They Regretted It After I Gave Up Chapter 26

They Regretted It After I Gave Up Chapter 26

I saw Mom and Dad sitting at the dining table in their new house, staring blankly at my photo.

I saw Tessa walking alone across her college campus, a girl with no friends.

I also saw Beckett in the prison library, holding a book.

It was the one I had given him years ago.

*The Little Prince*.

He had never given it back.

On the title page was the inscription I had written.

*For Beckett. I hope you’ll always be the little prince. —Kat*

He turned to that page and slowly traced the words with his finger.

I had written them when I was eighteen, sitting at my desk, forming each letter with care.

Back then, I didn’t know he would betray me.

I didn’t know I was going to die.

And I certainly didn’t know that the person I loved most in the world would be the one to destroy me.

Beckett pressed the book to his chest and closed his eyes.

A tear fell onto the page, and the ink slowly began to blur.

He had never been the little prince.

He was the snake.

Many years later, Mom and Dad passed away.

They were buried together in a Catholic cemetery.

Their names were carved on the headstone.

Beside them was an empty plot.

It was for me.