Chapter 2

As I teetered on the edge of consciousness, Evelyn's search continued.

She was meticulous, leaving no corner unchecked, determined to uncover all my "evidence" of wrongdoing.

Finally, she kicked the bed aside and fumbled under it, dragging out a dusty metal box.

My heart lurched!

No!

Anything but that!

The things inside that box were more important than my life!

"Don't touch it!"

I didn't know where the strength came from, but I crawled toward her, scrambling on all fours.

Evelyn paused, startled by my frantic behavior, then her eyes glinted with even deeper mockery.

She easily kicked me aside and unlatched the box.

Inside lay a tattered diary with worn edges and a police badge, carefully wrapped in a red cloth.

Evelyn picked up the diary and casually flipped through a few pages.

It contained my entries for every chemotherapy session, every surge of pain, every dose of medication.

"March 7th, sunny. OxyContin, 80mg. Pain."

"March 9th, cloudy. Morphine injection. Hurts so bad I want to die, but I think I saw Evelyn on the street. She still looks so beautiful."

"March 15th, rainy. Increased dosage. My bones feel like they're shattering."

She let out a cold laugh, holding the diary high for the camera.

"Look at this! What is it? A junkie's diary!"

She loudly read out the line, "I think I saw Evelyn," her voice laced with derision and disgust.

"Ha, hallucinations from being high, huh? Still thinking about me? Liam, you absolutely sicken me."

With that, she tossed the diary directly into the trash can in the corner.

Then, she picked up the police badge wrapped in red cloth.

It was my father's relic; he had been her mentor.

Seeing the badge, Evelyn's eyes turned stone cold.

"You don't deserve to keep this."

She stepped closer.

"The son of a hero, living as a parasite. Is this how you honor your father's memory?"

I shook my head wildly, tears cutting tracks through the cold sweat on my face.

"No... it's not true..."

But she ignored me completely, drawing a lighter from her pocket.

Click.

A cold, blue flame sputtered to life.

She actually lit the diary on fire, right in front of me!

She stomped on my outstretched hand, trying to snatch it back, grinding her heel down with brutal force.

A sound like shattering bone echoed, and I screamed in agony.

"Watch."

She forced my gaze as the diary blackened and curled into ash within the flames.

"Why keep this? So the world will remember what a piece of garbage you were?"

"Or do you want everyone to know that I, Evelyn Reed, was once with a junkie criminal?"

The fire devoured the pages, a heat that seemed to burn inside my own bones.

Marcus spoke up from the side. "Evelyn's right. This kind of trash just pollutes the environment. Burning it cleans things up."

I lay on the floor, my hand pinned under her foot, unable to move.

I stopped struggling, stopped crying out.

I just watched the fire, silently, until it consumed the last page, leaving only a pile of black ashes.

That diary was the last proof of my innocence left in this world.

Now, it was gone.