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“Jesus, are you serious? After everything you’ve put this family through already—” Grace bit her tongue, but it was too late.

“I knew it!” Mark’s eyes filled with tears. “You blame me, don’t you? You and Mum, you blame ME—”

“Oh, God, no—Mark, I didn’t mean it like that. I’m sorry—”

“No, go on, I wanna hear you say it, Gracie! Don’t stop. SAY IT! It’s ALL my fault—all of it. If it wasn’t for me—”

“Don’t do this to yourself…not again.” Grace began to cry. She leaned over and pulled her brother to her chest. “Nobody blames you, Mark.”

In her embrace, Mark’s expression turned from fury to anguish and a flood of hot tears overwhelmed his cheeks. The Keegan siblings crumpled to the living room floor, sobbing in each other’s arms, their loss still raw.

After a few minutes, Grace broke through their tears.

“It wasn’t anybody’s fault, Fappy. It was God’s will or fate or something.”

Mark wiped his nose with his sleeve. “What do you know…you’re only fifteen.”

“I know more than you do.” She handed him a tissue. “So, you better listen to me, or I’ll box your ears again, you little eejit.”

They sat in silence for a minute.

“Gracie, do you ever wish you were someone else?”

She snickered. “Sure, Britney bloody Spears.”

“Not popstars, just a normal everyday person…but with a happier life.”

“No, not really. I wish I could’ve swapped places with you, though, just for five minutes…”

“Me? Why?”

“I would give anything to have talked to Dad like you did, one last time. You were so lucky, being awake that morning. What did he say exactly? Tell me again, Mark.”

“Gracie, you know what he said. You’ve asked me a hundred times, and I’ve told you a hundred times.”

“But tell me again.”

Mark told her for the one hundred and first time.

Grace smiled. “There you go. You made a sacred promise, and Keegans never break their promises, right? Please, Mark, promise you’ll keep your word to Dad, from today onwards?”

Mark nodded solemnly. “I promise.”