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.?