Chapter 1
Prologue
Hannah walked toward the fridge while little Lizzie sat cross-legged on the floor, completely glued to Sailor Moon playing on her mother’s iPad.
“Moon Prism Power!” Lizzie shouted excitedly at the screen before giggling to herself.
Hannah smiled faintly as she opened the fridge door.
Her smile faded.
Empty.
No baby food.
No proper groceries.
Just water bottles, leftover sauce, and half a carton of milk.
“Oh my goodness…” Hannah sighed softly. “What is my baby going to eat?”
Her phone suddenly rang.
Hannah quickly picked it up.
“Heyyy!”
“Heyyy!” Jennie’s cheerful voice echoed through the speaker.
“Jennie.”
“How’s baby Lizzie?” Jennie asked.
Hannah chuckled softly, already knowing how much Jennie adored her daughter.
“She’s alive and obsessed with Sailor Moon.”
“Can I hear her voice?”
“No.”
“Why?!” Jennie complained dramatically.
Hannah laughed quietly as she glanced toward Lizzie.
Lizzie hadn’t looked away from the screen once.
“When she’s focused on cartoons, she completely ignores the world around her.”
“Ohhh.” Jennie laughed. “I mean, give her a break. She’s only five.”
“Yeah…”
Hannah looked back into the nearly empty fridge again.
“Jennie, I’m out of food for both Lizzie and myself. I was wondering if maybe you were close enough to watch her while I ran to the store?”
“No can do,” Jennie replied. “I’m not even close by right now. I went out to see—”
Suddenly, loud shattered noises echoed through the phone.
Voices called Jennie’s name from somewhere in the background.
“Jennie?”
“I’m here! I’m here!” Jennie said quickly. “Just go buy the groceries real fast. But lock the door properly before you leave.”
Hannah nodded absentmindedly.
“You’ll be back before Lizzie even notices.”
The cartoon blasted loudly through the apartment.
Hannah looked over at her daughter again.
Lizzie sat hugging her stuffed bunny tightly, completely mesmerized by the bright colors flashing across the screen.
“Okay,” Hannah said softly.
The call ended.
For a moment, the apartment became strangely quiet aside from the cartoon audio.
Hannah sighed tiredly.
“Alright, Lizzie,” she said gently while grabbing her coat. “Mummy’s going to grab a few things for dinner. I’ll be back very soon, okay?”
Lizzie barely reacted.
Still focused on the iPad.
Hannah smiled faintly.
“I just need to go to the nearest store…”
She grabbed her keys and hurried toward the door.
The lock clicked shut behind her.
Inside the apartment, Sailor Moon continued playing brightly across the screen.
Lizzie giggled at something in the cartoon.
A brief moment passed before footsteps approached room 219.
The doorknob rattled.
Lizzie looked away from her show. The hallway outside her apartment stayed silent.
The knob jerked again.
She slipped off the couch and hurried into her mother’s bedroom, crawling beneath the bed just as the door burst open.
Heavy footsteps entered the apartment.
From under the bed, Lizzie could only see a pair of black office shoes.
She recognized them at once.
The man crossed into the kitchen and stopped at the counter. Hannah’s project documents were still there. He picked them up and flipped through the pages.
Lizzie crawled out slowly.
“Mister?”
The man froze.
“Mister, what are you doing here?”
For a second, neither of them spoke.
Then the man lowered the papers.
“Liz ..zzie…”
He set the documents down and headed for the door.
“Wait, Mister.”
“No wonder,” he murmured. “I should’ve noticed.”
He disappeared down the stairs.
Lizzie followed after him slowly.
The streets outside buzzed with noise and movement.
Lizzie stepped out of the apartment building, searching the crowd for the familiar figure she had seen upstairs, but the man was nowhere to be seen.
She hurried after a passerby and grabbed his hand.
“Hey!”
The stranger pulled his hand away and kept walking.
Lizzie turned in circles, scanning the busy street.
“Mister je…”
Car horns swallowed her voice.
Then she spotted a woman across the road.
Same height. Same clothes as her mum.
“Mummy!”
