CHAPTER TEN:AFTERMATH
1010 Words
NEVAEH’S POV;
The couch in my father’s living room was too small, too lumpy, and smelled faintly of the citrus air freshener he used everywhere.
But I slept there anyway.
Well…. I mostly tried to.
I just stared at the ceiling, the weight of silence pressing down on me like a thick blanket.
Every now and then, the fridge would hum to life, or the heater would kick in with a metallic groan, and I’d jerk up like it was something strange.
My father didn’t ask questions that first night. He just brought me a blanket, set a glass of water on the side table, and gave me a nod that I knew meant “You’re safe now.”
I curled into the couch with it like it was a lifeline.
That’s Shrieff Burton for you.
The next morning, the smell of bacon and coffee woke me.
I padded into the kitchen, my hair was a mess and my throat was sore from crying.
I saw my dad standing by the stove and flipping bacon in a pan with the same surgical precision he used for everything.
He didn’t look at me right away.
“You didn’t eat dinner,” he said simply.
“I didn’t.”
He nodded once, still facing the stove. “Bacon, eggs, toast okay?”
“Perfect.”
He passed me a plate a few minutes later, and we ate quietly at the little kitchen table.
A few words here and there about the weather. A grunt from him about his aching knee before he stood up and got ready to leave for work.
It wasn’t until the second day that the silence broke.
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It was raining that afternoon. I had called in sick at work, I couldn’t stomach being in the same space that Harold would probably be.
I was sitting on the couch, wrapped in my father’s ancient Shrieff hoodie, flipping through the television channels before settling on a show about botched surgeries.
My phone buzzed with a text.
Kiera: You okay to talk now?
I smiled, despite myself. I only texted Kiera to say I ended the engagement, I know she has probably been so worried since I iced her out after that text.
Me: I’m okay. Not great. But okay.
Kiera: So Harold has been going around telling anyone who is willing to listen that he ended things with you, I guess he couldn’t handle being dumped by a badass.
Me: He smashed a vase.
Kiera: Of course he did. Asshole:(
I didn’t say much more. I didn’t have the energy.
Just then, my father walked in through the front door. He took off his hat and shoes before going straight to the kitchen to dry off.
He finally walked back into the sitting room and took a seat on the sofa on my right.
“You want to tell me what happened?”
It wasn’t a demand. It wasn’t even really a question.
It was an offer…..an opening…
I swallowed and set the tv remote down.
And for the first time since I left my house, I spoke about what had happened out loud.
“I ended the engagement.”
His facial expression didn’t change much, but I saw his shoulders stiffen. “Why?”
“Because I wasn’t happy. Because I haven’t been happy for a long time.”
He waited.
So I kept going.
“I felt like I was shrinking in that relationship, like I couldn’t breathe without checking if it was okay with him first. And I finally realized I wasn’t the problem.”
He nodded. “You’re not.”
There was a quiet pause.
“So I told him it was over. He screamed and threw s**t. Said I’d regret it.”
Now my dad’s jaw clenched. “He hurt you?”
“Not physically.”
He didn’t look relieved. He looked like a storm waiting for release.
I picked at a loose thread on my sleeve. “He’s just… not the man I thought I was going to marry. And I think maybe deep down, I always knew that.”
He folded his arms and leaned forward. “Is there someone else?”
My stomach tightened. I looked away. “Not really.”
“Not really?” he repeated.
“I didn’t leave Harold for someone else, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“Someone else reminded you that you deserve better?”
I paused. “Something like that.”
He didn’t react. He just stared at me for a long second.
Then he stood up and grabbed his hat from the wall hook. “I have to go back in for a few more hours.”
“Okay.”
He paused by the door and looked back at me. “You want me to rough him up a little?”
The corner of my mouth lifted. “Dad…..”
“I’m serious. I’ll do it while I’m off duty.”
I shook my head as tears sprang to my eyes. Not because I was scared. Not even because I was sad. But because I knew.
That was his way of saying I love you.
I sniffed and smiled. “No. But thank you.”
He nodded once. “Right. Call if you need me. There’s leftover pasta in the fridge. And don’t forget to lock the door.”
And with that, he left.
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I stayed there on the couch for a while, fingers curled around a cup of tea I made after he left.
The rain tapped gently on the window.
As I sipped my tea, I felt lighter and freer than I had since the breakup.
I didn’t know what came next.
I also didn’t know what Carter was thinking. Or if I even had a place in his world.
But I knew this…
I was not going back.
To Harold.
To the life I pretended to love.
And even if my future was blurry and terrifying…
At least now, I was walking into it with my eyes wide open.
- Writer
