Jay clenched his fists, his nails biting into his skin.
"I don't want to stay here."
His voice shook as tears burned his eyes.
"I want to go back. Back to reality. A reality where Ember is still alive. Where she hasn't turned into a half-zombie. Where she's still teasing me, still talking about marriage."
His heart felt like it was being crushed.
"Just give me one chance… I won't waste it. I'll marry her immediately."
Fear and heartache flooded him so intensely that he thought his heart would burst. For a brief moment, he believed the scene was finally fading, that he would escape this nightmare.
Then everything shattered.
The world fractured like broken glass, and countless scenes flashed before his eyes. They were unfamiliar, distorted, like a life he had never lived.
In this life, Ivy never appeared.
