Chapter 18
Ben’s therapy had worked wonders.
tear–filled eyes, she
It was harsh, maybe even cruel, to make Helen face the painful truth so directly. But after several days of swollen, finally began to open up. At the very least, she could now speak about Emily’s passing without flinching or shutting down.
And that alone gave Savannah hope.
Her interest in psychology grew quickly. She’d always been sharp and loved a challenge, and now, with her mother slowly healing, she found herself diving deeper into the subject–grasping concepts faster than even Ben expected.
Naturally, he became her tutor.
The two often spent entire afternoons in the library, surrounded by books and notebooks, lost in discussions that only paused when
Savannah fired off another question before he could even finish his thought.
From the hallway, Ben’s mother watched them with a playful smirk tugging at her lips. She nudged Helen, her voice low and amused.
“My son’s finally met his match.
Helen offered a soft sigh in response, though her eyes shimmered with both warmth and worry.
“If you really care about your son, you might want to help him let this go,” she said gently. “No one knows my daughter better than I do. Savannah… she’s locked her heart away for good.”
Benjamin’s mother gave her a playful glare.
up
with Ben or
not, all I
“Don’t be so dramatic. Savannah’s not just your daughter–she’s like a daughter to me too. Whether she ends
want is for her to be happy. If Ben chooses to stick by her for the rest of his life, that’s his call. I’m not getting in the way.”
Helen’s eyes softened as she gave the woman’s hand a grateful pat.
But the more Savannah studied psychology, the more lost she began to feel.
She was learning how to help others heal, how to unravel their pain and put the pieces back together–yet she couldn’t even fix herself.
Emily’s death was a scar buried so deep, it didn’t bleed anymore–but it still ached. Always.
And now that she and her mother had wiped their records and vanished from their old lives, there was no going back. Stirring up the past meant exposure. And exposure meant Julian might find them.
Savannah had worked too hard to escape.
Still, the thought haunted her–if she didn’t return, if she didn’t make things right, who would?
But if she did go back and something happened to her… what would her mother do? Helen had just begun to breathe again. Could she survive losing another daughter?
The thought alone made Savannah reach for the bottle again. One more. Just one more to quiet the noise.
But before she could take a sip, the glass was snatched right from her hand.
Startled, she looked up–and there he was again.
Benjamin.
Her first instinct was guilt, quickly masked by a defensive tone.
“What? Is it a crime to have a drink now and then?”
“Nope.” He dropped down beside her, tipped the glass to his lips, and finished it in one go. “I’m not here to stop you tonight.”
“Then what?” she asked warily.
Chapter 18
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He shrugged. “Drinking alone’s a drag. Figured I’d keep you company.”
She blinked. “And no lecture?”
Benjamin’s lashes cast soft shadows under his eyes. His expression was unreadable.
“After all this time, I think I finally understand you. You wouldn’t turn to alcohol unless you were up against something you couldn’t handle.”
He looked her dead in the eye.
“So what is it, Savannah? How long are you planning to keep it all buried?”
She dropped her head to her knees. Her voice was barely a whisper. “I keep dreaming about Emily.
”
“I see her… the way she looked that night, lying in the tub, wrists cut open. I hear her asking me why I
I let him walk free like nothing happened.”
Her throat tightened.
never made the bastard pay. Why
“I’m scared,” she choked out. “We’ve finally got some kind of peace now. My mom… she’s fragile. If I go back and something happens, if I don’t make it back–she won’t survive it.”
Benjamin didn’t flinch. He reached out and gripped her hand.
“Then we do it together.”
Savannah looked up, her eyes glassy with disbelief.
E
“I mean it,” he said firmly. “If this is what you want–justice, closure, the truth–I’ll be right there. Whatever it takes. No far or how dangerous.”
“Your mom will understand. And I won’t let you do it alone.”
Chapter 18
