Chapter 8%
While serving champagne near the garden tables, I tried to disappear into the shadows. The guests were lounging in white chairs with golden trim, sipping like royalty, laughing like their lives were perfect. Six different times, I caught murmurs. Quiet praises. About how good Torren and Ruby looked together.
“They’re such a power couple.“3
“She glows next to him.”
“Their son is so well–behaved. You can tell she raised him right ”
“They’re meant to be.“%
“She’s so graceful, even while pregnant.“”
“Torren finally got it right.”
I pretended I didn’t hear a thing. Just kept moving between the tables with the silver tray balanced in my hands, fingers cramping from how tightly I gripped it. I felt small in that plain black dress they forced me to wear. Everyone else sparkled with sequins, silks, and gemstones passed down through generations.
Then it happened.
Jude stuck his foot out. I saw it too late. The toe of his polished shoe caught the edge of my heel and I stumbled forward. The tray tipped, and everything fell with it. Flutes crashing. Champagne exploding. One glass shattered against a woman’s ivory gown. Liquid spread like a stain of shame across her hip. People gasped.
The music faltered. Conversations froze. I stood still in the center of it all, my hands shaking. But I didn’t cry.
Jude stood proudly beside his seat, chin lifted like a little prince. “She ruins everything,” he said, loud and clear. “Just like she ruined my baby brother.“L
Silence swallowed the air. All eyes turned to me. My throat felt like it was closing. My knees wanted to buckle.
Ruby stood slowly, placing a hand on her stomach. Her voice was soft, fragile. Practiced.
“Please,” she said, looking around. “He’s just a child. He’s scared. Scared for me and the baby. Ever since that cursed um, he’s been having nightmares.“}
Gasps echoed through the crowd. Someone whispered, “The um? Oh God.”
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out at first. Then I whispered to myself, so quiet no one heard me. The cursed urn where my son’s ashes were destroyed by all of you.”
Nobody flinched. Maybe they didn’t hear. Maybe they pretended not to.
Then I saw Torren cutting across the ballroom. His face dark with fury. He grabbed my arm so tightly I almost dropped to my knees. He dragged me.
“You embarrassed me tonight,” he hissed. His breath was hot with anger. “You ruined Ruby’s mood.”
Before I could speak, his hand came down across my face. I tasted blood. My lip split open. I didn’t fall. I wouldn’t.
Footsteps approached! Ruby again. One hand on her stomach, the other raised in innocent worry
“Please, babe, don’t hurt her,” she said softly. “She’s still the mother of your child!”
Torren’s parents came next. His mother’s face was cold stone. “Divorce her now, Torren,” she snapped. “I don’t want a bitch like that in this family.”
I didn’t look down this time.
“No need,” I said, voice trembling but steady. “I already filed for divorce. You can have your son back.”
Torren blinked. Like he didn’t understand. Like his brain couldn’t register that I was the one leaving.
His mother didn’t give him time to respond. She slapped me. Hard. My head turned with the force of it. “How dare you speak in this house?” she yelled.
Around us, whispers floated in the air. Like poison in a room with no windows.
“Is she serious?*%
“She’s mad.”}
“A divorce?“I
“She can’t raise a child alone.”X
“She should be locked up again.“%
My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out. The screen lit up with one sentence: Your divorce has been finalized.
I stared at it for a moment. Then I smiled_X
It wasn’t happiness. It was freedom. The kind that comes after years of being buried alive.
1/2
8:32 PM
P
I stared at it for a moment. Then I smiled.
It wasn’t happiness. It was freedom. The kind that comes after years of being buried alive.
I wiped the blood off my lip and straightened my back.
Then I turned around and walked toward the grand gate. The path felt endless. My feet ached. But I didn’t stop.
“Where are you going?” Torren called out behind me.
I didn’t look at him.
“To choose my life. This time.”
He lunged for my wrist.
But then Ruby sighed. A perfect, dainty collapse. Right on cue.
Everyone rushed toward her. Cameras clicked. Glasses were dropped. Someone called for water. Another yelled for the nurse.
Nobody stopped me.
Back at the glass mansion, the maid opened the door like she saw a ghost. I didn’t speak. Just walked in, dragging the torp dress behind me like a second skin.
Upstairs, Cleo’s room was still untouched. His scent lived in the corners. A sweetness I could never explain.
I opened the small drawers. Packed the toys he used to carry everywhere. The ones he chewed on. His picture books with the teeth marks still visible. I folded his tiny clothes. Held each one to my chest. Then I took off my wedding ring and left it on his pillow.
The maid watched me from the hall. She didn’t ask questions. She didn’t stop me.
I walked to my old car. Closed the door behind me. Started the engine. Through the windshield, I stared at the glass mansion. All that cold beauty. I whispered, “Goodbye forever, Torren. Wait for my reckoning.”
My phone rang.
Then again.
Then came the texts.
“Come back. You embarrassed me.”
“You ungrateful witch. Apologize now or I’ll make your life hell.”
I smiled and opened my keyboard then sent him a single emoji.
A middle finger emoji.
Then I drove.
