“I’m not leaving you.” I matched his surprised gaze and took a step forward. “I’m not going away when you need me the most.” I deadpanned. “What makes you think I need you?” Moore retorted. “Your eyes... The way they stare at me... The sadness, pain, and frustration in them, every single thing about you Moore...” I ran my hands through my hair and glanced around. “I-I’ve never felt like this before! But I know that I don’t want to leave you, I can’t leave you.” I confessed in one breath. “Really?” Moore broke out in a breathless chuckle. “And when these twenty-five days are up?” My head snapped up at that. “You’ll go. You’ll go far way and I will never see you again.” Moore grabbed me and I yelped. “So don’t stand here and tell me that you are going to stay when you are just a few days from leaving!” Moore snapped and pushed me. I stumbled but regained my bearings just in time.“Everyone leaves Amber. Dad. Mom. Louisa. Christine will get t

"Everything is going to be fine," Moore promised when I pulled away from the hug. I nodded and ran my hands through my hair, I took in his messy appearance, his normally styled dark fringe was in all the wrong places and his baby blue eyes lost the spark of intimidation they usually had. It wasn't just his appearance though; It was the way he spoke, the way he looked at me and reacted. It felt like this was a completely different Moore and the previous one was just an exterior. Moore grabbed my hand into his and squeezed it. I smiled and glanced away. "When did the doctor say we could leave? Since it was just a few bruises... I don't want to be stuck here while Christine is all alone—""Hey-Hey—" Moore stopped me mid-talking, He pulled a strand of my hair behind my ear and spoke; "Marissa is with Christine, she left Malawi a few days ago. So don't worry about that. Plus, we can't just leave, we don't have a van and I don't think I grabbed my wa

Moore snorted and sat up. A sad smile spread across his thin lips and I could hear the sharp puffs of breath that escaped his lips. “You should have seen them…they were yelling. Arguing, Mom threatened to sue and dad threatened to take us away. That was the last time I saw my mom or Christine,” Moore explained softly and ran his fingers through his thick fringe. I held my breath at the silence that filled the room. The entire time, all Moore did was stare ahead. I was no fool, I could see and feel the pain in his eyes. Talking about trauma was difficult, especially if you spent your entire life convincing yourself that there was no need to fix that part of you. “I got shoved into a boarding school and Mom started working excessively. She wanted to get me out of there, take Christine and me out of the country — Fix things…” Moore paused and sucked in a sharp breath. I squeezed his free hand to offer some sort of comfort.I had no clue whether or not he understood the gesture because

Moore grabbed Andrew's white collar and pushed him against the golden walls of their home, "Where is Christine?!" He demanded in a sharp tone. I looked around the living room for any sign of the blonde-haired girl, but she was nowhere to be found. I frowned and ran up the stairs to check the rooms, Christine sounded very distressed when we spoke. Could Andrew attack his daughter? I paused when I reached Christine's pale purple-themed room, I walked in and everything had been turned upside down. The dresser was empty. The sheets had been pulled off and there were scratch marks on the wall. I stumbled back and my heart sank."Christine?" I called out softly. "Christine!" My voice was louder and I took a few steps toward the bathroom and opened it, but she was nowhere to be found. I sucked in a sharp breath and felt my chest tighten. I rested on the wall and slid down. Something horrible had happened and now, Christine was nowhere to be found. I pulled myself up and caught sight of a

I dropped to the ground and my eyes stung with tears, I had no clue who was capable of doing something as brutal as this. Surely, someone was trying to kill me. But this was just going too far. I knew the images staring back at me were not mine. Yet, the resemblance sent shivers down my spine. Who could have done this? Who could have released nude images of Louisa on social media? I dragged myself up and wiped my tears. The only Louisa everyone knew right now was me. The Moores were influential and thanks to Madame Amelia, the news of the wedding had been published everywhere. The only person who hated Louisa was Marissa. Then there were attacks from the unknown person as well; I wasn't even sure who was attacking who, this identity game was driving me insane. But the only person who had access to photos like these would be Andrew or... My eyes widened in realization and I mentally slapped myself. There was no way Moore could do this; Right?The more I thought about it though, the