Gilded Cage

Chapter 78

After Zac's memories came back full force, together, my man and I convinced his mom that our love was too real to be ignored, and she permitted Zac move to DC so we could continue dating without having to deal with the pitfalls of a long distance relationship.

A month following my move to DC, my dad and his team managed to put the finishing touches on their investigation. Harvey Waldron, Aleah's mom, Vince's dad, and Madison's dad were arrested, prosecuted, and found guilty as hell. All of them were now keeping Zac's dad company in Otisville.

Meanwhile, my dad went into remission after only one round of chemo. Bea, Trick, and I grew closer than ever thanks to our fresh start in DC. My stepmother, Andrea, was practically a saint, and I came to appreciate her for the effort she put into bridging the initial awkwardness between my siblings and I.

Despite my abrupt transfer in the middle of the year from Ashton Wellesley to Emerson High, I somehow managed to grind my way into the top spot at my new school by the end of junior year. Nat, Amari, and I were already planning a girls' trip to Europe this summer as a graduation present to ourselves. I contacted Dr. Williams, and she invited us to stay with her for a few days in Hamburg.

I supposed I shouldn't have been surprised that a student who possessed my range of talent and achievement was accepted to all the top tier universities I applied to, including Stanford. After graduating summa cum laude from Stanford, I became a successful lawyer and lived happily ever after with—

With fucking no one.

Because this bullshit-driven narrative only existed in my wildest fantasies.

Because reality was one mean motherfucker.

Thankfully, though, so was I.

At night, my subconscious continually dreamt up these brutally optimistic scenarios. I often awoke in the morning with wetness on my cheeks and pillow. The contrast between the foolish desires of my psyche and the harshness of real life was far too great. In a matter of days, the boy I admired, desired, and loved with my whole fucking heart had been wrenched from me on all fronts. Physically, emotionally, and psychologically. Somehow, though, my unruly organ kept beating. Breath continued to enter and exit my lungs in slow, painful drags. From minute to minute and hour to hour, I focused on these primitive biological functions to remind myself that I was still alive.

No matter how much of a mean motherfucker I tried to be, I'd be lying if I said that getting completely cut off from Zac didn't almost break me. Perhaps, the sole reason I remained intact was because I refused to give in. I refused to give into the possibility that my beautiful amber-eyed boy might be out of my reach for the foreseeable future. Maybe even forever.

After I seemingly triggered Zac's horrific meltdown in the hospital, his mother nixed my visitation privileges, and the staff barred me from entering the patient's wing at Wellesley-Newton. Believe it or not, I didn't charge back the very next day to bribe, wheedle, or kiss Ms. Pietersen's ass into letting me see her son. I chose to embark down a drastically different path, a far more agonizing path, than the one I instinctively coveted because it felt like the right thing to do.

Doctors said Zac needed more time to recover. I believed this, too. He needed time to process these perplexing new circumstances without me there to remind him of the memories that his mind wanted him to forget.

The savagery from his outburst left a deep impression on me. I never again wanted to see Zac fall into such a frenzied state of desperation on my behalf. This was why I decided to give him a grace period of, at least, a month before making any attempts to reveal any details about our relationship or the dark, twisted secrets we uncovered about his dad.