4
She couldn’t argue with him, and time was running out the gut in his car
Halfway there, he suddenly took a detent to “pick somerne vy
Skylar’s heart sank when Victoria appeared.
She wanted to ask Callias why he needed to bring an outsider to her father’s brutal Were they really har inseparable?
But time was precious, so she swallowed her words
At the cemetery, Skylar walked alone, cradling the urn in silence.
Just as they were about to inter the ashes, Callias’s phone rang
He frowned at the screen and stepped away.
As Skylar moved to place the urn, Victoria blocked her path with a smirk.
“Cal promised to watch the sunset with me today. Bringing you here was just a convenient stop. Did you know that?”
Skylar didn’t know.
But she didn’t care either. She just wanted to lay her father to rest.
She ignored Victoria’s taunts completely, focusing on the urn.
Victoria, unused to being dismissed, grabbed her arm. “Playing deaf when I’m talking to you?”
Seeing how Skylar protected the urn, Victoria snapped. She snatched it and hurled it down the cemetery steps!
The crash echoed as the urn shattered.
Gray ashes scattered across the ground.
Skylar’s mind went blank.
“Dad!”
She ran down the steps, falling to her knees, desperately trying to gather the ashes.
A sudden gust of wind destroyed her last hope.
She watched helplessly as her father’s ashes scattered to the wind, trying frantically to hold onto something, anything.
This was her father – once a living, breathing person reduced to ashes, and now she couldn’t even protect that.
09.30
Addio To The Stand In Past. This Time I Chose To Reclaim My Own Life
67.9%
Chapter 8
Rage exploded through her grief. She stood and slapped Victoria hard across the face,
“You bitch! These were my father’s ashes all I had left of him! Do you know what happens to people who deserrate
the dead?”
The sharp crack echoed, leaving Victoria’s cheek bright red.
As Victoria prepared to retaliate, she spotted Callias returning.
Her fury instantly turned calculated. She threw herself backward, tumbling down the steps.
Callias, seeing only the fall, rushed to Victoria. “Skylar, what are you doing?!”
“What am I doing? Ask her what she did!”
He’d never heard such raw anguish in Skylar’s voice. Looking up, he saw her tear–streaked face, and his anger
faltered.
Victoria threw herself into his arms, sobbing.
“Cal, I accidentally knocked over her father’s urn… the wind took the ashes… She was angry and pushed me. I’m bleeding so much… maybe we’re even now…”
Seeing the broken urn, Callias’s heart clenched.
He wanted to comfort Skylar, but what came out was: “Victoria didn’t mean to…”
“GET OUT!”
One word, using every ounce of strength she had left.
As Callias tried to explain, Victoria clutched his sleeve, crying. “Cal, it hurts so much. Is my leg broken?”
He looked at Skylar one last time, then lifted Victoria and hurried away.