The evening streets of New York blazed with headlights and noise.
Lizzie stood at the edge of the road, eyes fixed on the woman she spotted across the street.
“Mummy!”
The traffic light glowed red, but Lizzie ran anyway.
Cars rushed past. Horns erupted.
A black sedan came around the corner.
The driver didn’t see her.
The impact sent Lizzie’s small body onto the roadside.
The woman across the street froze. Her bag slipped from her shoulder as she stared at the child lying motionless near the curb.
Then she screamed.
The sound cut through the street noise, turning heads all around them.
The sedan screeched to a stop a few feet ahead. The driver stumbled out, staring back in horror.
“Oh God… oh God…”
People rushed toward the scene. Within seconds, a crowd began to gather.
“Oh my God, it’s a child!” someone shouted from the crowd.
Another person covered their mouth.
“Call an ambulance!”
Traffic slowed as strangers pressed closer, trying to see what had happened beneath the flashing city lights.
Night had fallen by the time Hannah returned to the apartment.
The front door stood wide open.
Documents were scattered across the kitchen counter and one spilled onto the floor. A drawer hung half open full of colorful drawing books.
Hannah kneels down onto the kitchen floor beside the counter.
In her hands was a torn piece of Lizzie’s pink dress.
Blood soaked over the fabric.
Tears filled in her eyes. She lets out distressed sounds.
She didn’t seem to pay attention to anything in the apartment, just the piece of cloth in her hands.
Filled with the scent of lizzie.
“I’m sorry, Lizzie…”
Silence followed.
Hannah stared at the fabric.
“Lizzie?”
No answer.
“Lizzie… where are you?”
Her grip tightened upon the cloth.
“Lizzie… where are you?”
Her breath caught. She couldn’t get the rest out
Chapter 1
“Oh my God, Hannah! Are you okay?”
Jennie rushed to her side, dropping her bag as she knelt beside her.
“Why are you on the floor? What happened?”
Hannah blinked slowly, her vision spinning.
“I… I feel dizzy…” she murmured.
Jennie grabbed her hand, panic rising.
“I’ve been calling you! You weren’t picking up. Thank God I came in—what if you stayed like this any longer? I can’t even think about it…”
Carefully, she helped Hannah up and guided her to the couch.
The moment she sat down, Hannah broke.“Jennie… he broke up with me…”
Her voice cracked as tears slipped down her face.
Jennie froze for a second, then slowly folded her arms.
“What?”
Her expression hardened.
“After everything?”
Hannah let out a shaky breath.
“I can’t take this anymore…”
Jennie shook her head, disbelief written all over her face.
“No. Don’t do that. Don’t start blaming yourself.”
Hannah looked away, her voice barely above a whisper.
“I really thought things would change…”
Silence filled the room for a moment.
Then Jennie spoke again, quieter this time
That jerk!
“I don’t know why relationships always shatter.”
Jennie burst through the doorway of the apartment complex, dragging Hannah by the hand before she could protest.
“Anyways, it’s about time we move forward and forget the past. It’s for your best.”
Cold wind brushed against Hannah’s face as the city unfolded before them.
“Look,” Jennie said excitedly, stretching her arms wide. “It’s New York. The land of new opportunities and new identities.”
Hannah’s eyes wandered across the crowded streets. Pedestrians rushed past them in waves — each person dressed differently, each carrying a different energy, different dreams, different pain. It almost felt like everyone had their own color attached to them.
“Look around!” Jennie laughed.
A taxi sped through a puddle beside the sidewalk.
Splash!
Dirty water soaked Jennie’s jeans.
“Hey! Watch where you’re going!” she yelled after the driver.
The taxi disappeared into traffic without slowing down.
Jennie scoffed and wiped her sleeve. “This is New York.”
Hannah looked around nervously, embarrassed by the attention Jennie was drawing.
“Forget them,” Jennie said immediately, reading her expression.
She stepped closer to the curb and raised her hand dramatically.
“Taxi!”
This time, one actually stopped.
Before getting in, Hannah quietly grabbed Jennie’s arm.
“You don’t get it, Jennie… I just hope nobody saw that.”
