Seven Years a Shadow: The Stand-In's Escape novel Chapter 9

After a long silence, Ethan sighed above me.

"Don't worry about it. If you don't want to talk, you don't have to."

His voice was quiet. Tired.

"I already told you—no one gets to force you to do anything you don't want to do."

We didn't say another word until we boarded the plane.

Ethan's seat was right next to mine.

I turned toward the window, but I could still feel his gaze on me.

It wasn't until exhaustion finally overtook him and he drifted off to sleep that I could breathe again.

I pulled out my phone and slid in the SIM card I hadn't used in seven years.

The screen flooded with missed calls and unread messages.

Taking a deep breath, I opened my texts.

Every single one was from Ethan.

The last message was sent yesterday.

Charlotte, are you okay?

A tear splashed onto my screen.

My vision blurred as more followed.

No. I wasn't okay.

Not even close.

Seven years ago, the first time I stepped foot in the Miller house, Lucas was drunk beyond recognition.

The moment he saw me, he dragged me into his room.