Never Whole Again

This was ridiculous!

A mocking smile curved on my lips as I looked at him.

“You’re asking me to live under the same roof as her?”

Sean avoided my gaze. He handed me a black card and said in an unusually gentle tone of voice, “Just for now… take Bonnie and move out. Once they leave, I’ll bring you back.”

I let out a quiet laugh. I could not believe that a husband would say such things.

He was asking his wife to move out so he could live with his first love. How was that even appropriate?

The pain of my nails digging into my palm reminded me that those were indeed his words.

When I did not reach for the card, Sean’s expression turned oddly strained.

In the past, I would have taken any money he gave me without hesitation.

Whether it was a few thousand or tens of millions of dollars, I never turned it down.

He had always believed I was someone who could be dismissed with money.

Little did he know that Bonnie’s treatments required imported medication. Each bottle cost tens of thousands of dollars.

Every month, the bills kept piling into my hands like an unending stream.

It felt like a relentless gamble that devoured money. When the funds ran out, so did life.

But there was no need for that anymore…

I stood up, still holding the box. Under his hesitant gaze, I gave him the answer he wanted to hear. “Alright.”

Sean studied me with a complicated look on his face, as if he could not believe someone as insatiably demanding as I would agree so easily.

“Do you have any other conditions?”

After a moment’s thought, I decided to ask something on Bonnie’s behalf.

“Do you still mean what you said before about making it up to Bonnie?”

Sean let out a breath of relief and smiled.

“Of course! Just pick a date. I’ll definitely be there, and I’ll also grant whatever birthday wish she has this time.”

I forced a small smile.

“Great. Let’s make it three days from now.”

Three days later would mark the seventh day since Bonnie’s passing.

I hoped Sean would not break his promise this time.

That morning, I was discussing divorce proceedings with my lawyer when Sean called.

“Have you decided where you’re going to stay? I can have someone help you move your things over.”

I let out a bitter chuckle.

He was so eager to bring Miranda and Kelsey into the house that he could not even wait until the morning was over.

I hung up and looked at my lawyer.

“File for divorce as soon as possible. I don’t want to drag this out any longer.”

Ten minutes later, I placed the divorce agreement into my bag and drove back to the villa.

Scattered across the front steps were photographs of all sizes. Every one of them had been taken during the years Sean and I were in love.

Footprints, some deep and some faint, had trampled the faces of two people once in love until they were smeared and distorted.

I took a deep breath and stepped over them.

Inside the villa, Miranda was directing the cleaners to throw everything downstairs.

Several black garbage bags had been tossed carelessly onto the floor outside the children’s room. Through a tear in the plastic, I caught sight of a battered stuffed doll.

A sharp ache spread through me, as though tiny needles were pricking at my heart and aggravating my already frayed nerves.

I had made that doll from one of Sean’s discarded shirts, and Bonnie had carried it everywhere for three years.

She said that as long as she hugged it, she could feel her father’s presence and knew that he loved her.

I regretted making that doll.

If it had never existed, Bonnie would not have been lulled by false hope in her father. At least then, Sean’s harsh words would not have upset her so much to the point of worsening her condition.

“You still haven’t decided what you want to take with you?”