Chapter 3

Mason took me to school, gave me the best life he could, and kept me sheltered like a hothouse flower.

But I was never some pampered rose.

I was a scrappy little mutt from the slums, the kind who'd tackle my enemies like a rabid dog when a fight broke out.

I leaned against the tombstone, and beside me, Elliot was motionless.

The rain kept pouring, washing away the blood on the ground, but it couldn't cleanse our sins.

We were both the ones who killed Mason.

I thought, if there was a second chance, maybe I shouldn't have clung to Mason when I was ten.

Even at his lowest, Mason should have walked this world with his head held high, unafraid of anything.

Half-lost in the haze, I could hear the blaring of police sirens.

Through the misty light, Mason held out his hand to me.

He said, "Joyce, come here. I'll take you home."

When I snapped back to reality, I found myself on that day when I was nine, the day I fell into the lake.

Bone-chilling water engulfed me, and I started thrashing around on instinct.

In no time, a tall figure swam over and hauled me out of the water, dragging me onto solid ground.

He laid me flat and immediately started trying to revive me.

Only when I coughed up the water and really came to did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.

He said, "Hey, kid, what are you doing out here by the lake all by yourself this late at night? Where are your parents?

"If my son hadn't spotted you falling in, with it being so dark out, things could've turned out really bad."

His voice was gentle, and a woman rushed over, bundled me up in a warm blanket.

"Thank God you're safe. You really gave us a scare just now," she said, her voice full of relief.

I was shivering, and in the glow of the headlights, I glanced at the couple standing next to me.

At that moment, it felt like a thunderbolt had crashed down on me.

Those faces were burned into my memory.

Every year, when Mason took me to pay our respects, the pictures on the gravestones were of this very couple.

Back then, after I fell into the water, I blacked out and never found out who pulled me out.

I never would've guessed that the Richard‌ and Elena Grant I'd been honoring for ten years were actually the ones who saved my life when I was a kid.

Before I could even wrap my head around it, I heard a boy's clear voice behind me.

He said, "Mom, there are some of my clothes in the car. Can you get them so she can change? Don't want her to catch a cold.

"We'll take her home in a bit."

It was Mason.

I felt a lump in my throat and turned to look at Mason.

Mason, about fourteen or fifteen, was watching me with a soft look. When he saw the tears in my eyes, he looked taken aback.

Mason said, sounding surprised. "Oh, you're a girl.

"Don't worry. We're not here to hurt you. The clothes in the car are all new, never been worn."

I couldn't stop the tears from falling, no matter how hard I tried.

It felt as if I were dreaming.

Mason's eyes were clear, pure, and kind, no shadows at all.

This was his true self.

I cried so hard that I started hiccupping.

This was the Mason I always knew he could be, so radiant and untainted.

Elena wrapped me in a hug. "You must've been scared, honey. Come on, I will take you to change your clothes.

"The car's warm, and if we turn off the headlights, no one will see you.

"Mason and his dad will stand guard a little ways off. No bad guys will come near, so don't be scared."

Richard‌ lowered his voice. "That's right. I'm super tough."

With parents as gentle and kind as Richard‌ and Elena, it was no wonder Mason could never let go of the pain from before.

No wonder, after everything he went through, he still managed to keep kindness in his heart.

Even though he was born with privilege, he still had a heart full of empathy.

People might call that foolish, but it was pure goodness.

A family like theirs should never have met such a terrible fate.

I clenched my fists, determination burning inside me.

Back then, Mason pulled me out of the abyss and raised me.

This time, I swore I would give him a life of peace and happiness.

On the way back, when Elena heard I was nine and hadn't even started school yet, she offered to put me in school.

After thinking it over for ages, I couldn't bring myself to say no.

I really needed a chance to get close to the Grant family.

Or more like, I needed a chance to get close to Elliot and Joe.

I insisted on getting out at an alley half a mile from home, then walked back alone, wearing those oversized clothes.

But just as I stepped into the pitch-black stairwell, a light flashed on behind me.

I turned around.

Mason was standing there, one hand in his pocket and the other holding up his phone, looking at me gently.

"Go on in. Let me light the way for you," he said.

I couldn't help but feel my eyes well up again.

Back then, after he got me into school, he'd always be there, trailing behind me, making sure I got to school and back safely every single day.

At first, he didn't even have a decent outfit to his name.

Worried my classmates might laugh at me, he'd hang back around ten feet, just so no one would tease me.

If anyone called out to me, he'd quickly duck out of sight.

Back in those years when it was just the two of us against the world, we leaned on each other for everything, and Mason gave me all the warmth and care he had.

He treated me so well. I honestly believed that all those days getting better were because we fought for them side by side.