Chapter3

Before I could get the words out, his phone buzzed on the nightstand. A new message.

He hesitated, let go of me, and crossed the room to read it. A minute later, he dragged a suitcase out of the closet and started throwing in clothes.

"Nora and Ethan were in a car accident. I have to go back right now."

At the door he looked back, miserable. "Tell Leo I'm sorry."

The door clicked shut. Damon had walked out on us again.

The next morning, I told my son evenly, "Mr. Reed had something else come up, sweetheart."

Leo didn't ask where. He walked over to the couch, picked up the rocket set from the day before, and dropped it in the wastebasket.

A week later, I cut the trip short and took him home.

I had barely turned the key when I heard laughter upstairs. My stomach dropped.

It was coming from Leo's room.

My grandmother had left me this greystone in Lincoln Park. It was full of memories of Leo and me, and I'd told Damon plainly that no outsiders were ever to set foot inside.

I took Leo's hand, and we climbed the stairs without a sound. His door stood wide open, and what I saw there turned my blood to ice.

Nora was stretched out on Leo's little bed in my silk pajamas, scrolling through her phone. Their things were scattered everywhere. And her son, Ethan, was turning a delicate vintage biplane model over in his hands.

Damon had spent months building that plane with Leo, balsa ribs and fabric wings, one tiny wire at a time. On Leo's fifth birthday, he'd handed it over and said, "This is my promise to you, buddy. As long as this plane can fly, Daddy will always come back, and nobody gets to touch what's yours."

Leo treasured it. He even dusted it with a soft brush.

"Stop! That's mine!" He yanked his hand out of mine and ran to take it back.

Ethan flinched but wouldn't let go. He shot Leo a nasty little grin, snapped off a wing, and threw the plane to the floor at his feet.

The frame cracked. The propeller rolled across the hardwood and stopped against Leo's sneaker.

Leo stood rooted, staring at the pieces, his shoulders trembling.

"What happened? What's going on?"

Damon hurried in from the hallway with a plate of apple slices. He saw the wreckage, then us. The color drained from his face, and the plate slipped from his hands.

"Elena? Leo? Why are you back so early?" He stumbled over the words, eyes darting around the room. "Nora's apartment had a burst pipe, and she had nowhere to go, so I brought them here for a few days."

Nora sat up, playing startled. "Damon, Ethan was only curious. He picked it up to look at it, and then Leo came charging in and scared him, and it just slipped...

I'm so sorry. It's my fault for letting him touch it. Elena, you're not mad at us, are you?"

I looked at Damon and waited for him to say something.

After a beat, he walked right past his devastated son and went to Ethan, checking the boy's hands in a panic. "Buddy, did you get any splinters?"

Only when he was sure Ethan was fine did he turn to Leo, his voice gentle. "Pal, Ethan didn't mean it. That plane was pretty old anyway. I'll get you a bigger, better one tomorrow, okay?

You're a good kid. Don't stay mad at Ethan..."

"I don't need it." Leo's voice was frighteningly calm.

He knelt and picked up the pieces one at a time: the wing, the cracked body, the propeller. He carried them to the wastebasket, right in front of his father, and let them go without a flicker of hesitation.

"Leo?" Damon stood frozen. He clearly hadn't expected that.

Leo looked up at him. "You said nobody could touch what's mine. You said you'd always come back." He paused. "Liar."

He turned to me, his eyes red. "Mom, my room feels dirty. I don't want it anymore.

And I don't want him for a dad."

That was the moment I knew. After so many broken promises, Leo had stopped hoping to be anyone's first choice. He understood he never would be, and he had decided he didn't want it from Damon either.

Panic finally broke through. Damon reached for him. "Buddy, what are you saying? Daddy only..."

"Don't touch my son." I cut him off, cold, and pulled Leo behind me.

My phone rang inside my bag. My attorney. I put it on speaker.

"Ms. Hart, Mr. Reed never answered the petition or the summons, so the court has entered a default judgment based on the evidence we filed. Your divorce is final.

The court has also issued an order removing Mr. Reed from the property your grandmother left you. He no longer has any right to be there."

The line went dead, and the room went silent.

Damon stared at me. "Elena... you filed for divorce?"