Chapter 3
3
I was in a meeting with my divorce attorney when Cassian called.
“You figure out where you’re staying?”
‘I’ll send someone to help you move.”
I almost laughed.
He couldn’t wait even half a day to bring them into the house.
After hanging up, I looked at the lawyer.
‘Let’s file. I want this divorce finalized ASAP.”
Ten minutes later, the new paperwork was in my bag.
I drove back to the house.
The front steps were littered with photos–every one of them from when Cassian and I were still in love.
Our faces–once happy–now stomped over by dirty footprints.
I took a deep breath and walked right over them.
nside, Vesper was directing a cleaning crew like she owned the place.
At the door to Lumi’s room, trash bags sat in a pile.
One had ripped open just enough for me to see–Lumi’s favorite stuffed doll, torn and filthy.
felt something prick behind my ribs.
Like tiny needles, poking at my nerves.
That doll…
made it from one of Cassian’s old shirts.
Lumi slept with it for three years.
She said as long as she had it, it felt like her dad was hugging her.
That he loved her.
03:51
On the D.
Chapter 3
God, I wish I hadn’t made that doll.
Maybe if I hadn’t–she wouldn’t have believed so hard in a father who never showed up.
Maybe she wouldn’t have gotten so sick after he let her down.
“Still haven’t figured out what to take with you?”
Vesper asked casually.
I pulled the doll from the bag, tossed it in the trash.
“I have. I’ll take my daughter’s things.”
“You can throw out the rest.”
This house.
This man.
I don’t want either of them.
Cassian stared at the doll for a long time.
When he finally spoke, his voice wavered.
“Elara, don’t be like this. Just give me the address…”
I shook my head and walked away.
“There’s no need.”
“She seems to like my stuff so much–she can keep it.”
Cassian looked panicked.
Almost like he realized I wasn’t just talking about things.
He started to follow–then a loud crash echoed behind us.
The bookshelf.
Lumi’s handmade plaster figurine lay in pieces across the floor.
She made that for Cassian.
Even with her oxygen mask on, needles in her hand–She worked on it for a month.
03:51
On the Day of Our Daughter’s Memorial. My Husband Was Baking a Cake for Her
2.196
Chapter 3
Now it was gone.
Briar stood nearby, looking scared.
“I just wanted to see it up close… it was so pretty.”
“I didn’t mean to…”
Cassian blinked, then scooped her up quickly.
“Shh, it’s okay. You’re not hurt, right?”
“That’s all that matters. It was just a decoration.”
“We’ll get a new one.”
I bit my lip, eyes burning.
“Cassian, that was your daughter’s birthday gift to you.”
He cut me off, annoyed.
“I know! So what? She didn’t break it on purpose!”
“You’re a grown woman, stop picking fights with a kid.”
He waved it off like nothing.
“You can buy those things anywhere.”
“Ten bucks online.”
His indifference hit like a slap.
Her love meant nothing.
Only Vesper and Briar mattered now.
I swallowed hard.
‘Don’t forget what you promised me tomorrow.”
I turned away, dragging the box behind me.
If it weren’t for Lumi,
I would’ve never come back to this house again.
