Her back stiffened when she heard her stepfather’s voice behind her, “Sign the document.”

She looked at him in the mirror. “I don’t care about the money. You can have it all. If I sign it all away, can I go free today?”

“Judith, how would that look to the courts. I can’t just have you going around, of sound mind, and telling all our secrets. The deal stands as is. One year. No one will be the wiser.” He sat down on the bed as if they were friends. “You know, Judith, I didn’t plan any of this. My brother was weak—of mind. He promised he would stop… He promised, but he didn’t. Guilt got to him before I could have. You were never meant to be a pawn, but when he killed himself, an opportunity was presented. Your aunt and I had plans. We loved each other back then.”

A shudder of shock rolled through her. An image of her mother behind Hazel in court came to mind. Is this why she chose the better side? “You don’t love my mother?”

“I love her, but she’s soft. We didn’t plan this. Leslie came to me—”

“Leslie? You’re blaming her? You sent me away to be tortured. You sent me away for money—blood money, guilt money, dirty, hate-filled money.” She held up the papers and said, “I would have given you this money years ago if I had known about it. I would have rather had my life.”

“You tried to kill yourself twice. Now you say you wanted life? I spared your life. I saved your life.”

“You saved me to get the money. You’ve played this all wrong. Don’t you see?”

Standing up, he said, “I see a spoiled little girl who wants a shiny new toy. But Taylor Barrett will never be yours until every last cent is mine and safely in my bank account.” He walked to the door that had no lock. “Sign the papers, Judith. This game is exhausting, so do us both a favor and sign.”

“I don’t trust you.”

“Sign the damn contract!” His harsh glare softened though not friendly in any way. “I’ll keep my word, but in the meantime, the Barrett boy is off limits.”

His name is Hazel. She gulped.

Too much pain.

“Your word has no value to me.”

“Don’t push me.” He walked out and slammed the door behind him.

Jude looked down at the contract again. They had been very clever, different names up top, varying amounts transferred. But she had no way to fight back, nothing and no one truly in her corner to help, so she picked up the pen and signed, taking her trust and handing it over to the people she hated most.

One year.

Her life for his.

But what if he would no longer be hers?

JUDE WORE JEANS. She never wore jeans, but then again, she had never set out to break someone’s heart before. Again. Break his heart again. Looking in the mirror, her face was sallow and her cheeks sunken in. She had not been eating much and it was wearing on her physically. Emotionally she could have cared less about food.

Hazel was the only sustenance she needed and he was no longer there. She knew she had to let him go. She just needed to hear his voice one last time.

Walking downstairs, she saw Roman in the foyer. He turned and gave her the gloomiest look, one that kind of summed up her predicament. She sat on the bottom step and he sat down next to her. “Where you going, Hummingbird?”

“To appease the court. As of this morning, I’ve been granted some freedoms. To appease my family, I will only be gone for a short time.”

“And to appease you?”

“I’ll break my heart to spare Hazel any more pain.”

“Won’t that break his?”

It would. And she knew it, but selfishly, she needed one last time to say goodbye. And it couldn’t be here. Not in her prison. It had to be where she had felt free. Alive. Herself. Jude. His Jude.

Jude dropped her head down in shame, her weakness exposed to one of the few people who believed her to be stronger. She wiped at her eyes before the tears could build. She was tired of crying. When she looked back up, she asked, “Why do you work here? Why do you work for people that I can tell you despise? Why do you stay?”

As if the answer was obvious, he said, “For you. If I’m not here, who will you have?”

“Kind of says it all.” She stood up, using the railing to lean on. When he stood, she said, “I free you, my friend. The burden of myself will no longer be. Leave. Find a good family with happy children and loving parents who are just too busy to have dinner ready on time. Take care of people who will be grateful for you and your loyalty.”

“You’re grateful.”

“I am, but I’m the only one.” She walked to the door. “I’ll be seeing you.”

“You’re coming back, right, Hummingbird?”

“The bird always returns to its cage.” The door opened and the bright June day was too yellow for how blue she felt. She went anyway.

Taking the long way, she headed toward the park. She thought about going to his apartment, but knew that would be too cruel. Too many beautiful memories there, a blaring reminder of the happy life she almost had. Instead she headed for their favorite bench by walking around the park instead of through. When she finally sat down, she pulled the phone from her pocket and made the first call on the phone she had never used before.

Her heart hurt when he answered, “Hello?”

She seemed to choke on her breath as it stopped and all words disappeared from her head. But her heart knew… her heart knew she couldn’t do this to him. She couldn’t give him hope when there was none. She couldn’t give him a way of reaching her, even if her heart desperately wanted that. It wasn’t fair to him.

“Hello?” he repeated, sounding less patient.

This was going to be the hardest thing she had ever done and she couldn’t have his soothing voice seeping into her veins any longer. Two weeks had been painful enough, but it was a start and she owed him that much, if not more, to get his life back on track.

She hung up.

Why was she even here? Why did she call? Was she so adrift in her addiction to him that she needed just one more hit of his human kindness? Just one more taste? One more touch?Would she really have asked him to come find her only to turn him away again? No. She couldn’t. Wouldn’t. She couldn’t drag him through this, opening the same wounds again. And hers. When all she thought she needed to say had already been said. When her phone rang back, she looked at the screen and the number that appeared. Her heart wrestled with what the right thing to do was and she ghosted her finger over the screen, careful not to answer it.

“Goodbye, my love,” she whispered and the phone stopped ringing.

Breathing turned difficult as her heart collapsed in on itself. She wished she could be swallowed up with it. That would be less painful than the loneliness she now felt.

Maybe he’d only been a dream. That was easier to imagine. He was a part of her, inside her, a man that only existed to exist inside her.

But the severed organ that fought for survival in her chest said otherwise. He existed. He had to. He was her light. Had been. And how could there be dark if there was no light, even if it didn’t exist in her world any longer.

As she walked, there was no doubt in her mind that she had hurt him outside the courthouse. What a mess I’ve made. And now, even honesty couldn’t get them any closer than they were right this moment.

The marriage had been annulled. He could now find someone who didn’t have to live in fear of retaliation, in a state of distress looking for peace, someone who could give him the family he deserved.

But for her, she wanted something simpler. She looked up at the puffy clouds in the blue sky and wished she could go to that place that doesn’t exist, the one Hazel spoke of as if it were real. Daydreaming had been her life for so long that she couldn’t believe she no longer had the ability. It had been lost somewhere in the last two weeks. Daydreaming had become a dangerous pastime once her dreams were realized. She didn’t know how fragile those dreams really were until they were twisted and destroyed while she held them in her hands. She took the remains and sprinkled them over her heart, hoping to feed the delicate seeds and maybe one day her dreams could bloom again.