Jennie stared at her for a moment before sighing.
“That’s exactly your problem.”
Hannah frowned slightly.
“You care too much about what people think.” Jennie’s voice softened, but her words hit hard. “You need to loosen up. Stop living your life for other people.”
Hannah stayed silent.
“That’s why you got your heart broken.”
“Hey”
“I’m serious.” Jennie crossed her arms. “If you want things to work out for you, you have to stop caring so much. Live in the moment instead of constantly worrying about how people see you.”
The sounds of the city blurred around Hannah.
“No one gives awards for being the nicest person in the room,” Jennie continued. “People take and take until there’s nothing left. So live for yourself too, Hannah. Not just everyone else.”
For once, Hannah had no response.
Her thoughts spiraled quietly.
All her life, she had shaped herself into whatever people needed her to be. The good daughter. The understanding friend. The patient girlfriend.
But standing there in the middle of New York, surrounded by strangers who didn’t know her name, Hannah realized something terrifying.
She had spent so much time trying to be loved that she had forgotten how to live for herself.
Jennie was right.
As empathetic as she was, Hannah had never truly understood how cruel the world could be.
And deep down, a question lingered inside her.
Would she ever learn?
“Taxi! Take us to High King’s Bar!” Jennie said excitedly as she slid into the backseat.
“Okay, you got it,” the driver replied.
The streets of New York glowed through the taxi windows as music from nearby clubs echoed through the night. Hannah rested her head against the glass quietly while Jennie hummed along to a random song playing on the radio.
A few minutes later, the taxi stopped in front of a crowded bar glowing with neon lights.
“We’re here!” Jennie announced dramatically before pulling Hannah inside.
The moment they entered, loud music and laughter swallowed them whole.
Hannah already regretted it.
The smell of alcohol mixed with perfume and smoke made her slightly uncomfortable, but Jennie was already dragging her toward the counter.
“Two drinks!” Jennie shouted.
Not long after, both girls sat on tall stools with colorful cocktails in their hands.
“Cheers!” Jennie raised her glass high.
Hannah smiled faintly and clinked hers against it. Beside them sat a young man around their age. Maybe younger. He looked fresh out of college — relaxed posture, soft eyes, dark hair falling slightly over his forehead.
Jennie squinted at him drunkenly.
“Heyyy, mister,” she slurred. “What are you staring at?”
The guy blinked, caught off guard.
“Nothing,” he replied calmly.
“He’s just shy,” Hannah said, giggling a little from the alcohol.
Jennie burst into laughter.
“Hahhaha—”
Suddenly, she lost balance and slipped right off the stool.
The bartender immediately looked concerned.
“Oh God… Jennie, get a grip of yourself,” Hannah groaned, trying to pull her friend back up.
Before Jennie could even respond—
Blurgh!
She vomited directly onto the floor.
The bartender’s expression darkened instantly.
“Seriously?” he muttered under his breath.
“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry,” Hannah apologized quickly, trying to help her friend.
Jennie groaned dramatically and accidentally smacked Hannah’s forehead while flailing her arms.
“Ow—”
“Ohhh… sorry, Hannah,” Jennie mumbled.
“It’s okay.”
“Let me help.”
The young man beside them stood up immediately.
“It’s okay, I’ll take her,” Hannah said politely.
But before anyone could move, Jennie suddenly shoved Hannah toward him.
“I’m fine!” Jennie snapped drunkenly. “I don’t need anyone to baby me. I know where the damn restroom is.”
She pointed lazily at Hannah.
“I told you to stop being such a nice person. You’d literally do this for anybody.
Even strangers…” Her words started slurring together.
“…that’s why you’re usele—”
She suddenly covered her mouth and stumbled toward the restroom before she could throw up again.
Silence settled awkwardly between Hannah, the bartender, and the stranger.
“…Wow,” the young man taken aback
She pulled away slightly from the young man’s grip.
“You okay?” he asked gently.
For a second, Hannah forgot about the noise around them.
He was looked directly into her eyes.
“I-I’m okay,” she answered softly.
Her cheeks warmed instantly.
