Chapter 1
"Daddy, didn't you promise it would just be our family for dinner tonight?"
Lucien bent down to talk to his daughter. "Be good, Mia. Don't say that. Aunt Yvette and Cecily are family too."
"But I—"
Before Mia could finish her sentence, Lucien cut her off.
"Alright, come on and eat. Everyone's been waiting for you two for ages." He picked up Cecily and walked over to the dining table.
There was shrimp on the table. Again.
Lucien peeled shrimp for Yvette and her daughter nonstop, while telling Mia and me not to eat any, since we were allergic to it.
"Lorraine, you're so lucky to have a husband as thoughtful as Lucien." Yvette glanced over at me, half-joking, as she finished speaking, "If I hadn't gone abroad back then, this great husband might've been mine, y'know?"
I stared at her, and it hit me all of a sudden. That didn't sound like a joke...
She actually meant it.
"Aw, why so quiet? I'm just messing with you! Don't take it seriously. Right, Lucien?" She nudged him playfully with her elbow, her tone light and syrupy.
"Lorraine, Yvette and I are just family. Nothing more."
That line had soothed me once, but now I realized Yvette really did want to take my place.
Lucien might have loved me, but I wasn't his first choice. Never had been.
When it was time to cut the cake, there were only two strawberries on top. He handed one to Yvette, and the other to Cecily.
"Daddy, Mia wants a strawberry too."
"Be good, Mia. Aunt Yvette and Cecily are our guests. We should let them have them first."
Mia pressed her lips together and said nothing more.
"Uncle Lucien, this strawberry is so sour. I don't like it," Cecily huffed and shoved the half-eaten strawberry into Lucien's hand.
Lucien smiled and promised he would buy sweet strawberries for both Cecily and Mia the next day.
The birthday gift Lucien had prepared for Mia was a teddy bear that was only sold in Italy.
Mia had been pining after this exact bear for ages, but it was nearly impossible to get one here.
Lucien had gone on a business trip to Italy the previous month.
He'd promised Mia he'd pick one up for her on that trip, but he'd completely forgotten, so it had taken him extra time to track one down later.
Hugging the bear tightly in her arms, Mia finally broke into a grin. "Thank you, Daddy! I love it."
She'd barely gotten the words out when Cecily pointed straight at the teddy bear and piped up, "Uncle Lucien, the little bear you gave me last month broke."
As soon as Lucien heard Cecily's words, he plucked the teddy bear right out of his daughter's arms and handed it over to Cecily.
He patted Mia's head to soothe her, saying, "Be a good girl, Mia. Daddy will buy you another one next time. Let your older sister Cecily have this one first."
I saw the dejected look on Mia's face, and the smug little grin plastered across Cecily's face.
I bent down to look Cecily in the eye and said gently, "Cecily, today is Mia's birthday. Can you give the bear back to her? Auntie will buy you a brand new one another day, I promise."
"Nope! Uncle said whatever is Mia's is mine."
My whole body went ice-cold and rigid the second those words left her mouth.
"Alright, alright. I'll drive Yvette and Cecily home first. You two wait here for me to come back, okay?"
Cecily's comment made Lucien visibly squirm, so he scrambled to change the subject as fast as he could.
Once the three of them were gone.
Looking at my little girl standing there all hollow and lost, a sharp, burning ache pressed behind my nose.
Five years of marriage. I was never Lucien Yorke's first choice, and Mia wasn't his first choice either.
Maybe it was time for us to go.
I pulled my daughter into my arms, softening my voice to soothe her. "Let's go get cleaned up first, baby. I'll read you a bedtime story later, okay?"
"But Mom," she mumbled, "Dad promised he was going to read me a bedtime story tonight."
Ding.
A new message popped up on my phone.
It was a voice note from Lucien.
"Lorraine, I'm not coming home tonight. The power went out at Yvette's place, and the property management said they can't fix it until tomorrow. Both of them are scared of the dark, it's not safe for them to stay there alone. I'm taking them to a hotel for the night."
The speaker cut out, and the room went dead quiet.
"Mom," my daughter asked the second the voice note finished playing, "is Dad abandoning us again?"
My eyes burned instantly, and the tears I'd been holding back spilled over before I could stop them.
Lucien had failed at being a father, but I had failed too. As a mom, I'd stood by and let my baby get hurt over and over again.
"Mia," I whispered, "do you still want a dad like him?"
"Mom," she said softly, "Dad always makes my heart hurt. I don't want the hurt anymore."
After I tucked my daughter in and watched her fall asleep, I pulled up the invitation in my email from Aurora Voyages, the top-tier travel company.
I typed back a reply confirming the time and place for our meeting.
They'd reached out to me two years ago, asking me to shoot a series of promotional videos for them. I'd turned the offer down back then, all for Lucien.
This time, though?
I was taking Mia, and we were leaving this place behind.
