Chapter 20
For the next few days, there was a strange quiet in my world.
Kevin’s flowers had stopped arriving.
No white roses. No lavenders. No handwritten notes tucked between petals. At first, I found myself wondering why-was he sick? Had he finally given up?
And then the thought struck me: Does it matter?
The answer was no. It didn’t. I didn’t want his flowers. I didn’t want his words. I didn’t want to carry the weight of his guilt any longer.
For the first time in months, I breathed without a shadow behind me.
Then, one morning, a package arrived.
Not flowers.
A box.
Inside was something I hadn’t seen since I was a child-a necklace. Gold, delicate, with a tiny sapphire in the center. My mother’s. I’d searched for it years ago, but it had vanished wher Jasmine first moved into the picture. We’d all assumed it was stolen. Gone forever.
But now, it was here.
Wrapped in velvet. Clean. Untouched.
Alongside it, a note in neat, unfamiliar handwriting.
sabella,
know no gift could undo the years that were stolen from you. But this, at least, belongs back where it always should’ve been.
t’s over now. Jasmine will never come near you again. Nor will Kevin.
Not even I will trouble you again, unless you wish it.
–
failed you as a father. And I do not ask for forgiveness. But I offer this as peace.
Gregory
stared at the note for a long time. Longer than I meant to.
My fingers clutched the necklace-heavy with memory-and for the first time since I was a little girl, I let myself cry for the father I wished I’d had, and the one who never knew how to protect
didn’t forgive him.
Not yet.
But for now, I accepted the silence. And that, somehow, was enough.
The next evening, another message arrived-this time digital. I nearly deleted it when I saw the
name.
Kevin.
But I opened it.
I know I’m the last person you ever want to hear from, but I need to say this anyway.
I’m sorry. For Jasmine. For not believing you. For leaving you when you needed me most. For every bruise I never saw. For every word I never said when it mattered.
They made me pay for what I did. I deserved it. You’ll never see me again, Isa. But I hope someday you’ll find happiness with someone who never makes you doubt yourself. I loved you. ruined you. And now I’m letting go.
I stared at the screen, heart still, hands cold.
And then… I closed the message. Deleted it.
It was over.
Finally, over.
That night, I dressed slowly, my hands still trembling slightly. The necklace lay around my throat catching the low light of the lamps as I stepped into the hallway. I was heading to the gallery Troy had stayed late finishing a commissioned piece, and I wanted to see him-to talk, to fee normal.
To move forward.
smiled softly as I walked toward the door, my heart lighter than it had felt in a long time.
But when I arrived at the gallery, something felt off.
The lights were already on.
paused just outside the glass door, adjusting my coat, my breath fogging against the chill o he evening.
nside, I saw Troy.
And then-I wasn’t alone.
There was a woman standing close to him.
Too close.
Tall, elegant, dressed in soft beige with long dark hair curled neatly behind her shoulders. watched as she reached out, touched his arm, smiled up at him.
And then…
She kissed him.
Right there.
Softly. Slowly. Not a rush. Not a mistake.
I didn’t move. I couldn’t.
The sting was sharp and immediate-like a paper cut across the heart. Deep enough to draw blood, shallow enough to pretend it didn’t matter.
But it did.
I stood outside, watching the man I had just chosen-the man I thought I was starting over with -being kissed by someone else.
Just like that… the air left my lungs.
Everything stopped.
I couldn’t move.
I couldn’t breathe.
