Chapter 2
Maeve's POV
"Who's there!"
Garrick jumped back when he walked through the front door late that night.
I stepped out of the darkness and flipped on the lights.
"Jesus Christ! Why are you lurking in the dark like some ghost?" He sucked in a breath, pissed.
I didn't answer. He loosened his tie and threw his jacket over a chair, looking beat. But when his eyes hit the coffee table, he froze.
There sat Wren's craft project—the clay figurine of a judge, still stained with her sweaty handprints.
Garrick stared at it, guilt washing over his face.
"Something came up at court. I couldn't get away..." His voice came out rough, like he was making shit up.
I wanted to laugh. Came up? Toasting champagne with Seraphina on live TV counted as court business?
I didn't argue. Just slid a folder to the center of the table.
Garrick rubbed his temples and sank into a chair. "Maeve, I screwed up tonight. I'll make it up to Wren."
"Don't bother. She doesn't need it." I kept my voice flat. "This came down from the court office. Needs your signature."
He grabbed the folder, but before he could open it, his phone started buzzing.
Seraphina's ringtone—shrill as hell.
"Seraphina? What's wrong?"
Panicked crying came through the speaker. "Garrick! My voice gave out at rehearsal! The doctor says I need emergency treatment! Can you come? I'm so scared this'll ruin tomorrow's show..."
"Hey, calm down. I'm coming." Garrick shot to his feet.
He hung up and didn't even glance at the folder—just flipped to the last page and scrawled his signature.
Sloppy and careless as always. He had no clue he'd just signed our dissolution papers.
The door slammed. The sports car roared off into the night.
I picked up the signed documents, fingers white-knuckled.
A nightmare from five years ago crashed back. I'd been eight months pregnant, trapped in a landslide during a court field investigation. Cell service cutting in and out, but I kept trying to reach Garrick—who was overseas with Seraphina on some lawsuit. From evening until midnight, his phone just rang busy.
When rescue found me ten hours later, Wren had been oxygen-deprived too long. When he finally got back and saw our fragile daughter in the NICU, all he said was: "You could've requested to skip fieldwork like that."
Like we'd just inconvenienced him.
Now one call from Seraphina and he's running to save the day.
I turned off the lights. Hope she's worth it, asshole.
"You needed me to go over these files, sir?"
A few days later, I stood at his office desk, all business.
Garrick looked up and pushed an elegant gift box toward me.
"Picked this up in Maple City last week. Limited edition hazelnut chocolates. Didn't Wren want specialties from that city? Take it home to her."
I stared at the box. The irony was killing me.
"Thanks, but no. Like I told you Thursday when I filed my leave request—I already took Wren to Maple City for her birthday. Our pantry's stuffed with candy she picked out."
He looked like I'd slapped him.
"I... I've been swamped. I forgot." His knuckles went white around his pen.
"Don't worry about it. She doesn't need late gifts anyway. And Wren's severely allergic to nuts. Hazelnut chocolates would literally kill her."
I walked out without waiting to see his face.
The weekend sun was gorgeous, so I took Wren to the new amusement park.
These past few days, she'd gotten too mature for a five-year-old. She stopped asking when Daddy was coming home, stopped putting her clay figurine where everyone could see it. She was learning not to hope for things that would never happen. It gutted me.
Coming off the teacup ride, Wren's cheeks were flushed as she babbled about how fast everything spun.
"Mommy, it went SO fast! I felt like I was flying... huh?"
She stopped dead, pointing ahead.
I followed her gaze and my heart stopped.
Garrick and Seraphina stood by a snack booth. He was catching a scoop of ice cream about to fall from her cone, feeding it to her with a smile. Perfect couple from a romance movie.
Wren's eyes lit up. She yanked free from my hand and started running—
"Dad—"
