Those ripples grew sharp barbs, clawing their way into my limbs, my heart beginning to ache with a thousand tiny pinpricks.
called him back.
David’s voice was hoarse from a hangover. “Are you still mad about yesterday? It was a joke, and now you’re abandoning your son
over it?”
“David,” I said, my voice heavy with exhaustion, “it’s only a joke if the other person finds it funny. If someone slapped you, would you
be laughing?”
David was silent.
I continued softly, “I’m going to be
very busy for a while. You’ll have to
take care
of
Leo.‘
8
www
I said I was leaving Leo in David’s care.
But after a long day of setting up the new dessert shop, I still couldn’t shake the worry.
That night, I carefully typed out a long list of instructions and sent it to him.
હું હાજર રહેલા ભાજપના િ
¡ reminded him: [Leo’s water bottle needs fresh water every day. Make sure he remembers to drink it at school.]
David sent back a video.
My fingers froze over the keyboard. I opened it.
It was Rosalie, treating Leo to KFC.
Leo was gnawing on a burger. “Auntie Rosalie, who cares if Mom doesn’t come back? I think you’d be a way better mom for me.”
Rosalie glanced shyly at David, who was filming. “Don’t say things like that, sweetie. Your dad has to agree first.”
The video ended.
David texted: [Elara, do you regret it? Are you sad? What stupid business of yours is so important? See? You’ve been gone for one day, and your son has already replaced you.]
Slowly, character by character, I deleted the long message I had been typing.
I replied: [If one day can erase years of my devotion, then it’s my failure as a mother for not teaching him gratitude. And it is your failure as a father to not only allow it, but to revel in being fought over by two women. David, I think it’s time I seriously reconsider- ed our relationship.]
1045
10:45
Chapter 1
9
Was I sad?
Ever since Rosalie had returned and slowly inserted herself into our lives, yes, I had been sad.
I had been hysterical.
I had screamed and fought.
Countless times, I had acted like a madwoman, clinging to Leo at night, obsessively asking him why he liked Rosalie more than
- me.
It got so bad that Leo refused to let me take him to school. He’d sling his backpack over his shoulder, his cold eyes a perfect mirror of his father’s, and ask me, “Mom, is there anything about you that’s actually impressive?”
I had lived a barren, deprived life, I thought that by having David and Leo, my life would finally blossom.
So I gave everything. I held nothing back.
I thought that if I just kept giving, I would eventually earn the love I so desperately craved.
That my life, like a flower, would one day bloom.
But in the end, I discovered the truth.
I planted flowers for the moon, and I scattered stars upon
the sea.
હિ કે એ નિ
www
www
ass
Aww
But the moon buried me, and the sea swallowed me whole.
The only salvation in this life is to love yourself, fiercely and without apology.
10
I stopped paying attention to anything related to David and Leo.
I poured all my time, all my energy, into the dessert shop I opened with Sadie.
She provided the capital; I provided the skill.
I was busy from sunup to sundown.
A month later, David showed up at the shop.
He was dressed in a sharp black suit, completely out of place in the shop’s whimsical, pastel–pink decor,
When he saw me, his handsome face was etched with its usual frown. “You abandoned your home for a month for this little shop?”
I tried my best to remain calm. “Is there something you need?”
He was clearly dissatisfied with my tone. His frown deepened. “You’re my wife. Do I need a reason to come see you?”
A sarcastic smile touched my lips.
A whole month, and he was only just now remembering to find me?
Was I just unimportant, or had he simply not cared?
David loosened his tie. “Alright, I’m not going to waste my time. Leo is sick, in the hospital. It’s time for you to come home and take care of him like a mother should.”
18.46
Chapter 2
11
Hearing his words, my heart sank, an involuntary, painful plummet.
My feelings for Leo weren’t like my feelings for David, which I could pick up and put down.
A man’s heart changes, you find a new one.
But my son was my own flesh and blood, a child I had raised by my side every single day.
I had been angry with him.
I had been consumed with jealousy over Rosalie.
The word “divorce” had been on the tip of my tongue during our last fight.
But the thought of Leo, so young, had always stopped me. I couldn’t bear
- it.
Now, hearing he was sick, my heart felt like it was being pricked by a thousand needles.
I grabbed David’s arm, my eyes red. “He’s sick? How could he be sick?”
10.45
Under my meticulous care, Leo had always been so healthy, his immune system strong. He rarely
David just raised an eyebrow. “You should be asking yourself that. What kind of mother are you?”
12
I hastily asked Sadie for time off and got into David’s car.
even caught a cold.
THE
THE THEORET
w
ww
I was so consumed with worry for Leo that I didn’t even notice at first. The car, David’s usual ride, had been completely redecorat-
- ed.
Gone were the classic black and white accessories I had chosen to match his tastes.
It was now a palette of pale pink and grey.
Understated, yet with a playful,”
energy.
the
ries.
Like a young woman, tentatively testin
I was in too much pain to care.
The visceral, maternal agony left no room for anything else. I couldn’t even wait for David to park the car.
I ran ahead, up to the hospital floor.
STOTIES TAP THEM OF Y
