Page 103 of The Prime-Time Experiment

Ebony watched her for another second before speaking again. “I missed you.”

Riley felt the words immediately, sharp enough to ache. “I missed you too.”

Ebony stepped a fraction closer, her attention still fixed on Riley. “Why did you stop coming?”

Riley looked down briefly at her hands before answering. “I thought if I removed myself from everything, it would stop things from getting worse.” Her throat tightened slightly. “I thought I was fixing it.”

Ebony tilted her head slightly. “But you did not assess whether it would affect me, too.”

Riley stilled. That was true. It hadn’t been prioritised.

“In removing yourself to reduce change,” she continued, her tone even, factual. “You created a new variable.”

Riley’s chest tightened. “Yes,” she confirmed.

“I do not like that variable.”

The simplicity of it landed harder than anything more complex could have. Riley swallowed, the response she would usually construct not forming in the same way.

“I’m sorry,” she said instead, quieter than before. “Not just for leaving, for thinking that leaving was the correct solution.”

Ebony accepted that, giving a nod of her head as if that was an acceptable apology.

“I do not remember my mum,” Ebony said. The shift in topic wasn’t abrupt. Riley could follow the connection easily enough: absence, loss, the shape something leaves behind even when you cannot fully define it.

“I know she existed. I know she died. But I don’t actually remember her, so I don’t know what it feels like to lose her specifically.” Ebony’s gaze stayed fixed somewhere ahead of them. “I understand it intellectually. Just not personally,” she exhaled before continuing, “But I do know what it felt like when you left.”

Riley’s breath caught slightly. “And I hated it,” Ebony admitted. “Because I couldn’t understand why it hurt that much.”

Something tightened in Riley’s chest, deep enough that she couldn’t immediately sort through it. “I never intended to hurt you,” she said softly.

“I know,” Ebony replied immediately. “But you still did.”

Riley nodded once, slower this time. “Yeah. I understand that now.”

Ebony watched her for another moment before speaking again.

“Your experiment didn’t stop.”

Riley blinked. “What?”

“Uncle Declan kept doing it,” Ebony said simply. “He still sends the videos every weekend. I’ve been taking notes.”

For a second, Riley just stared at her. “He… continued it?”

Ebony nodded once.

“Why?” The question seemed to genuinely confuse her.

“Because it mattered to you.”

Riley’s chest tightened sharply.

“He changed how it worked after you left,” Ebony continued. “So, it could keep going without you there.” A pause. “He said stopping it would feel worse.”

Riley looked down briefly, her thoughts struggling to settle around that. “He never contacted me,” she said quietly.

“No,” Ebony replied. “He said you asked for space.”