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ZOEY AKILA bennet ! sugarhill, her crib featuring; @itszoeyb .
[ yk da drill ho .. play fine line on mf loop during this chapter <3. ]
"ZOZO!!" ZOEY'S FATHER voice cut through the stillness of the house as he stepped out of the bathroom, his heart sinking. zoey was nowhere to be seen, but evidence of her presence before lay before him him—a sprawling mix of fabrics on the floor, the vibrant and the dull, the casual and the once chosen with care, all tossed aside without thought.
along with the clothes, pill bottles lay overthrown, their contents like scattered thoughts spilled across the tile.
he had begun his morning normally, preparing for another day's work, his voice carrying through the house as he called zoey down for breakfast.
but there was no response—just the echo of his own voice against the walls. at first, he thought she might be caught up in her morning rituals, but as the quiet stretched on, an unease feeling was bubbling in his stomach—she would've at least made it known she was awake.
memories flooded back, unforgotten and sharp—memories of another morning shattered by the sight of zoey, pale and still, an image that haunted his every closed-eye moment since that day. he remembered the helplessness, the shaking sobs that wracked his body as he dialed for help, the cold fear that gripped him while waiting for the echo of sirens.
to add to that harrowing event, the tragedy had struck them both afresh when his wife, zoey's mother, leaving them in a world that felt abruptly emptier. her passing, a mere four hours after the ambulance had taken zoey away, had left a hole in their lives.
the idea of reliving that nightmare frightened him, zoey was his everything—their shared pain and love to the life he once shared with her mother and he would hate for him to go through it again without her.
after his wife's departure from this world, he had stood on the brink of life, the allure of eternal peace whispering falsehoods of release. but it was her—his wife's—unspoken wishes that stayed his hand from self-destruction.
how could he possibly leave zoey alone to navigate the harshness of a world without both her parents? it was his love for them both, his duty that became his untold promise, a flickering candle in the overwhelming darkness.
plus, he loved her too much to do that.
the man, filled with anxiety, inhaled deeply and trudged down the hallway toward zoey's bedroom. after few firm knocks on the door, and he called out, "zoey, baby, are you asleep?" he raised his voice enough to pierce through the door but was met with unsettling silent.
doubts creep up at at him—maybe it was all in his head, but the silence was unsettling. usually, he would knock and wait for her reply before entering, but today, he had a gut feeling that something was terribly wrong.
