Chapter 8
After leaving the Reyes estate, | returned hone last time.
The house felt different now - every treasured memory tainted by betrayal. The family photos on the walls,
Mila’s drawings on the fridge, even Callum’s coffee mug on the counter they all seemed to belong to another
woman's life now.
| packed methodically: two outfits, important documents, my mother’s necklace. Everything else would stay
behind. Seven years of memories, seven years of what I thought was love all abandoned like outdated furniture.
4
The ticket to Chicago felt like a lifeline in my wallet. A fresh start in a city where nobody knewas Callum
Reyes’ wife or Mila’s mother.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt
As | wheeled my small suitcase toward the waiting taxi, my phone lit up with Callum’s call. They were probably
still at the hospital, Sophie’s minor scratches being treated like life-threatening wounds while my daughter
played the devoted nurse.
Chapter 8
After leaving the Reyes estate, | returned hone last time.
The house felt different now - every treasured memory tainted by betrayal. The family photos on the walls,
Mila’s drawings on the fridge, even Callum’s coffee mug on the counter they all seemed to belong to another
woman's life now.
| packed methodically: two outfits, important documents, my mother’s necklace. Everything else would stay
behind. Seven years of memories, seven years of what | thought was love all abandoned like outdated furniture.
4
The ticket to Chicago felt like a lifeline in my wallet. A fresh start in a city where nobody knewas Callum
Reyes’ wife or Mila’s mother.
As | wheeled my small suitcase toward the waiting taxi, my phone lit up with Callum’s call. They were probably
still at the hospital, Sophie’s minor scratches being treated like life-threatening wounds while my daughter
played the devoted nurse.
| didn’t want to hear his excuses or Mila’s rehearsed defense of her “Aunt Sophie.” | switched off the phone.
Moving through airport security felt like crossing a threshold. Each step forward was a step away from the
elaborate lie my life had become. On the plane, | took the window seat - something Mila always claimed for
herself on our family trips.
As we took off, | watched Los Angeles shrink beneath me. The pressure in my chest began to ease, like a
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmphysical weight lifting. The bitter taste of betrayal, the ache of my daughter's rejection, the humiliation of being
the last to know - all of it began to feel more distant with each passing mile.
| knew then, with absolute certainty, that | could build a good life on my own. Sometimes the bravest thing isn’t
fighting for a broken marriage - it’s knowing when to walk away.
| switched off the phone.
Moving through airport security felt like crossing a threshold. Each step forward was a step away from the
elaborate lie my life had become. On the plane, | took the window seat - something Mila always claimed for
herself on our family trips.
As we took off, | watched Los Angeles shrink beneath me. The pressure in my chest began to ease, like a
physical weight lifting. The bitter taste of betrayal, the ache of my daughter's rejection, the humiliation of being
the last to know - all of it began to feel more distant with each passing mile.
| knew then, with absolute certainty, that | could build a good life on my own. Sometimes the bravest thing isn’t
fighting for a broken marriage - it’s knowing when to walk away.