Chapter 3
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Matilda glanced at Lola, her voice steady but laced with concern. “Do you have to throw your birthday party on the same day as Grandma and Grandpa’s memorial?”
Lola shot her a glare, her tone sharp. “Yeah, duh! It’s not my fault I was born that day, is it?”
Matilda let out a tired sigh. “Alright, fine. I’m sitting this birthday out. I’ll be back from Domburgh in a week, and your dad and I are done. You need to think about who you’re staying with.”
Lola didn’t even blink. “Dad! I want Dad! You’re the worst mom ever! I’d rather have Aunt Shelby as my
mom!”
Matilda’s face went pale, like she’d been slapped again. After a long, heavy moment, she muttered, “Do whatever you want.”
From the upstairs landing, Shelby overheard, a sly smirk tugging at her lips. ‘Those two slaps I’ve taken? Totally worth it‘
Matilda was ready to walk away from her marriage.
Shelby slipped into the bedroom to feel out Brandon’s mood.
The second she stepped inside, tears spilled down her still–puffy cheeks. “Brandon, Matilda’s off to Domburgh.”
Brandon’s back was killing him, and he was still steaming. “Good. Hope she stays gone.”
Shelby’s heart did a little happy dance.
Brandon, the town’s most eligible bachelor, was pride in a tailored suit. Matilda’s judo toss had been like grinding his ego into the dirt.
“But, Brandon,” Shelby said, her voice all soft and worried, “what if she gets all emotional and pushes for a divorce?”
Brandon arched an eyebrow, surprised for a split second, then shrugged it off. “Let her. I’m not sweating a divorce.”
Matilda’s world revolved around just two people–Brandon and Lola.
She’d always fussed over them, acting like a cold or a stubbed toe was the end of the world.
‘Divorce?‘ Brandon thought with a smirk. ‘No way she’d cut ties that easily.’
*****
At the airport, Matilda’s head was still spinning.
She was dying for a cigarette, but there wasn’t a smoking spot anywhere.
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Chapter 3
So, she just held the cigarette between her lips, breathing deep to keep her cool.
་་
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Six years of marriage to Brandon, and she’d poured her heart into Crossen Technology, building two generations of imaging chips.
The X2+ had sent their flagship phone’s sales through the roof, making her and Brandon a powerhouse team.
Splitting up wouldn’t just break her heart–it’d be a financial mess.
After wrestling with the thought, she shot a text to her assistant: [One week. Dig up everything on Brandon’s debts, assets, and any cash he’s been slipping to Shelby.]
“Hey, lady, no smoking here,” a voice sounded.
Matilda felt a tug at her sleeve and glanced down.
A little girl in simple clothes looked up at her, her small eyes bright with mischief and warmth.
Matilda raised an eyebrow, pulling the unlit cigarette from her mouth and twirling it between her fingers. “Kid, sticking your nose in other people’s business can get you in trouble, you know?”
“I know,” the girl said with a cheeky grin, totally unbothered. “But I ain’t scared.”
Her smile was like a burst of sunlight.
She dug into her pocket and pulled out a piece of candy, holding it out to Matilda. “My dad only lets me have one a day. This one’s for you. Eat it, and your face won’t hurt so bad.”
Matilda blinked, thrown off by the kid’s big heart.
She took the candy, and just like that, this tiny gesture brought a spark of sweetness to her awful day.
*****
At the Domburgh cemetery, Matilda sat between her parents‘ gravestones, a mask covering her face.
It felt like she was still tucked between them, safe and loved.
But her dad’s body was never found.
The earthquake had torn the earth open, swallowing so many lives, his among them.
Kneeling, she gently wiped down their tombstones.
A cemetery worker ambled over. “Matilda, no Mr. Grimes with you this year?”
“Busy,” Matilda said, her voice clipped.
‘Busy fussing over that precious little sister he raised like she’s made of glass,‘ she thought, her grip tightening on the cloth. ‘Sister, my foot. More like his backup plan for a sweetheart.’
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Chapter 3
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He’d raised Shelby, couldn’t stand the thought of another guy having her, but hadn’t quite crossed that line
yet.
Just thinking about them made Matilda feel like she was disrespecting her parents‘ memory.
She said her goodbyes and walked with the worker toward the exit.
Across the field stood rows of hero monuments.
Matilda’s eyes darkened as she gazed at them. “Hey, any news on Dr. Fischer’s family?
He shook his head. “Nope. Got folks keeping an eye out, though.”
Matilda nodded, her heart sinking.
She’d been dragged from the rubble barely alive, and Edwina Fischer had saved her with an emergency C- section, even giving her own blood.
But that same day, Edwina died in an aftershock, trying to save a dead woman’s baby.
Matilda had asked Brandon to track down Edwina’s family so she could help them.
All he’d found was that Edwina was from Itera City, married, with a doctor husband.
Straightening her jacket, Matilda walked to Edwina’s monument and bowed her head in quiet respect.
By the anniversary, neither Brandon nor Lola had bothered to reach out.
Only Tessa Maxwell, a close friend, sent a string of texts to check in.
In the evening, the Domburgh city council held a candle ceremony at the cemetery for the earthquake victims.
May hope’s light shine on, and may everyone find peace.
Families wept for their loved ones. Matilda’s eyes were red as she whispered, “Mom, Dad, I hope you live long and happy in your next life–and still want me as your little girl.”
She lit her prayer candle and watched it float into the night sky.
Then her phone pinged. A video from Shelby. It was filmed at a swanky Crossen Technology hotel.
Lola stood in the center of a crowd, grinning from ear to ear. “Celebrating my birthday on my actual birth date is the best! I want every year to be like this, with Dad and Aunt Shelby by my side!”
Brandon and Shelby stood hand in hand, their eyes locked, a heated spark passing between them under the soft glow of the lights.
They looked like a couple caught in the rush of a secret love.
Matilda’s knuckles went white as she gripped her phone. She stepped away, ripped off her mask, and took a
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Chapter 3
deep breath.
:
Suddenly, a kid’s cry for help cut through the air, close by.
She
spun around. A tall figure in white was hurrying off, a little girl dangling from one arm.
Not sure if he was trouble, Matilda held back from jumping in. “Hey! Let the kid go!”
The girl looked up, her face lighting up with joy. “Lady! It’s me! It’s me!”
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Matilda recognized the candy girl from the airport. No second–guessing now–she clenched her fist and swung at the man’s neck.
He sensed it coming, dodging with lightning–fast reflexes and firing back a single, sharp counterstrike. One hit from that, and she’d be out cold.
Matilda barely ducked, her eyes meeting his. He was tall, lean, with a calm that felt unshakable, like a mountain standing tall.
Silver–rimmed glasses glinted under the streetlight, giving him a cool, almost intimidating vibe.
But when his gaze locked on hers, that edge softened in an instant.
“Is that you?!” he said, his voice catching with surprise.
宙
AD
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9:13 Mon, Oct 13
Chapter 4
