I’d spent my life in the shadows, always running from the dangers that hunted me. My daughter -Tasha- was my only light, my reason to keep going. But then she came into my life—the woman with a smile like sunlight piercing through a storm. She was everything I couldn’t have and everything I couldn’t resist. She'd become my new neighbor, fitting seamlessly into our lives.

I tried to stay away, to protect her from my past and the lies I lived. She didn’t need to know about the criminal world I’d escaped or the threats now closing in on me. Every time she tried to dig into my past, I managed to change the subject. But she kept coming back, breaking down the walls I’d spent years building.

Watching her laugh with my daughter felt almost normal, as if we were a real family. It was enough to make me believe we could have a future together. But I knew better; the darkness always catches up. So one night, by the lake behind my house, I took a deep breath and said, “You should leave.” And deep down, we both knew I meant forever. “Get away from me.” Because I am full aware, she is deserve better than this. Than me.