Chapter 77. The Light

CADE

I would always do everything for the people I loved. That was just who I was—no matter how much I tried to pretend otherwise. If they were in pain, I felt it acutely. If they cried, I could feel their anguish in my chest. It didn’t matter whether they knew how deeply I felt or even if they wanted me to carry that weight.

The truth was—living this kind of life was… exhausting.

So many nights, I longed to disappear. I wanted to close the door on everything, to retreat into silence and solitude.

But I couldn’t.

Because out there, someone always needed saving. And more than anyone, she did.

I stared out the kitchen window, my knuckles tense as I leaned against the counter. My mother stood behind me, quietly drying a dish, while my dad sipped coffee at the table, both of them watching me like I was about to fall apart right in front of them.

“You should go back,” my dad finally said. “Don’t miss school anymore.”

I turned away from the