Until The Last Day Novel

Chapter 19 283 Mouchers Chapter 19 Lorenzo's POV The slap was so hard it spun my head and threw me against the wall. A hot sting spread across my cheek. The picture hook dug into my shoulder blade. For a second, the room doubled-two couches, two doors, two of my mother's faces staring at me with a mix of fury and grief. I didn't move. I didn't lift my eyes. "Say something," Mom rasped. "Look at me. "J I couldn't. My mouth worked, but no words came. The silence stretched thin and cruel. She took that silence as an answer. "So it's true," she whispered.

The anger in her eyes drained away, replaced by something worse-disappointment so deep it looked like a wound. "You did this." Her breath hitched. "I always felt... Claire's death was strange. But I never thought it was because of you." I slid down the wall and sank to the floor. My legs wouldn't hold me. My cheek throbbed in time with my heartbeat. "How could you?" Mom's voice rose, sharp and shaking. "How could you do something so stupid, so ugly?" 000% 1154 Chapter 19 17 288 Vouchers I swallowed and tasted blood. "Mom-" "She saved your life," she cried. "Do you remember that?

Do you remember the accident? Do you remember the boy who would rather be punished than leave her? The boy who said, 'I'll take care of you forever'-do you remember him?" "I remember," I said, and my voice cracked. "Every day." "You promised," she said. "In front of everyone. In front of her parents." Her voice broke on the last words. "What am I supposed to tell them now-in my prayers? What face do I take to their graves?" I couldn't bear it. My hands shook so badly I had to press them to the floor to steady myself. The wood was cold. It felt cleaner than I was.

"My soul died the day I got the call," I said, barely above a whisper. "Today is just my body catching up." She stared at me, chest heaving. "Don't talk like that." "It's true," I said. "The rot started the first time I answered Aria's message. The first time I told myself it was nothing. It's been spreading ever since." Mom closed her eyes and took a breath like someone about to lift a heavy box. "We lived next door to Claire for eighteen years," she said, voice lower now, steadier, as if trying to anchor herself in memory. "You were four when they moved in.

Do you remember what I said the first week?" I nodded, eyes down. "You said you always wanted a daughter." "And then I saw her," Mom went on. "Tiny ponytail, big eyes. Brave 11 54 Chapter 19 17 288 Vouchers little thing. I fell in love with her that day." The room softened around her voice. For a moment, I could almost see our old street. The low wall between houses. Bicycles with training wheels. The swing set that squeaked under summer light. "I knew you two were... stupid little secret lovers," Mom said, a ghost of a smile flickering and dying.

"You thought you were sneaky, meeting at the gate, sharing snacks behind the garage." "I thought you didn't know," I murmured. "I knew," she said. "I pretended not to. You were children. I told myself you would grow out of it, or grow into it. Either way, it would be your road." Her eyes shifted, going somewhere far away. "Then that day came..... do you remember? When your school called me? When the teacher said you needed to be 'disciplined' for breaking rules about 'public displays'?" She almost laughed. "Your poor face. You looked like a criminal in a movie." I remembered it clearly.

The principal's office smelled like chafed paper and pencil dust. Claire's hand squeezed mine under the table. I thought my world would end. "They told us to call both families," Mom said. "So we all gathered. I thought, 'Good. We will set boundaries.' And then you-" She stopped and looked at me, and something like pride flickered through the pain. "You fell to your knees," she said softly. "Sixteen years old. All bones and stubbornness. You promised, with your forehead on the floor, that 36.76% 11 54 Chapter 19 288 Vouchers you and Claire would not stray. That you would study harder.

That you would get into the same college. That you would protect her." "I was terrified they would separate us," I said. "I thought if I begged hard enough-" "Claire's mother wanted to end it," Mom said, her voice gentler now. "She was afraid. She thought first love always burns out. She didn't want you to ruin each other's futures." "And her father?" I asked. Her mouth trembled into the smallest smile. "He said, 'Let them be children. Let them make mistakes in the daylight.' He said, 'If they're meant to last, our forbidding won't stop them. If they're not, time will." Mom drew a breath.

"And I... I agreed. Because I liked her. Because I believed in you." She looked at me hard. "I trusted your word." Shame washed through me like cold water. I pressed my forehead to my knees and breathed through the burn in my chest. "Then the accident," Mom said, voice turning rough again. "You changed overnight. You learned how to carry another person's weight without complaint. You brought her home and made this house work around a wheelchair. You did the paperwork. You cooked. You fought with doctors. You fought with yourself. I thought, 'My son is a man now.

He can be trusted with a life.' She paused, and the pause was a knife. "After you married," she continued, "when her parents died, when Claire went dark inside, you kept the lights on. You held her when she cried. I stopped worrying. I thought you were steady." 1154 Chapter 19 288 /Vouchers She wiped her cheek with the back of her hand. "I never imagined you would do... this." The word this sat between us like a broken plate no one wanted to touch. "I know," I whispered. "Why?" she asked, and the single syllable was heavier than all the others. "Do you have an answer?

Even a stupid, selfish one?" "I was tired," I said finally. "Cowardly. I wanted to feel something easy. Aria made it easy to forget." Mom flinched like the name itself burned. "Don't say her name here." I nodded. "I won't." She paced once, twice, then stopped and faced me again. "Did you ever wonder if Claire knew about it all?" "She knew everything," I said. "Not the details. The shape. The distance. The way I laughed at someone else's jokes." I swallowed. "She waited for me to confess. I didn't." Mom's jaw tightened. "You should have told her the truth. It would have hurt.

But she could have looked you in the eye and chosen. Now she's gone, and all the choosing is over. "I know." " Mom stood very still for a long time. When she spoke again, her voice was hushed, like a prayer that didn't expect to be heard. "I wanted a daughter," she said. "And I got one. She called me 'Ma' 1154 } Chapter 19 1288 Vouchers without trying. I miss her." 1 1154 Cedella Cedella is a passionate storyteller known for her bold romantic and spicy novels that keep readers hooked from the very first chapter.

With a flair for crafting emotionally intense plots and unforgettable characters, she blends love, desire, and drama into every story she writes. Cedella's storytelling style is immersive and addictive-perfect for fans of heated romances and heart-pounding twists.