Chapter 9

The phone slipped from Evan's hand and hit the floor with a loud thud. The tempered glass screen cracked as it hit the tile, shattering like a spiderweb. Chloe's custom ringtone—the one he once thought sounded like honey—was still vibrating relentlessly. But now, it buzzed like a drill burrowing straight through his eardrum into his brain. An hour ago, that melody had felt sweet. Now, every note grew barbs. His pupils burned. His retinas still seared with the ghost of that news headline. The bold black letters warped and melted into thick black tar, flooding back through his optic nerves into his skull. "Flight MU587 crashed three minutes after takeoff. No survivors." No survivors. Lila was dead? "No, no… That's not possible." It couldn't be. Just an hour ago, he had personally dropped Lila off at the airport. He could still recall the sound of her voice, the look in her eyes, even the exact color of the clothes she wore. Someone so vividly alive—how could she be gone? She ha