My Cruel Choice, His Silent Death

Collin

coffee. I stared at the new acquisition report, the numbers blurring befor

o

ng, truly laughing, with her. His restaurant, "L'Âme du Chef," was a culinary sensation, winning a

ed those chilling words: "I don't love you anymore, Emily. There's nothing left." Thos

. He always did, didn't he? He always forgave me, always picked up the pieces of my self-destruction. But t

occurred. I had signed them, my hand shaking, a desperate, futile hope that he would fig

had been replaced. Not by Elodie, not by some new, vibr

uzzed. It

sa Best is here to see y

had always seen through my façade, who had always prot

y voice betraying none o

w cold and sharp. She looked at me, not with anger, but

e said, her

maintain my composure. "To wh

ause Cole asked me to deliver somethi

A gift? A peace

my fingers tremb

ed of black satin, was

e one we had lived in before the big house. The first place we shared,

I whispered, m

utting through the silence. "He doesn't want anything from

ment," I stammered. "

hing her lips. "He loved you in that plac

e's happy, isn't he?

t. "He is, Emily. Truly happy. The kind of

in the air, a

tinued, her voice firm. "He asked me to make

the key feeling heavy in my hand,

h a suppressed fury. "You think you can just waltz back into his life once you

I pleaded, tears finally spilling

to die while you rushed to Bryant's side? For years of emotional negle

was a phys

hile you were playing nurse to your toxic ex. He called 911 himself. H

ered his pale face, his desperate plea, my cold dismissal. I

reaming down my face. "I know I

ere cruel, Emily. Selfish. You broke him. You br

y chair, my b

pered, my voice broken

mily. Some things can't be fixed. Some mistakes are too big. You lost him.

eave, then paus

er now, but no less firm. "He's happy. Find your

lent office, the silver key a cold weight in

n. It was a tangible representation of my loss, a painf