---- Always schmoozing, always drinking, she thought she would drop the grudge and chase her own dreams once she was out. However, life threw her a curveball-stomach cancer, with the clock ticking down. At the end of her rope, she realized her whole life had been fueled by hate. Staring death in the face, she figured out that I was the one she had wronged the most. I scrolled through the photos attached to the email. There was this boy who looked a lot like Thomas. However, his eyes told a different story. They were brimming with light. Thomas's eyes, though, were always like bottomless pits, dark and brooding. [Rebecca, there's something you need to know. ---- The person who braved the flames to save you was my brother, who's no longer with us. It burns me up that he got caught again by those kidnappers because he saved you. I knew you didn't do anything wrong, but I still got you tangled up in this mess...] Before I could finish reading the text, a tidal wave of emotion hit me, and my phone slipped from my limp fingers, crashing to the ground. I crouched down, cradling my head in my arms, as tears of utter hopelessness streamed down my face. My world used to be a place of endless gray. Loving Thomas was like a beacon in the darkness, my second faith. All of a sudden, they were telling me... It was all a lie... All those moments of misguided love, the feelings ---- I poured out, the pain I went through... It was all one big, cruel joke. Thomas, Tracy... I despised them both.