#Chapter 77: Cracks

Amelia I hadn’t meant to talk to Jenny that morning. After a sleepless night spent tossing and turning, gripping the crescent pendant like it might stop my chest from breaking in half, I’d reached the edge of something sharp and invisible. I’d stared at the ceiling for hours, waiting for something to change, a mindlink from Richard, a knock, a text, anything to tell me that all of this wasn’t falling apart in slow motion. But nothing came, not a word, not even silence that felt like a choice. Just emptiness. When I got up, I did so knowing I needed to fix something, anything, to feel like I still had some control over what was left. The guilt about Jenny had grown like mold inside me, festering in the dark. I spotted her down in the main level of HQ near the central printers, standing behind a long folding table with two other interns. She was sorting press packets with practiced ease, laughing about something one of them said. She looked as effortless as always-shoulders bac