Underneath the Sycamore Tree

It happened in stages.⁣

My father left.⁣

My twin sister died of an incurable autoimmune disease.⁣

My mother started breaking down.⁣

Then I was diagnosed with the very thing that took my other half from me.⁣

That was when I realized Mama’s eyes turned gold when she cried.⁣

So I moved in with my father and his new family—new wife, new son, new stepbrother.⁣

Kaiden Monroe made me feel normal.⁣

Hated. Cared for. Loathed. And … loved.⁣

Somewhere along the way, I’d found solace in the boy with brooding eyes.⁣

But everything happens in stages.⁣

And nothing good ever lasts.