Lawrence was trapped in an impossibly long dream.
It felt as though a massive boulder was crushing his chest, suffocating him while he was forced to run blindly forward—sprinting endlessly, unable to stop. He ran until his internal organs felt as if they were tearing apart. Every breath burned like shattered glass in his lungs.
How could it hurt this much?
He wanted to wake up, but his efforts were entirely futile. The only thing keeping him company was a vicious, freezing wind that shoved him violently onward into the abyss.
He had no idea where he was going or how long this would last. The road ahead was pitch black, a void with no finish line.
He began to think he would never wake up. He would either die running this senseless marathon or simply collapse, marking the abrupt end of his life. He was conscious, yet entirely paralyzed within a prison of his own mind.
Part of him thought that maybe dying here was the truest form of release. If he died, he would finally repay the life Jeniffer had sacrificed for him. He wouldn't have to carry the crushing weight of that debt anymore. No one could force him into corners or torture him with guilt.
And maybe, just maybe, Bonnie would finally forgive him. If he paid with his life, surely she would let go of her anger. All the guilt, the blame, the suffocating pressure, the agonizing dilemmas, the regrets—everything would vanish the second his heart stopped.
Death sounded so easy.
As the taste of his impending demise grew stronger, the only things tethering him were his parents and Bonnie. His parents were aging. To lose their son and watch their daughter go to prison... how could they survive it? A single moment of awful judgment years ago had fractured their family forever. If he was gone, the family would shatter completely. Failing to care for his parents in their twilight years was his greatest regret.
Then there was Bonnie. The guilt and desperate longing he felt for her acted like anchors dragging at his feet, slowing his frantic sprint into the darkness.
God, he missed his Candie so much. Why did it ache this deeply?


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