Page 153 of When the Storm Breaks
Where Willow—
The remote nearly slips from my hand. My palms are clammy. My pulse—a wild siren in my ears.
This can’t be real.
My voice barely scrapes out, uneven and low. “Dad… it’s Jules.”
He scoffs.
He scoffs.
The sound is dismissive, so fucking cold mystomach lurches.
“Let it go,” he says, casual as ever, folding up his newspaper like it’s nothing. Like this is just another meaningless news story.
He stands, pushing back from the table without even glancing in my direction.
My jaw goes slack, dizzy heat flooding my skull.
He walks over to the TV and, without a word, shuts it off at the source—pressing the button like that’s enough to erase it. Like if the screen goes dark, it never happened at all.
“She should’ve told the truth.”
The words don’t register at first.
My mind scrambles to make sense of them—but they don’t fit. They don’t belong.
“What the fuck did you just say?”
He steps toward me, towering—his presence swallowing the space between us.
His voice is calm, but it’s a blade.
“Don’t look at me like that, Haiyden.” He pauses. “She made her choice. And I made mine.”
My whole body coils tight—rage and disgust battling beneath my skin.
I could kill him.
I could wrap my hands around his throat.
Break something that should’ve been broken a long time ago.
But I don’t.
Instead, I turn. Even though every step away feels impossible. Even though every part of me wants to stay. Even though I want to destroy.
I make it to the door, but I can feel him behind me. Watching.
His voice drops to a whisper—meant just for me. “Don’t do anything stupid, Haiyden. For once.”
My knuckles go white around the doorknob.
He wants a reaction.
I hold it in, barely.
But I let the silence do the talking.
