CHAPTER 109 Breaking Point

　　Angela stood still, the cold night air prickling her skin as she watched the police car carrying Julie disappear into the distance. The flashing red and blue lights faded, leaving only the oppressive silence of the park. Edmund's arm around her felt solid, grounding her amidst the maelstrom of emotions swirling within. Relief, sorrow, and a hollow ache all competed for space in her chest.

　　The night had closed in around them, dark and unyielding, as Angela sat on the park bench staring into the void. Her mother was gone, taken away in the backseat of a squad car, the flashing red and blue lights now a distant memory. Yet, the sense of resolution she had imagined would come with this moment was absent. In its place was a gnawing emptiness, an ache that hollowed out her chest.