NovelEnglishChapter 617
Steve steadiedas | took a shaky step forward.
We reached the door just as someone walked out, cradling a small black box in their arms. Their face was etched
with grief, and 1 froze. My breath caught in my throat. My gaze locked on that box.
Steve's grip on my hand tightened, grounding me, keepingfrom falling apart then and there. He guided
And that's when | saw her.
Yara stood in the middle of the room, her back to us. She was stiff, unmoving, her entire frradiating the kind
of despair that mirrored the storm inside me.
| stopped dead. My legs refused to move.
Steve froze beside me. Neither of us said a word.
Yara must have sensed us, because she turned slowly. Her hands cradled the sblack box, and sight of it sent
everything spinning. My vision blurred, my knees buckled.
the
She walked toward me. "This is what Hayden wanted. He said for you to take him back. To bury him in that place
you both loved."
| stared at the box, but | wasn't really seeing it. My mind drifted to that place. | could almost hear his voice,
almost feel his hand in mine.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtHe'd broken his promise. He swore he'd stay.
And now, he wantedto bury him there?
Was this his final act? To makesuffer even now?
"Why didn't you wait for me?" The words slipped out.
| couldn't accept it. The person who had heldjust hours ago was now reduced to this-this small, cold
box
"He didn't want you to face that cruel moment," Yara said quietly.
| stared at her blank face-no tears, no emotion.
"Hayden broke up with you to protect you," she continued, her gaze dropping to the box in her hands. "He was
afraid that if you ever had to face this, you'd hate him. He thought it might hurt a little less this way." "He knew
this day would come?" My voice cracked.
"When he stepped back onto Houston, he knew," Yara replied. Her words were ice in my veins.
Houston
He'd cback because of Steve's mess. Because of me.
Jace had said it was all part of a conspiracy. And now, it all clicked. Hayden had known the truth-known Chapter
617
It was a trap. But he still walked straight into it.
And for what?
For me?
No. | couldn't believe that, | wouldn't.
| wasn't the reason. | was just the bait. And Steve... he'd been pulled into it, too.
My mind raced, clawing for the fragments of Hayden'tst words. His warning: "Don't go to the Johnstons. What did
he mean?
The urgency in his voice wasn't random. He'd known something-something about Wayne Johnston?
A chill ran throughas Wayne's diary flashed in my mind. The secrets, the lies, the plans... It all pointed back
to him.
If Wayne had orchestrated this, he wasn't just cruel-he was a monster.
| would make him pay for this.
But no matter what I did, it wouldn't bring Hayden back
My eyes locked on the black box again-Hayden-tall, strong live-reduced to this. The
blade twisting deeper into my chest.
| hated it. All of it. | couldn't accept it. But | was helpless.
thought felt like at
"Why didn't you stop him? You knew
he was in danger SRARpRAITy ge
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"If I could have stopped him, he wouldn't have loved you."
Her words slammed into me, and | hated how much they made sense.
She had loved Hayden. But he had only ever loved me
And his love forhad killed him.
"Hayden... let's go home," | whispered,
taking the black bos far rer hands
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The moment | held it, the weight hit
me-not heavy, but ghia) ike
I
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