Chapter 2

2

It was late at night by the time I finally made it back to the house.

I intended to go to the guest room first to light some incense for my parents' memorial.

But the moment I pushed the door open, my entire body went stiff.

The small room that was supposed to house my parents' ashes had been completely gutted and renovated.

"Vivienne Sterling!" I snarled into the phone as I dialed her number. "Where... where are my parents' ashes? I told you never to touch this room!"

"Oh, those? I moved them to the storage closet in the garage."

Vivienne's tone was casual, as if she were talking about moving old boxes of shoes.

I gripped the phone so hard my knuckles turned white. The rage in my chest felt like it was going to explode.

"You promised! You said I would always have a room to honor them! Why would you go back on your word?!"

"Shut the hell up!" Vivienne suddenly screamed back. "This is my house! I decide how the rooms are used! It's been seven years. If you won't bury them, that's your problem. My house isn't a funeral parlor!"

I stood frozen in the doorway, my fingernails digging into my palms.

Vivienne continued, her voice dripping with impatience.

"That room has the best natural light. I'm turning it into a recovery suite for Asher. He needs the sun for his post-op healing. Besides, you've occupied that space for seven years. I've been more than generous."

"You're heartless," I hissed through gritted teeth.

Vivienne didn't get angry. She just laughed, her voice turning into a threat.

"Caleb, if you keep pushing me, I'll take those ashes and dump them in the Atlantic. Then you can go cry at the beach all you want."

She hung up, leaving me in the silence of the hallway. I leaned against the wall and slowly slid to the floor.

I suddenly remembered a rainy night twenty years ago.

A young Vivienne, abandoned by her own parents, was huddled on my doorstep. She was soaking wet, looking like a stray puppy.

My parents were the ones who took her in. They gave her a home.

She had sworn to me then.

She said that when she grew up, she would make sure we lived in a huge house and had everything we ever wanted.

She promised I would be the most precious person in her world.

She said she'd spend her whole life protecting me.

And for a while, she did.

Vivienne was brilliant. In her senior year of college, she developed a piece of biotech that rocked the scientific community.

It was a chip that could regulate human senses and emotions.

By syncing two chips, one person could feel what the other felt.

You could even transfer one person's physical pain to another.

Vivienne told me she created it because she wanted to take away all my pain and sadness.

She swore she would protect me forever.

She even programmed a fail-safe―if she ever failed to protect me, the chip would punish her.

The irony was that this very chip, born from a promise of love, was now the source of my deepest despair.

I wiped my face and walked down to the garage storage closet.

I picked up the two heavy urns and walked out of the house.

The beach was deserted in the pre-dawn chill.

I knelt on the damp sand and scattered the ashes into the shimmering dark water.

As the horizon began to glow with the rising sun, I remembered the day Vivienne first confessed her love to me.

She had written a vow in this very sand:

"I will never fail Caleb Thorne."

My phone vibrated. A message from Director Miller.

"The paperwork is ready. Here is the digital contract for the transfer. If it looks good, sign it."

I didn't hesitate. I signed my name and hit send.

The tide came in, washing the old vows away.

This time, I had nothing left to lose.