hapter 127 The Slot To Closure


    Chapter 127 The Slot To Closure


    ARDEN


    It’s been a week.


    One long, gray–skied, heavy–hearted week..


    Mr. Winters was arrested the same day with more than enough proof


    The livestream, the testimonies and videos, the hidden passages in the cabin, and the army of students under hismand–all of it was more than enough. He was disqualified instantly from the Practor candidacy. His name was spat upon across the regions. The public didn’t just turn their backs on him They were disgusted. Outraged. And rightfully so.


    Elite Order Academy shut down for a full week. A rare, unprecedented <b>break</b>. Students who sided with Winters were suspended, most of them expelled, and several were arrested for full involvement in his ns, Jaxon and Kieran were among them. <b>I </b>saw their parents on the news one afternoon–begging. crying, pleading for their freedom. But thew wasn’t lenient. Not when it was my mom who had enforced it.


    My chest tightened.


    My mom…


    Cade had continued with his candidacy despite everything. Every morning, he left at dawn. He always left with soft kisses and long <b>hugs</b>, promising he’d be back by sundown. He kept that promise, every single day. No matter how busy or howplicated the rebuilding process had be, he always came back. Not once did hein when I barely spoke. Not once did he flinch when I didn’t smile.


    Tessa stayed with us, <b>too</b>. She had been recovering quickly. Sometimes I’d hear her and Cade exchanging light banter in the living room, theirughter muffled by my closed door. But most of the time, it was quiet in the house<b>. </b>


    A soft knock broke the silence today.


    I turned to the door.


    “Arden?” It was Tessa’s voice. “Lunch?”


    I hesitated, but then nodded. I wasn’t sure if she sensed the nod, but she opened the door anyway.


    She walked in slowly, a tray in hand, her movements light. She set the tray on my bedside table and sat at the edge of my bed.


    “Cade’s numbers are looking good,” she said softly, “Really good. They’re already calling him the people’s Alpha. Even East and West territories are backing him more openly now.”


    I smiled, or at least, I think I did. My lips moved, but I didn’t feel it.


    “That’s… that’s good,” I murmured


    She nodded, but I could feel the weight in her eyes.


    Chapter <b>127 </b>The Slot To Closure


    My mom was gone,


    <b>Buried</b>.


    Buried far, far from me. I wasn’t even there. I wasn’t allowed to be. It was her will–her final with. A remote funeral <b>with </b>no ceremony.


    <b>And </b>in turn, no closure.


    I didn’t cry when they told me she had been buried.


    But grief is strange.


    It doesn’t ask for permission.


    It doesn’te when you expect it..


    It


    creeps in during the in–betweens–the spaces betweenughter, the seconds before sleep, the bite of cold wind on your cheek.


    Thesest three days, I felt it. What I’d lost. What could have been. <b>What </b>we could’ve had.


    “You need to eat. Arden.” <b>Tessa </b>murmured.


    I nodded. I forced myself to pick up the spoon<b>. </b>It felt like a mountain just to swallow a bite.


    “I’ll give you space,” she said, standing.


    I watched her go. I waited until the door closed, and then I leaned back into my pillows, eyes shut tight


    But there <b>was </b>no peace.


    There was no sleep.


    I don’t even know how long Iy there in that state between waking and dreaming–until I felt the bed shift beside me.


    I opened my eyes.


    -Cade <b>was </b>there, smiling softly.


    “Hey,” he whispered, brushing <b>hair </b>out of my face.


    The <b>second </b>I saw <b>him</b>, I broke down.


    “I’m sorry,” I whispered, the tears falling before I could stop them. “I should be happy. I should be grateful. But I don’t know how to feel anything right now.”


    He didn’t hesitate.


    “Don’t <b>invalidate </b>yourself,” he said, gently wiping away the tears with his thumb. “You’ve <i>been </i>through hell. You don’t need to rush anything. I’m <b>not </b>going anywhere.”


    Ishook my head, the lump in <i>my </i>throat growing. “Did your campaign go well today?” I asked, trying 104


    Chapter 127 The Slot To Closure


    change the topic.


    He paused for a moment and then said quietly. “I didn’t go to a campaign today.”


    I frowned. “What?


    “I skipped it.”


    “Why?”


    “I got you this,” he said, and slowly opened his hand.


    In his palm was the ne. The ne that used to hang around my mom’s neck.


    I stared at it, the tears starting <b>again </b>in full force.


    “I thought you might want to keep it,” Cade said softly. “I found it. I know it’s not much. But I thought she’d want you to have it.”


    I reached out with trembling fingers, curling them <b>around </b>the pendant.


    It was still warm and still smelled faintly like her.


    “I miss her, I whispered. “So much.”


    I didn’t <b>even </b>get to spend a long time with her, but I still missed her.


    “I know,” he said, pulling me into his arms.


    And this time, I didn’t hold anything back. I let myself cry and fall apart.


    And Cade, <b>as </b>always


    held me together.


    “It was difficult to retrieve,” Cade said gently, his voice breaking the silence that had wrapped around us like a nket. “But when I found a small slot in your treasure box, I knew I had to find it for <b>you</b>.”


    My brows drew together. I lifted my gaze to meet his, but he was already looking at me.


    “And I have an idea,” he continued, holding out the ne. “Bethany wanted you to have this. I think… she meant for it to lead you somewhere. Or to <b>something</b>.”


    My heart stuttered,


    I turned to him slowly, swallowing “How?” I whispered.


    Cade smiled softly, eyes warm, but tired. “I’ll leave you for a while, baby,” he said, brushing his lips against my forehead. “You deserve to <b>discover </b>it yourself.”


    And just like that, he left the room, his footsteps retreating down the hallway.


    For a moment, I just sat there, my heart thudding hard, unsure what <b>to </b>expect


    My fingers moved on their own. I reached beside me and pulled the small box from the top drawer of <b>my </b>desk.


    Chapter 127 The Slot To Closure


    I never noticed anything strange about it.


    Until now.


    I turned it over in my hand.


    There–barely noticeable–was a minuscule slot at the bottom. My breath hitched. He was right. There was a slot. When did he notice it? I never would’ve.


    Cade. I thought, heart swelling despite the ache. He was so attentive


    My fingers trembled as I picked up the ne.


    I turned it gently, feeling the soft edges of the stone, and slowly guided it toward the tiny slot in the bottom of the box.


    It slid in perfectly.


    And then, it opened.