The hallway smelled faintly of dust and old wood, the kind of scent that clung to places where too many secrets had been buried. The flickering light above cast uneven shadows on the yass ‘walls, making everything feel unstable—like the truth itself was struggling to stay hidden.
Emma’s fingers tightened around Daniel’s shirt, her knuckles turning pale as her grip refused to loosen. Her eyes burned with a mix of anger and desperation, locking onto his face as if she could force the truth out of him just by looking hard enough.
“Say it,” she demanded, her voice trembling but sharp. “Just say it once.”
Daniel didn’t answer.
Behind Emma, Sarah stood frozen, her breath shallow, her eyes darting between them. The bruise on her cheek pulsed with a dull ache, but she barely felt it anymore. The pain had long moved deeper—somewhere words couldn’t reach.
“Emma…” Daniel finally spoke, his voice low, strained. “You don’t understand.”
“Then make me understand!” she snapped, pulling him closer. “Because everything—everything—points to you.”
The silence that followed was louder than any scream.
A clock ticked somewhere in the house.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Daniel’s eyes flickered for just a second—toward Sarah.
Emma saw it.
That was enough.
Her grip tightened. “Why did you look at her?” she whispered, her voice dropping into something far more dangerous. “What are you hiding?”
Sarah took a step back instinctively, her heart pounding violently against her ribs. “Emma… please… this isn’t—”
“Not another word!” Emma shouted, her voice echoing down the hallway. “You’ve been lying to me for weeks!”
“I haven’t—”
“You have!” Emma cut her off, her eyes now blazing. “Both of you!”
Daniel exhaled sharply, closing his eyes for a moment like a man preparing to step off a cliff. “If I tell you,” he said quietly, “there’s no going back.”
Emma leaned closer, her voice cold. “We passed that point a long time ago.”
Another silence.
He opened his eyes.
And this time, there was no hesitation.
“It wasn’t me,” Daniel said. “It was her.”
The words hit the air like a gunshot.
Emma froze.
Slowly… very slowly… she turned her head toward Sarah.
Sarah’s face drained of color.
“No…” Emma whispered, shaking her head. “No, that’s not possible.”
“Emma, please,” Sarah said, her voice cracking. “He’s lying.”
“I’m not,” Daniel replied. “Tell her what happened that night.”
Sarah’s back hit the wall behind her. There was nowhere left to go.
“You said it was an accident,” Emma murmured, her voice breaking now. “You said… you said you found her like that…”
“I did!” Sarah insisted, tears filling her eyes. “I didn’t mean for it to happen!”
Emma’s breath caught.
“Mean for what to happen?” she asked slowly.
The truth hovered in the air, heavy, suffocating.
Sarah slid down the wall, her legs giving out beneath her. “She… she wasn’t supposed to die,” she whispered.
The world stopped.
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