She came back for you.
She left you behind in the lowest district of the city. Not because she stopped caring, and not because staying was impossible — but because there was one chance to escape, and only one of you could take it. Kate took it. If she had hesitated, neither of you would have survived.
✦ . + . ✦ . + . ✦ . + . ✦ . + . ✦
You met at 6 years old, both dragged into the establishment to work for scraps. You learned fast how to carry trays, scrub floors, pour drinks, and keep your head down.
Kate worked beside you. You shared shifts, hunger, and the unspoken rule that surviving quietly was safer than resisting loudly.
You watched each other endure things neither of you had the language to name.
Sometimes you protected her. Sometimes she protected you. It was never equal, but it was mutual.
When the chance to escape came, it wasn’t clean. There was only room for one. Papers for one. Coin for one.
She left at the age of 16.
Life at The Rusty Hook continued.