(Scarlett’s POV)
The ne tickets scatter across the diner table like fallen leaves, each one a punch to my chest. Nashville to Phoenix. Nashville to Seattle. Nashville to Denver. Chicago, Pornd, San
Francisco.
All bearing the same name: <i>Jasper </i><i>ke</i><i>. </i>
All dated within the past four years.
“What is this?” My voicees out strangled, barely a whisper.
ir’s eyes fill with tears as she watches me flip through ticket after ticket. “He never stopped looking for you.”
The dates blur together through my suddenly blurry vision. Christmas Day two years ago. My birthdayst year. The anniversary of when I left. Every important date, every milestone I spent alone with Lily–he was out there somewhere, searching.
“I don’t understand.” I set the tickets down with shaking hands. “He signed the divorce papers. He let me go.”
“He didn’t sign anything,” ir says quietly. “Virginia forged his signature. He’s been looking for you since the day you disappeared.”
The words hit me like ice water. Virginia forged his signature? But that means…
“He never wanted the divorce,” I breathe. <fnaa2b> Official source is f?i?n?d?n?o?v?e?l?</fnaa2b>
“Never.” ir reaches across the table, her fingers trembling as they touch mine. “Scarlett, I’m so sorry. I’m so incredibly sorry for what we put you through.”
Tears stream down her face, and for the first time in years, I see the woman who raised me. Not James’s wife or Virginia’s mother, but the woman who bandaged my scraped knees and helped me with homework and told me bedtime stories.
“I was so caught up in finding our biological daughter that I forgot about the daughter who was right in front of me,” she chokes out. “How could I not feel distressed after raising you for so many years? You’ve been my daughter for twenty–three years, Scarlett. Blood doesn’t change that.”
The pain in her voice breaks something inside me. Part of me wants to reach across the table, wants to fall into her arms and pretend thest four years never happened.
< Chapter 51
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But the other part–the part that remembers being thrown away like trash–holds me back.
“Then why?” The question tears out of my throat. “Why did you choose her over me?”
ir’s face crumblespletely. “Because I was scared. Scared that if I didn’t give Virginia everything she’d missed, she’d disappear again. I thought you were strong enough to understand. I thought you’d always be there no matter what.”
“Well, I wasn’t.” The wordse out t, emotionless. “I wasn’t strong enough. And I wasn’t always going to be there.”
“I know.” She wipes her eyes with a shaking hand. “I know, and I’m so sorry. We made terrible choices. Unforgivable choices.”
I stare down at the ne tickets again. Phoenix, three months after I left. Denver, six monthster. Seattle, a year after that.
He looked for me. For two years, he looked for me.
The knowledge sits heavy in my chest, making it hard to breathe. This is the man I loved for seven years–four in college, three in marriage. The man whose smile used to light up my
whole world.
How could knowing this not affect me?
But it’s toote now. Too much has happened. Too much damage has been done.
“Thank <i>you </i>for showing me this,” I say quietly, gathering the tickets into a neat pile. “But it doesn’t change anything.”
ir’s face falls. “Scarlett-”
“He could have looked for me before I left.” My voice stays steady, controlled. “He could have chosen me over Virginia just once in the years of our marriage. He could have tried to cajole, appease his pregnant wife instead of abandoning her on a highway.”
“He made mistakes-”
“Mistakes?” Iugh, but there’s no humor in it. “Leaving the milk out overnight is a mistake, ir. What Jasper did was make a choice. Every single time, he left me for her.”
The diner feels too small suddenly, the air too thick. I need to get out of here before I do something stupid like cry or forgive them or let them back into my life.
“His actions don’t concern me anymore,” I continue, standing and grabbing my purse. “I’ve moved on. I have my daughter, my career, people who actually care about me. I don’t need the
< Chapter 51
Stones or Jasper ke anymore.”
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“Please,” ir stands too, desperation written all over her face. “Don’t let pride keep you from
“Pride?” I turn back to her, and whatever she sees in my expression makes her step back. “This isn’t about pride. This is about survival. This is about protecting my daughter from the same pain you all put me through.”
“Lily deserves to know her father—”
“Lily deserves a father who’ll love her unconditionally. Who won’t abandon her the second another woman enters the picture.” I throw my purse over my shoulder. “Jasper had his chance, and he threw it away. Not once, not twice. Multiple times.”
He left our daughter’s baby shower to take Virginia to the hospital. And let’s not forget the ultrasound appointment. He also left midway to take care of Virginia.
Abandoning me, pregnant and alone, on the highway in the middle of the night was the final
blow.
ir sinks back into the booth, looking defeated. “I’m sorry,” she whispers. “I’m so sorry for everything.”
Looking at her now–this woman who raised me, who loved me, who threw me away when something better came along–I feel nothing but exhaustion.
“Take care of yourself, ir.”
I walk away without looking back, my heart hammering against my ribs. Outside, the night air feels like freedom, like escape from the suffocating weight of the past.
But as I sit in my car, staring at the diner through the windshield, I can’t stop thinking about those ne tickets.
All those cities. All those months and years of searching.
If Jasper had shown the same enthusiasm before I left, I might have been moved. If he’d fought for me even once during our marriage, if he’d chosen me over Virginia just one time…
But he didn’t. And now it’s toote.
I’m done expecting his love and care. Done hoping he’ll see me as worth fighting for.
I have Lily now. I have my bakery, my independence, my self–respect. And I have Chloe, who’s never let me down.
< Chapter 51
I don’t need anything else.
The lie tastes bitter on my tongue, but I swallow it down and start the car.
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I’m halfway home when my phone buzzes with a text message. For a split second, I think it might be ir, but when I nce at the screen at the next red light, my blood turns to ice.
<i>We </i><i>need </i>to <i>talk</i><i>. </i><i>I </i><i>know </i><i>you’re </i><i>lying </i><i>about </i><i>Lily</i><i>. </i><i>– </i><i>Jasper </i>
My hands shake so badly I nearly drop the phone. Did he find out? Despite Virginia’s lies, despite my desperate performance tonight, does he know the truth?
Another textes through before I can process the first one.
<i>I’ll </i><i>be </i><i>at </i><i>the </i><i>bakery </i><i>tomorrow </i><i>at </i><i>8 </i><i>AM</i><i>. </i><i>Come </i><i>alone</i><i>. </i>
The light turns green, but I can’t move. Can’t breathe. Can’t think past the terror wing at my
throat.
How does he know Lily is his daughter?
Did Virginia tell him?
It’s the only possibility I can think of. Aside from her, who else has the power to convince Jasper?
Violet Moon
#Vote#!
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