.”

“I am.”

“Tell me everything.”

She lets me into her tiny studio apartment. It’s not homey like our place back in New Haven. This place has no personality. It barely has any furniture except for a couch pushed up against a wall.

“You’ve been living here?” I ask.

“I have. I couldn’t afford much else, especially with all my new medical debt.”

“Tell me, Mom.” We sit down on the couch together, our hands clasped. I’m not ready to let her go yet. Touching her lets me know she really is here. That she really is alive.

“Your father shot me.”

“I know. I saw.”

“And I saw him drag you out of the apartment. I tried calling out for you, but no sound came out. I think I was in too much pain or too much shock or both. I have no idea. I just knew he was going to hurt you. I knew I was losing you forever.”

“You have me now.”

“And I’m so grateful for that,” she says as tears stream down her eyes. “I never thought I’d see you again. What happened? What did he do to you?”

“I’ll tell you everything, but I need to know how you survived. I thought you were dead. This whole time I thought you were dead.”

She nods, wiping at her face. “I felt dead. But I knew I had to keep fighting for you. I couldn’t give up. So, I managed to call 9-1-1. They got to me in time and brought me to the hospital. The doctor told me I was lucky to be alive. Most people would have died from a gunshot wound to the stomach. But I told him I was fighting for my daughter.” She squeezes my hand. “I will always fight for you.”

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