Chapter 47 Can't Take It Anymore

• Emerald knew Alaric had done enough for her. It wasn’t his fault that she couldn’t trust or decide to take the plunge for love. This was the path she had chosen. After walking it alone for so many years, she thought she should be used to it by now.
• She reminded herself in silence that it was just a cockroach, nothing more. She had left Rose behind, left the cabinet, left the darkness. She was no longer the child trapped helplessly in a closet. The cockroach she saw was now just a symbol of a deeper fear, a shadow she couldn't seem to escape, even now.
• Emerald’s body slid down against the bathroom tiles. She hugged her knees, burying her head in her arms as the shower water continued to cascade over her. Emerald had once suffered from mental illness, controlled only through medication. She had fought hard to appear “normal” like everyone else, even stopping her medication for a long time, convincing herself she was finally okay. But loneliness had a way of creeping in, tightening around her like an invisible net, suffocating her.