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Inside my apartment, Sam sets my bag down. Everything looks exactly as I left it, yet somehow foreign, like I'm seeing it through different eyes.

"Well," Sam says, his voice carefully neutral. "Our deal is complete."

My breath stutters as I turn to face him. "What?"

"I trust you now." His expression is unreadable, his eyes avoiding mine. "You're free."

The words hit me like a physical blow. "Free?"

"That was the arrangement. You're no longer a witness I need to worry about." He shrugs, the gesture too casual. "You can go back to your life."

"No." The word bursts from me. "No, you can't just leave me. Not after everything."

"I have to."

"Why?" My voice rises, cracking with emotion. "Because it’s my fault Roman’s dead? Because I killed someone? Because I'm damaged now?"

"No, no.” He scrubs a hand over his face. “Because I nearly got you killed!" His composure finally breaks along with me. "You almost died because of me, Olivia."

"That wasn't your fault!"

"It was." His jaw clenches, eyes pained. "And it will happen again if you stay with me."

"So you're just going to walk away?" I step toward him, anger and hurt coursing through me. "After everything we've been through…you’re just leaving?"

"I'm trying to protect you," he says, voice strained.

"I don't want your protection! I want you!"

His eyes squeeze shut, and he takes a step back, creating a valley of space between us. "Goodbye, Olivia," he says, and then, spinning on his heel, he leaves me. Shutting the apartment door behind him and walking out of my life like he didn't just drop a bomb on my world.

An ache forms in my chest, and my hand clutches at my heart. I can't breathe, my lungs refuse to work.

I collapse onto the floor, my legs giving out as the weight of Sam's rejection crushes me. The tears come in violent waves, my body shaking with sobs I can't control. I wrap my arms around myself, trying to hold the broken pieces together, but it's useless. I'm shattering.

The door opens behind me, and I don't even look up. I don't care who sees me like this.

"Olivia?" Kelly's voice is soft with concern. She kneels beside me, her hands gentle on my shoulders. "What happened? Where's Sam?"

"He's gone," I choke out between sobs. "He just...left me."

Kelly pulls me into her arms, and I bury my face against her shoulder. She smells like antiseptic and floral perfume — the scent of the nurse who's been caring for my grandfather.

"Shh, it's okay," she whispers, stroking my hair. "Let it out."

I cling to her, my fingers digging into her sweater as I cry harder. The pain feels physical, like someone has hollowed out my chest with a rusty spoon.

"He said I'm free now," I manage between gasping breaths. "Like I wanted to be free of him. Like everything between us meant nothing."

Kelly rocks me, making soothing sounds. "Men can be such fools sometimes."

The floorboards creak, and I hear shuffling footsteps entering the living room. I don't need to look up to know it's Grandpa.

"Is dinner ready yet?" His voice is cheerful, completely oblivious to the scene before him. "I'm starving. Is that pasta I smell?"

More tears fall.

This is what I wanted, isn't it? For Sam to let me go so I could come back to my life.