Chapter 98
It had been two weeks since Ava threw paint on me in the art center, and still, the scent of acrylic clung to my coat like a memory that wouldn’t let go.
I washed it twice, but it didn’t matter. That moment was burned into me, not just in pigment, but in nerves.
I didn’t tell Aunt May what really happened. I just said a kid spilled paint. She didn’t believe me, not really. But she didn’t press either.
She’d been quiet since the night I came home shaking, covered in green and red and shame. Her eyes watched me like I might fall apart at any second.
Today, I went to the grocery store because I needed oranges and space.
The store was half–empty. Fluorescents buzzed overhead. I wandered between aisles like I was waiting for something or someone to find
- me.
And then he did.
“Callie?”
I turned, slowly. My stomach dropped. Marcus stood beside a display of cereal boxes, holding a carton of almond milk like it was a shield.
He looked different. Not younger, not older, just worn down in a way I couldn’t define. Like something in him was quietly unraveling.} “Hi,” I said, voice too light.
“Hi.” He stepped closer, eyes darting to my hands, like he expected them to be holding something fragile. “How… are you?“}
“I’m fine.” A lie, but one I was practiced in. “Teaching. Living. Trying.“)
He nodded. “You look good.“}
“You look tired.“}
A flicker of a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Yeah. That’s fair.”
e
I thought he might walk away then. Thought he’d nod, say some final polite goodbye, and vanish like a ghost I’d imagined in a cereal aisle.
But he didn’t.
Instead, he said, “Do you have ten minutes?“}
I hesitated.§
“Just coffee. In the café corner. No pressure.“}
I looked down at my cart, half oranges, half nothing and nodded.
The café was tucked behind the bakery. We sat at a small table near the window. He sipped black coffee. I stirred my tea, even though I didn’t add sugar.
“! didn’t know you’d be here,” he said. “I almost didn’t come.”
“Then you should’ve trusted your instincts.”}
He laughed at his words, then looked down. “I deserved that.”
We sat in silence. A toddler screamed somewhere near the dairy section. A couple argued about brand–name cereal behind us. Finally, Marcus said, “I wanted to say sorry.“}]
My eyes met his.”
“For what Ava did to you,” he continued. “I didn’t know she’d gone there. I didn’t know until Sophie told me.”
“She told you?“}
He nodded. “She said she hated Ava more after it. Said… you didn’t even fight back.”
I swallowed hard. “It wasn’t worth it.”
“It was,” he said, quiet but sure. “You were.”
That hit something in me I didn’t want opened. I pushed my tea away. “You let her stay.“}
“I didn’t know how to ask her to leave without wrecking the house.”
“You mean, without wrecking your pride.”
He didn’t argue. Just looked away.”
And that’s when I saw her.
Ava.
“Well, well,” she said, smiling like she was above it all. “Isn’t this cozy?“}
Marcus’s jaw tensed. “Ava, don’t-”
“Don’t what?” she asked sweetly. “I’m just being friendly.”W
She looked me up and down. “Still teaching kids how to finger paint, Callie?“}
I stood.!
“Callie,” Marcus warned, but I held up a hand.
marrying My Brother–in–law
11:15 AM
She looked me up and down. “Still teaching kids how to finger paint, Callie?”
I stood.
“Callie,” Marcus warned, but I held up a hand.
“I’m not doing this here,” I said to Ava.
“Oh, come on,” she cooed. “You don’t get to play the victim again. Poor Callie. Always the martyr. The second–choice girl with a savior complex.”>
“I wasn’t second choice,” I said, voice tight. “I was the only one who stayed when it mattered.“}
Ava stepped closer. “You think that earns you some medal? You think Sophie’s ever going to see you as her mother?”
And then, as if fate itself answered her.
Sophie appeared.
She stood behind Ava, half–hidden by the row of canned soup. Her hair was messy, her backpack slipping off one shoulder. And she looked straight at me.
Not Ava.}
Me.”
“Mom?” she said, voice small but clear.
My heart stopped.
Ava turned, stunned. “Excuse me?”
Sophie walked around her, slow and certain, until she was at my side. “Can I come home with you?“>
Marcus stood. “Sophie, wait-“}
But she looked only at me.
“You’re the only mom I want.“}
My eyes stung.}
Ava looked between us, suddenly small in the space she used to dominate. Her voice was shaky. “She’s a child. She doesn’t know what she wants.”
Sophie turned to her, ice in her voice. “I want you to leave us alone.”}
Ava’s face twisted, but Marcus stepped forward.>
“She’s right,” he said. “It’s over, Ava.”
She scoffed. “You’re pathetic.“}
But he didn’t flinch.
And then, without a word, Ava turned and walked out, not with a bang, but a silence louder than her insults.
I looked down at Sophie, her hand now wrapped in mine.
And for the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel like a ghost.)
I felt real.
“Can I stay with you tonight?” she asked, and then added, “Because there’s something else I haven’t told you yet.”
I froze.
“What is it?“}
She looked up, wide–eyed, afraid.”
“Ava had been bad to me. Ava did something bad. And I didn’t know how to tell anyone. Not even to my own dad.”
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