Chapter 6
“It’s August 2025. Grayden’s new manager contacted me. She said she was helping him move and found a bunch of my stuff. He asked her to call me–said I should come pick up my stuff.”
When the car stopped outside his villa, I took a moment to adjust my scarf in the mirror–making sure it covered the visible signs of muscle atrophy around my neck.
“Whoa! This place is…”
Inside, Chantal raised the camera, panning across the room–but her voice suddenly stopped.
I knew what she saw.
The entire living room wall was covered in photos of me and Grayden.
From our very first childhood picture back in our old town to red carpet shots from his first film festival.
Not one missing.§
“He… didn’t take any of them down,” I said quietly, myn
Chantal silently turned the camera to me.
I forced a smile.
“Looks like our future Best Actor’s a bit sentimental, huh?”
None of my stuff had been moved.
My favorite books from before I got sick…!
The souvenirs from our trips…
And-
“Stitch!”
I picked up the painted plaster figure by his bed.
trembling a bit.”
“We made this on our third anniversary. DIY workshop. I thought it looked awful, but Grayden insisted it had to go somewhere everyone could see.”
My eyes burned as I held the little figure close.
Then, right there on camera, my hand gave a visible tremble–and Stitch slipped from my arms.
The figure shattered on the floor with a crash.
I froze.
Looking down at the broken pieces, I felt something inside me splinter just the same.
“It’s just junk. Doesn’t matter anymore.”
A cold voice came from the doorway.}
I looked up in shock. Grayden had come back–he’s leaning against the doorframe, his gaze unreadable.} He’d lost weight. Dark circles under his eyes. Still devastatingly handsome–it almost hurt to look at him.” “Mr. Graves…” Chantal stammered.};
But he barely glanced at my assistant. His eyes were on me.
“Belva said you were coming to get your stuff,” he said flatly like talking about the weather. “Need a hand?” I crouched down, my hands shaking as I began to pick up the pieces. “No. We’re just about done.” One sharp edge cut my finger. Blood welled up, but I didn’t feel a thing.
Suddenly, he crossed the room and grabbed my wrist.
“Stop.”
“I can’t.” I tried to pull away. “We made this together-”
“Shirl.”
He called me by my name, his voice low but sharp with anger.
“You were the one who said, ‘Let’s break up and move on. So what are you doing here picking up broken junk?”
I opened my mouth, but no sound came out.
Finally, I gently pulled my hand away from him.”
“You’re right. It doesn’t matter anymore.”
Packing up didn’t take as long as I thought.
Back home, I poured the bag of broken pieces onto the coffee table.M
One by one, I started piecing them back together.}
“This was our first handmade project.“}
Carefully, I glued Stitch’s ear back on.
“He was clumsy that day, got paint everywhere… and insisted on writing ‘Grayden loves Shirl forever‘ on the base…” That’s when my tears finally fell, landing on the plaster figure.\
I looked at the camera, my eyes glistening
looked at the camera, my eyes glistening.
“It’s nothing, really. I just… noticed one photo was missing. The one from our first kiss. He must’ve hidden it.
“I know Grayden too well. This is his way of telling me…
“He’s still waiting for me to come back…
“God, I can’t.”
D
