Page 15 of Torn By You | AllFreeNovel

By the time Lily unlocked the door to her apartment, the adrenaline had completely burned out, leaving nothing but a vast, hollow devastation in its wake.

Her shaking hands fumbled with the locks. When the door finally swung open, the space inside felt enormous, suffocating, and unbearably empty. There was no warm light spilling from the kitchen, no rich aroma of takeout, no comforting, broad-shouldered presence waiting for her on the velvet sofa. There was only the lengthening shadows of the evening.

The keys slipped from her trembling fingers, hitting the floorboards with a sharp, lonely clatter.

Her knees buckled. Lily sank to the floor right there in the narrow entryway. She laid the pale lilac sweet peas carefully on the wood beside her, wrapping her arms tightly around her own ribs to physically keep her chest from splitting open.

A ragged, agonizing sob tore from her throat, echoing off the empty walls.

She had ruined it. She had been so terrified of losing Jason to the ghosts of her past that she had driven him away herself. The faint, sweet floral scent of the sweet peas drifted up to her, a heartbreaking reminder of the beautiful, uncomplicated future she had just thrown into the fire.

With violently shaking hands, she pulled her phone from her blazer pocket. She tapped his name, pressing the cold glass screen to her ear. Her heart hammered against her ribs as it rang.

One ring. Two. Three.

It went straight to voicemail.

The automated beep sounded like a death knell.

"Jason, please," Lily wept into the receiver, the dam finally breaking as the tears flowed uncontrollably. "Please, I am so sorry. I was so scared. I was terrified you would walk away if you knew he cornered me into working with him this weekend. It was cowardice, and I hate myself for it."

She gasped for air, her throat burning, the regret clawing at her insides as she remembered the morning in the shower when she had swallowed these exact words.

"Please call me back. Please, Jason. I will do whatever it takes to fix this."

She ended the call. The screen went black. Lily pulled her knees tight to her chest, burying her face in her hands as she wept alone in the encroaching dark, surrounded only by the scent of lilacs and the devastating silence of the life she had just broken.

***

The morning light aggressively pierced the blinds. Lily remained curled on the velvet sofa, her knees pulled tight to her chest. She hadn't slept a wink. Every time she closed her eyes, the devastation on Jason’s face replayed in a vicious, looping nightmare. She spent the night staring at the shifting shadows on the walls, her skin feeling too tight for her bones. A mug of cold coffee sat abandoned on the floorboards. Her eyes burned from crying, her throat sore and aching from the tears she couldn't suppress. The apartment felt like a tomb, stripped of the joy and future she had meticulously planned. She still wore the same wrinkled clothes from the day before, too paralyzed by grief to even change.

Two knocks rattled the wooden door. The lobby attendant hadn't called up. It had to be Sarah. Lily had ignored four of her best friend's calls since sunrise, incapable of explaining the disaster that had unfolded in the boardroom.

Dragging herself up, Lily padded across the entryway and pulled the door open, ready to apologize for shutting her out.

But it wasn't Sarah.

Jason stood in the hallway.