Page 52 of Rhys: and the girl who was always his

But before I can say anything else, the door opens again, and Yasmin steps inside. She’s got that soft, steady energy that always makes people feel safe.

Her eyes flick from me to Rhys, then back again. “Hey.”

“Hey,” I croak.

She smiles and pulls a chair closer. “You scared the shit out of all of us.”

I manage a shaky grin. “Apparently that’s my thing lately.”

Yasmin reaches over, squeezing my arm. “You’re not alone, okay? We’re with you. Every step.”

Rhys nods beside me. “Every single one.”

And for the first time since I opened my eyes, I let myself believe them.

Just a little.

Because maybe, just maybe, I don’t have to carry this alone.

CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE

RHYS

The moment I step through the front door, I know something’s off.

It’s too quiet.

Not the good kind, either—not the soft, sleepy silence that usually wraps around me when Ally’s curled up on the couch, legs tangled in a blanket, some dumb reality show playing in the background while she scrolls on her phone and pretends she’s not watching.

This silence feels hollow.

Like something’s missing.

Likesomeoneis.

“Ally?” I call, my voice cutting through the stillness.

No response.

She’s supposed to be here. She forced me to go to school today with the promise that she’d be resting at home when I got back.

I move deeper into the house. The air feels wrong—like it’s holding its breath. No lights are on. The cushions are still fluffed. There’s no half-drunk cup of tea, no shoes kicked off haphazardly at the door.

Just absence.

And then I hear it. A door creaking open behind me.

I turn to find Arden standing in the hallway. Arms crossed, expression unreadable—but his eyes... His eyes give it away.

They’re heavy.

“She left,” he says. Quiet. Certain.

The words don’t hit me all at once. They land in pieces.

“She’s what?”

“She left,” he repeats like saying it again will make it softer.

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