11:19 am
Chapter 648 One Step at a Time
Chapter 648 One Step at a Time
Dawn let out a short, humorlessugh. “And who are you saying that to?”
Because really–who could guarantee anything?
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“Anna’s finally starting toe back to herself. I’m not letting all that effort get ruined. So, Mr. Graves… go. And don’te back to bother her again.”
She held Leon’s eyes for a heartbeat, then turned and walked inside.
If he had even a sliver of real feeling for Anna, he’d think twice.
Dawn breathed out slowly. She’d done what she could. The rest was out of her control.
From the next day on, Leon didn’t show up again.
The forecast said a hurricane wasing in two days.
Right before a storm, the sky always looked too pretty–pink light spilling across the horizon like a dream that didn’t know it was about to break.
Anna stood at the window, staring into the distance. There was a strange stillness to her, like she’d been paused mid–thought.
Dawn watched from a few steps behind. Anna had gotten so thin. At nearly five–seven, she looked like a hard gust could fold her in
half.
Something pinched in Dawn’s chest. She crossed the room and slipped an arm around Anna’s shoulders.
“What are you doing over here? Dulce was just running around looking for you.”
“Just standing,” Anna said.
She didn’t turn, only kept her eyes on the far–off glow. “Dawn… where do you think people go after they die?”
The question still had teeth.
But it also felt like she was pressing on a bruise to see if it still hurt–maybe because she needed to know it was real
Dawn thought for a moment, then answered carefully, like she wasying something fragile down on a table. “I don’t know what everyone believes. But me? I think death is just gone. There’s nowhere to go. If I had to call it anything dust”
Like fire eating through everything until all that’s left is smoke, thinning into the air until there’s nothing
Anna nodded, almost relieved.
“Yeah.”
Her voice softened into a quiet sigh. “When you’re dead, there’s nothing. Only living gives you hope. We haven’t <b>even </b>seen <b>enou </b>of the world yet. How could we just end it?”
Dawn didn’t speak. She only tightened her arm around Anna’s shoulder, a small, wordless anchor
11:19 am
Chapter 648 One Step at a Time
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“Dawn… I’m sorry.”
Anna’s eyes reddened fast, like her body had been holding it back until now.
“I must’ve terrified you. I’m a grown woman, and I still did something like that. It’s … it’s not something a person with a brain should do.”
The words broke her open. Tears surged down her face, hot and unstoppable.
Dawn pulled her into a hug and patted her back, slow and steady.
“It’s okay. Anna, it’s okay. Really.”
“No… it’s not.”
Anna pressed her face into Dawn’s shoulder, sobbing so hard she could barely breathe. “Thank God you found me. Dawn, if I’d really died… I can’t even imagine my mom. She would’ve shattered. That’s not just pain–that’s me being the worst kind of daughter.
“I let one ugly moment push me into something extreme. It was selfish and irresponsible … I won’t do it again. Dawn, I swear!
won’t.”
Dawn’s throat tightened. She stroked Anna’s hair and whispered, “I know. From now on, we live. No matter what happens, I’m right here, okay?”
Anna cried until her eyes were swollen, until her breath came in shaky little hups.
“Okay,” Dawn said, forcing a small smile as she wiped her cheeks.
“Look at you. You cried yourself into aplete mess. Those eyes are going to stay puffy for two days.”
“No way.” Anna sniffed and leaned toward the ss to inspect herself. She froze. “Oh my God–I look like a panda.”
“I’m icing them tonight. For hours if I have to. I refuse to ept this.”
“At that rate, you’ll catch a cold before the swelling goes down.”
Dawn sighed. “Just let it be. We’re not going anywhere for the next couple of days.”
“I should’ve stopped sooner…”
Anna took a deep breath through her nose and immediately regretted it. She sounded congested, like her own face was betraying her. “If Dulce sees me like this, is she going to… think something?”
“She’s a toddler. She won’t reach such conclusions,” Dawnughed, the sound finally warm. “The most she’ll think is her godmother is sick.”
“Well, I kind of am.”
The kind where you wake up clear–headed and want to p your past self for being so reckless.
The more Anna reyed those days, the more it felt like she’d been sleepwalking through someone else’s life. “Don’t worry. I’m going to turn over a new leaf.”
<b>11:19 </b>am
Chapter 648 One Step at a Time
Sometimes, people don’t change gradually. Sometimes they snap into rity in one single second.
Like Anna<i>. </i>
Anna recovered faster than Dawn expected, like she’d switched tracks inside her mind.
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She still drifted sometimes, eyes going distant, but she tried. She showed up. She chose forward. And that was everything.
Time heals the people who want to heal.
Dawn was still wondering how to bring up Leon when Anna beat her to it.
The weather was perfect that day. Dawn, Raven, and Anna spread a pic mat in the yard,id out snacks and fruit, and let Dulce burn off her endless energy. It was basically a pic without calling it one.
After a while, both women copsed onto the mat like they’d just survived a marathon.
“I’m done. I’mpletely done.”
“Same,” Dawn replied, staring up at the clean blue sky.
She pulled her sunsses down over her eyes and muttered, “Why do kids have unlimited energy? I don’t get it.”
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<strong>Olivia Harris</strong> is an emerging author celebrated for her captivating romantic and steamy novels. With a talent for crafting deep emotional connections and fiery chemistry between her characters, Olivia’s stories offer readers an escape into worlds filled with passion, intrigue, and heart-stopping drama.