Chapter 127

Althaia

The longer we stayed in this shit hole, the more I felt like my sanity was slipping away. The constant ache in my heart deepened, a relentless pain of the haunting thought of Damiano being gone.

The vivid image of him being shot played on a cruel loop in my mind, and no matter how hard I tried to resist, tears streamed down my face like an unending cascade.

I wrapped my arms tightly around my knees, a weak attempt to contain the storm of emotions raging within me. Guilt, thick and suffocating, consumed me. If only I had stayed away from him, he could have still been alive, and spared from the burdens I unknowingly dragged into his life.

Damiano wanted me to be happy, and he did in ways no one else could, but, in return, I burdened his shoulders with a weight that led to his death.

Was this really going to be the end for us?

For him?

For me?

If Damiano wasn’t here with me, then I wouldn’t want to live anymore. A