Chapter 10
Before Curtis could finish his sentence, Claire yanked her hand free.
“I’m going to find Ash. Don’t make this harder than it already is. Also, once you’re discharged, move back home. And find time soon to finalize the divorce.”
Leaving those words behind, she turned and ran. She raced downstairs, flagging a cab in a panic, her breath catching as she frantically dialed Ashton’s number over and over again.
Every time, the mechanical voice was the same. “The number you’ve dialed is currently unavailable…”
Still, she clung to a sliver of hope. Perhaps his phone had died, therefore he couldn’t answer her call. Once she got home, she would finally see her lover, she thought.
Claire continuously urged the cab driver to drive faster. At last, she arrived home, only to open the door and step into an eerily clean, empty apartment.
She froze.
The throw pillow Ashton used on the couch was gone, and so was the ceramic mug he always left on the table. Even the glass case where he kept his little collection of figures now stood empty.
Panicking, Claire stumbled toward the storage cabinet and pulled it open with trembling hands. It had once been filled with items Ashton had lovingly prepared for their wedding.
The handwoven unity knot, the handwritten wedding vows… All of it was gone.
Claire tore through every corner of the apartment, refusing to give up.
Maybe Ashton had just stored everything somewhere else, she told herself; maybe he hadn’t really left. The more she searched, the more frantic her heart became.
In just a few short days, every trace of Ashton’s presence had been wiped clean. In their place were Curtis‘ belongings, scattered casually around the home, as if they had always been there.
Things became more jarring when she opened the master bedroom door.
There, hanging above the bed, was that oversized wedding photo–not of her and Ashton, but of her and Curtis.
Claire felt the air vanish from her lungs, like she couldn’t breathe.
No, this wasn’t right. This was supposed to be her and Ashton’s home…
At that moment, she finally understood how Ashton must’ve felt when he first saw that photo. Alas, it was all too late.
He had left–deserted her.
Without a second thought, Claire lunged forward and ripped the wedding photo from the wall, smashing it onto the floor. Her fists pounded mercilessly at the image of herself nestled in another man’s arms.
Blood welled up from the cuts on her knuckles, but she didn’t stop–as if destroying the photo could somehow erase the foolish mistakes she had made.
Only when the shattered glass and torn paper lay in an unrecognizable mess at her feet did Claire finally pause. She stared at the chaos she had created, then, disheveled, shuffled toward the living room.
Her steps faltered as she passed the trash bin.
With trembling hands, she picked up the torn pieces. When she finally made out the words on the shredded paper and realized it was their marriage certificate, her mind went completely blank, and a loud, hollow ringing filled her head.
Chapter 11
