Prologue
IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT... MOM!
Why did you ever love someone like him?
Why did you let yourself get entangled in his world?
If you hadn’t made that choice, our lives would have been different.
I would have been there—with you. With all of you.
I could have been an artist, just like you.
Instead, your art became the spark that destroyed everything—for me… for us.
I keep asking myself—why did it all have to unfold this way?
Why am I the one left to bear the consequences?
Why am I the one standing here, alone, asking questions no one will ever answer?
I might never see you again.
Or Dad.
Or my brother.
Or anyone I ever loved.
If not for that day, seven years ago... our lives could have been perfect.
Perched on the edge of a rugged cliff, Claire stared out at the ocean as waves crashed violently against the rocks below.
The wind tore through her hair, but it did nothing to lift the weight pressing against her chest.
The path behind her was gone.
The future ahead felt just as unreachable.
And somewhere between the two… everything had fallen apart.
