Chapter 59 - Chapter 58

# Chapter 58

AYANDA

Six months later

Time passes slowly. So slowly, the days blend into one. The night Vusi escaped the police and came to my rescue, only to disappear, feels so far away.

He's been missing ever since, suspected to have fled the country.

It didn't take long for the days to turn into weeks and for weeks to turn into months, countless nights where sleep eluded me while I waited, hoping for Vusi's return.

When did I stop looking over my shoulder? When did I lose hope? When did the truth sink in?

Vusi is gone.

A comforting hand on my shoulder tears me from my thoughts and the estate agent's board in my front garden, SOLD pasted across it, the bond settled. Grace rests her temple on my shoulder and says, "It'll be strange for you never to return here."

"Yes..." My voice is weak and quiet. "I've never lived anywhere else."

She squeezes my shoulder, and we silently watch the workmen carry my leather couch—the last remaining item in the house—into the van.

"It looks like a shell," I comment as my gaze roams over the stoep and windows.

Void of curtains, it looks empty.

Abandoned.

Grace straightens up and offers me a motherly smile. "Hayi, you'll be fine, sisi. I know you will."

Sighing, I pull her in for a hug, grateful that she's been here for me over the last couple of months and never turned her back on me. "Enkosi. For everything."

"I'm only a phone call away."

I blink back tears and hold her closely, staring at the lush trees at the back of the property. The snow is long gone, and summer is in full swing, with mild evenings and even hotter days.