𝓔𝓾𝓹𝓱𝓸𝓻𝓲𝓪 » 𝓔𝓷𝓱𝔂𝓹𝓮𝓷

XIV

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Rain dripped from the edges of the window, the soft pattering barely covering the quiet sniffles echoing in the empty stairwell.

Kristina curled up on the cold steps, hugging her knees to her chest.

Everyone else had their mothers with them today. Holding their hands, fixing their hair, laughing with them.

She had no one.

She tried not to cry, she really did, but the ache in her chest only grew heavier, suffocating, until tears slipped down her cheeks, silent and endless.

A soft rustle of fabric. A warmth settling beside her.

Shanna.

Kristina didn't look up, but she felt the gentle touch against her back, slow, comforting.

For a long moment, neither of them spoke. Just sat in the quiet, just breathed.

Then, a shaky whisper.

"Suzy's gonna be alone, Auntie... What are you doing with me?"

A choked sound left her throat, part cry, part broken laughter. Suzy had her. But who did Kristina have?

Shanna didn't answer right away. Just reached out, brushing Kristina's hair back with a tenderness that only made the lump in her throat swell.

"Who says you don't have a mother?"

Kristina blinked, looking up through tear-blurred eyes.

Shanna smiled softly, wiping a tear off her cheek.
"I will be your mother."

Something inside her cracked. The dam broke.
Kristina collapsed into Shanna's arms, sobs shaking her small frame as she clung to the only warmth she had ever known.

Shanna held her close, murmuring soft reassurances, stroking her hair, whispering promises she never thought she'd hear.

"You're not alone."

"You never were."

"You never will be."

Lies.

Kristina stared at the framed picture in her hands.

Her and Shanna. Smiling. Happy. A moment frozen in time that felt like a cruel joke now.

Fingers trembled around the edges of the frame, grip tightening until her knuckles turned white.
Was it real? Or was it just guilt?

Was she just a replacement? A way to ease Shanna's conscience for what she had done?

Heart pounding, breaths shallow, she felt something ugly rise in her chest.

With a sudden, violent motion, she threw the frame across the room.

Glass shattered against the wall, shards scattering across the floor like broken memories.
Her hands found the desk next.

Everything—papers, books, trinkets—sent crashing to the ground in a fit of blind rage and unbearable grief.

Tears burned hot, spilling down her face, but she didn't stop. Couldn't stop.

She wanted to scream. Wanted to demand answers. Wanted to take back every moment she ever let herself believe in Shanna's words.

But all she could do was break.

Curling up on the floor, surrounded by shattered pieces of a past she no longer knew was real, Kristina sobbed until her body ached.

Until she couldn't breathe.