“Mom... please... don’t leave me again. Don’t go. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry...” I kept digging. Hands raw, bleeding. Nails cracked. My dress was soaked and heavy with filth. I didn’t care.
His men looked away. Even they couldn’t bear it.
But Hakeem just stood there. Watching me fall apart. Watching me disappear into the grave with her.
The rain didn’t stop. And neither did I. Because when you lose the last person who ever loved you... you don't come back.
You rot with them.
---
I don’t remember how they dragged me back to the estate. One minute I was screaming in the rain, digging through wet ash, and the next, I was slipping in and out of blackness. My body was shot. Fever. Blood loss. Trauma. My mind wasn’t even fighting anymore. I collapsed the moment we reached the gates. I didn’t get back up after that.
Days passed. Maybe weeks. I don’t know. The world around me turned silent. Numb. Blurry. The only one who came near was the housekeeper. Quiet woman who didn’t ask questions. Just wiped my face, changed my clothes, and helped me sit up when I needed to swallow pills.
But someone else came.
My little brother. Aziel.
“Harmony,” he whispered, “you’re hurting again.”