He smiled and I remembered every single reason I’d spent sixteen years trying not to remember him. He left not long after.
There was still a lot we needed to talk about. The photos, legal moves, Victor, but we both knew the kitchen couldn’t take anymore that morning. Some conversations just get too heavy too fast. He told me he’d reach out to his legal team, and I told him I’d be in touch.
We kept it all businesslike and safe. I walked him to the door like I was still the one in control. The second the door shut, I wasn’t.
I stood in the hallway with my back against the wall, chest tight, eyes burning. Then I went to my room, sat on the edge of the bed, and let myself be pissed at me for exactly twenty minutes. Not at him, at myself. At how one stupid, real smile from him had ripped th
