Chapter 6
Everything was ruined.
Rachel stood frozen, shaking from head to toe, too furious to speak.
Aaron had shown up at some point. He stood at the doorway now, glancing at the drawer, at the soaked, tangled mess inside. His tone was maddeningly casual.
“Figure out how much it’s worth,” he said. “I’ll pay for it–Sierra and I both will.”
That was it. Rachel snapped.
open
“Can she afford what she destroyed?” Her voice cracked. “Do you even understand what those negatives meant to me? Do you?”
Aaron frowned slightly. “What I understand is that they’re already ruined. Yelling won’t change that. Sierra was just trying to help organize my clothes. Spilling the coffee
was an accident.”
“Oh, so it’s fine because it was accidental? Someone crashes their car and kills a person
-do they just get to say ‘oops, my bad‘ and walk away?”
“Rachel.” His voice went cold. “Don’t be ridiculous. Film rolls aren’t a life. You can take
new photos. It’s not the end of the world.‘
From her phone, Edmund’s voice came through, concerned. “Rachel? Is everything okay? Something happen at home?”
Rachel inhaled deeply and forced herself to steady her voice. “Edmund… the negatives might be… unrecoverable. I’ll try to reshoot the set and send you something new soon.”
“That’s alright. No pressure. It’ll take at least two weeks to get the visa processed
anyway.”
“Got it.”
ILL
That’s when Aaron’s head snapped up. “Visa? Are you leaving the country?”
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Drama
She left him behind and never looked back again.
Chapter 6
O
Rachel ended the call.
She didn’t answer him right away. Just lowered her phone, took a breath, and bent down to gather the mess on the floor.
“Edmund can’t travel much anymore. His visa expired, and he asked me to help him
sort it out.‘
Aaron narrowed his eyes. “Doesn’t his daughter still live here? Why isn’t she helping?”
Rachel didn’t even look at him. “Feel free to call her and ask.
“I’m not that bored.”
“Then maybe don’t ask so many damn questions.”
Rachel spent the entire night cleaning her room.
Everything Sierra had touched–clothes, shoes, shelves–felt tainted. She didn’t even bother trying to save it all. The ruined things went into a pile in the back of her closet.
She managed to salvage a few of the negatives, but the damage had been done. The images were warped beyond recognition. Useless.
Her makeup was no better. The liquid ones had spilled out. The powders were soaked. Everything was destroyed.
Then came a text.
Sierra: [Just a warning.]
Two minutes later, the message disappeared.
Deleted.
It was calculated–just long enough for Rachel to see, but not long enough to leave
proof.
Too bad Sierra was playing with the wrong girl.
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She left him behind and never looked back again.
Rachel had already taken a screenshot the moment the notification popped up.
She sent it right back, along with a single reply: [Nothing much. Just returning the
favor.]
Sierra didn’t respond.
For once, she had no snarky comeback, no follow–up emoji pretending it was all a joke.
Ten minutes passed.
Then finally-
Sierra: [What’s that supposed to mean?]
Rachel: [Exactly what it sounds like.]
And with that, Rachel shut off her phone.
Let Sierra delete. Let Aaron read it or not.
She didn’t care anymore.
The moment she decided to leave, she’d stopped expecting anything from him.
The next morning at breakfast, Luna Emily noticed the shadows under Rachel’s eyes.
“You look exhausted,” she said gently. “Did you sleep at all last night?”
Rachel gave a faint smile. “Not really. I’ll be fine. Just need a couple days to reset.”
Emily reached over and patted her hand. “Yes, you’d better rest up. You’ve got a big job ahead of you–helping with Aaron’s mating ceremony.”
Rachel blinked. “The ceremony’s been scheduled?”
Emily nodded cheerfully. “Of course! Next weekend. What, Aaron didn’t tell you? That boy–used to come running to you for every little thing. Now he’s getting married and suddenly goes quiet? Honestly.”
Chapter 6
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Next weekend.
Rachel glanced at the calendar on her phone.
That was the day she’d be leaving.
The day she’d finally walk away.
Chapter 6
