Part 3Badge Unsealed

A powerful suction tore me from my memories.

The crowd erupted.

"They've found something!"

"Careful, give them a hand!"

Sam stood stunned, the word escaping his lips before he could stop it. "Impossible!"

"You just wanted to see me sweat, to make me look like a fool, didn't you? There can't really be any bones…" he muttered, as if to himself.

Rose bit her lip, her expression fraught with worry.

"Sam… you don't think… Skye could have killed someone, do you?"

"She always had such a volatile temper. If someone pushed her too far…"

Sam’s jaw tightened, his muscles coiling.

He pushed his way through the crowd.

"I'm going to take a look."

I hovered over the shattered remains of my own skeleton. The wind whistled through the gaps in the bones, and I couldn't help but laugh a bitter, silent laugh.

This was the true meaning of "chilled to the bone."

He brushed the dirt from a fractured piece.

Even through his gloves, I could feel the warmth of his fingertips.

My soul trembled. Suddenly, I didn't want him to see me like this.

If I had a choice, I would want him to remember me as I was.

Headstrong, impulsive, but so full of life.

But now, all I could do was gaze up at the man I once loved, desperate for the lingering warmth of his touch.

The medical examiner collected the bones, and the crowd slowly dispersed.

Sam remained alone in the field.

As the first light of dawn painted the sky, he suddenly pulled out his phone and started dialing like a madman.

Ring… Ring…

"The number you have dialed is no longer in service. Please check the number and try again."

The wind on the open plain was freezing, turning the tip of his nose red.

A choked sob was ripped away by the gale.

"Skye, this isn't real…"

"This is just a sick joke, right?"

A pair of arms wrapped around his neck, a woman's warm breath against his ear.

Rose's voice trembled. "Sam."

"Is she… still in your heart?"

Sam's body flinched violently.

A heavy, turbulent silence hung between them.

He placed his hand over hers, which rested on her stomach, and let out a long, weary sigh.

"That's all in the past."

"All I have now is you and the baby."

Rose's arms tightened around him as she began to weep softly.

"Sam, I'm so scared you'll leave me."

"I've given you everything. Please… don't let me down."

Seven years had worn away my anger.

Now, I could watch her performance with a calm detachment.

This woman was born with two faces.

With Sam, she was always the pitiful victim. With me, her eyes were filled with venom and defiance.

Sometimes, I truly wondered what I had ever done to her.

Why did she hate me so much?

It wasn't until I was dying that I finally understood.

She had every reason.

Her father, a career criminal, had been killed in a shootout with my father and Sam's father after resisting arrest.

Without his protection, she quickly became a "plaything" passed around by the gang.

"Do you know what I hate most about you?" she had sneered, crouching in front of me.

Her voice was a low hiss.

"We both lost our fathers. So why was your life so damn easy?"

"Your classmates and neighbors treated you with even more kindness. The men in your life didn't try to slip their hands into your underwear."

"I'm smarter than you, prettier than you, and I understand people better than you. So why, after all of that, does Sam still love you more?!"

It dawned on me then.

Love and hate—both can destroy you.

Rose had intended to avenge her father's death on both me and Sam.

But somewhere along the way, she fell in love with him.

And that only made her hate me more.