Chapter 22

The night was restless, the kind that pressed against Derek’s chest and refused to let him breathe. Elena had fallen asleep hours ago, her soft exhales a quiet counterpoint to the roar of the ocean beyond their suite. He’d slipped out of bed, unable to lie still, and now stood on the balcony, the cool air biting at his bare arms. The sky was a deep velvet, studded with stars, and the waves below crashed in a rhythm that should have soothed him. It didn’t. He gripped the railing, knuckles whitening as Elena’s words echoed in his skull. She’s hurting, Derek. She loves you, even if she failed at showing it. He hated how they stirred something in him—something he’d buried long ago beneath layers of resentment. His mother’s face flickered in his mind, hazy from years of distance: her tired eyes, her trembling hands when she’d hugged him goodbye and walked out the door. He’d been twelve, too young to understand why, old enough to feel the sting.