Chapter 60: Echoes of the Soul.

The apartment is left entirely quiet, save for the ticking of the clock, like a metronome, marking each second Chloe has remaining before the memories come rolling back again. She hates these moments; quiet thoughts are no friends she wishes to spend eternity with. "Not again," she whispered, planting her palms on her temples as if she were capable of physically holding it at bay—the flood of regrets. But it was all inevitable. That first reverberation—that damned night at the bar when she confessed her feelings about Mark, her best friend's fiancé—that burned with shame and guilt, still hot years later. She could hear Mark's laughter, mocking her; his tone was disgusted as he shot her down without a thought. "You're pathetic; do you know that?" His sneer felt like a fresh stab to her heart. Chloe cringed, shaking off the echo. Deep breaths. But there was no running from this torment. Another wave broke over her—that horrible fight with her sister Sophie after their dad's funeral.