chapter 7

Vincent got arrested and dragged down to the police station for assault.

Serena got rushed to the hospital.

The good news was she'd survive. The bad news was her face was completely ruined, and the skin on her back was so torn up it looked like raw meat.

Christy came rushing over from the hospital and shook her head at me.

"Serena's awake now and she's pretty worked up about the whole thing. She's dead set on making sure Vincent gets what's coming to him.

"With this assault case, there are witnesses everywhere and physical evidence all over the place. He's definitely not walking away from this one. Now we just have to wait and see how the police decide to handle it..."

I stared through the interrogation room window at Vincent sitting there in handcuffs.

"I've got nothing to say in my defense. Yeah, I did it with my own hands, and damn right I wanted her dead!

"If she hadn't lied to me, my fiancée would still be alive. Do you guys understand? She killed the last family member I had left in this world.

"So tell me—how am I supposed to forgive her for that?"

The police officers shook their heads. "You know assault charges come with jail time, right?"

Vincent didn't react. He didn't seem to care at all.

"You don't have any family who can post bail, which means you'll be stuck in holding until your court date."

That seemed to hit a nerve. Vincent's calm expression cracked, and something shifted in his eyes. He sat up straight, and suddenly that whole defeated attitude was gone.

"No, I have to get out of here. My fiancée's funeral... I need to be there to see her off one last time...

"Please, just let me go. You can send officers to watch me the whole time. I'll wear cuffs, a hood, whatever you want. I just need to be there for her."

Tears started streaming down his face as he said it.

The officers clearly felt bad for him, but they still shook their heads and walked out of the interrogation room.

I watched Vincent slump back in his chair and start hitting his chest in frustration. My feelings were all over the place.

Maybe this was the moment he finally understood his own heart. Maybe he finally realized that the person he'd loved most all along had become me.

Too bad Avery didn't exist in this world anymore.

After I finished giving my statement, Christy picked me up outside the police station. I climbed into the passenger seat, and she immediately pulled out her phone to book plane tickets.

"There's an art exhibition in Frostholm that's open to new artists, and I already registered you for it. In two months, the National Gallery's opening up a residency spot, and I put your name down.

"Oh, and that art school you've always wanted to get into? They're accepting applications right now... Avery, are you even listening to me?"

That was when Christy finally noticed something was wrong. She reached over and tapped my shoulder.

I turned to look at her, then glanced back at the urn sitting in the back seat. I didn't say anything.

"Don't tell me you actually want to hold a funeral!" She pointed at the urn. "That's just some random unclaimed body."

"But she helped me out. Just because she's dead doesn't mean she should be left to wander around like a ghost, right? Plus, if family and friends ask questions, we need to have some kind of explanation for how 'Avery' died."

"Fine." Christy nodded, clearly annoyed. "I'll get someone to set it up."

She pulled some documents out of her bag and handed them to me. "This is your new identity. We can get it processed in a couple days, and then we'll go straight to the embassy to apply for your visa. We can start our new life right away."

I stared down at the papers for a long time and couldn't make myself snap out of it. "So that means right now, I'm still Avery, right?"

Christy froze.

Before she could recover and try to stop me, I'd already yanked the car door open and bolted toward the police station.

I signed my own name on the bail document. Avery.

Let Vincent be the one to send Avery off one last time.

It wasn't a perfect ending to the five years we'd spent together, but at least it'd be closure.