I swallowed the lump in my throat, forcing back the tears that burned behind my eyes. I had already cried enough for him. For her.
I turned on my heel and stormed out.
Later that night, the house was silent. Candice and Matteo had gone to sleep. The air was thick with the remnants of the day’s chaos, but I felt nothing now. No grief. No pain. Only the burning weight of knowing—
I had been robbed of everything.
I had planned to leave. I had even packed my bags.
But leaving wasn’t enough.
Not anymore.
I wasn’t going to let them win.
Moving silently through the hallway, I reached Candice’s room. The door was slightly ajar, the dim light from her bedside lamp casting a glow across the floor.
I stepped inside.
She was sitting on the edge of her bed, rubbing her eyes sleepily. When she saw me, her brow furrowed. “Cassandra?”
I shut the door behind me. Slowly. Carefully.
She sat up straighter. “What do you want?”
I didn’t answer.
I reached into my pocket, my fingers closing around the cold, smooth handle of the scalpel I had taken from the study earlier that evening.
Candice’s eyes widened.
She scrambled to her feet. “What are you doing?”
I took a slow step forward. “Do you know what I found today?”