I gripped the bag on my shoulder until my fingers went numb. The weight inside felt heavier than bone, heavier than guilt.
“Caleb’s—”
I never finished.
A small body slammed into me and I crashed onto the marble floor. My wrist scraped hard and the urn nearly slipped out of the bag. I caught it at the last second and pulled it to my chest.
“Watch it!” I snapped.
It was Milo. Myra’s precious boy. Fresh from the hospital after nothing more than a stomach ache. His little face twisted with an arrogance he learned from the man behind him.
“You watch it, idiot!” he shouted back. “Why are you even here?”
Hugo’s voice cracked like a whip. “That's enough, Milo.” Then he turned on me. “Thalia, he’s a child. Do not start a scene.”
Myra drifted forward with her soft steps and softer lies. She placed her hand on Hugo’s chest.
“Please don’t be upset,” she murmured. “This is my fault again. Milo and I can go.”
Hugo clenched his jaw, eyes cold. He pointed straight at me. “You caused this. Not her.”
Something inside me broke further, deeper, into a place I did not think existed. They stood there like a family. I was the intruder who dared to return with ashes.
Milo lunged at my bag again, grabbing at the zipper.
“I am hungry. Why are you hugging it? Is there food in here?”
The urn slipped. It hit the floor with a loud thud that punched the air out of my lungs.
“No. No. Do not touch that!”
Milo crouched, reaching for it with his dirty little hands. “What is it? I want it.”
I shoved him away. Hard. I did not care. Not anymore. I had already lost everything that mattered.
Hugo roared, “WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!” His face twisted with fury. “He was just discharged. He is sick. And you dare lay a hand on him?”
Milo screamed and clawed at me, yanking my hair until tears blurred my vision.
“It’s Caleb’s,” I choked out. “It’s… my son’s.”
Myra tugged Hugo back gently, her voice honey sweet. “Let it go. If it belongs to Caleb, then Milo should not touch it.”
Hugo scoffed. “This is my house. I decide who touches what.”
I hugged the urn to my chest, pressing it so tightly my ribs hurt, and walked away without a word.
To him, I must have looked like I was sulking. A dramatic wife playing victim. I heard his snort behind me. His muttered insult. Then the sound of him escorting Myra and Milo out like a king walking his treasured guests to their carriage.
That night, in the silence of the bedroom he no longer entered, I packed my clothes. I filled out the divorce papers with hands that would not stop trembling. I placed Caleb’s urn beside me on the bed and stared at it until the sun began to rise.
...
That night, Caleb found me again.
In the dream he wandered through a long corridor made of glass. No shadows. No reflections. He moved barefoot, steps soft, tremors in his shoulders. Tears streaked down his cheeks as he clutched his stomach in pain.
He kept calling for him.
“Dad? Daddy? Where are you?”
Not me. Never me. He wanted Hugo. He always wanted Hugo.
My heart cracked inside the dream. I ran after him, calling his name, begging him to stop. But no matter how fast I moved he drifted further away, small hands slipping like mist.
I fell to my knees and sobbed.
“I’m sorry, baby. I am so sorry. I should’ve protected you. I should’ve never left you alone.”
I repeated it until my throat went raw.
...
When I woke up, I was already on the floor beside the bed. My hands were clasped in prayer even though I did not remember kneeling. I prayed that wherever my son was, he did not hurt anymore. That death gave him the peace life refused him.
The mansion around me stayed silent. Hugo’s empire rose on wealth and fear, but it felt like the loneliest place on earth. Beautiful walls. Beautiful floors. Beautiful emptiness. It had never been a home.
Then the memories returned.
The shift in Hugo. The slow disappearance of affection. The way Myra’s return made him colder than a knife blade against my throat.
He compared them often.
“Milo is a strong kid,” he said once, pouring whiskey, “He has presence. He’s respectful. He’s healthy.”
Unlike Caleb. Unspoken but sharp enough to cut.
Only weeks before Caleb fell ill, Hugo looked me dead in the eye and said,
“Sometimes I wonder if that boy’s even mine. If he is, he’s not fit to inherit anything I built. Too fragile. Always sick. A weak bloodline slows an empire.”
I remember standing there unable to breathe.
I spent years breaking myself into shapes he might love. Softer. Smarter. More loyal. More obedient. But I never thought he’d strip his love from our son.
Caleb adored him. Worshipped him. He used to show Hugo every drawing he made. Every tiny medal made out of foil and hope. But Hugo never looked.
My son died without his father’s face in the room. Without his father’s voice. Without the man he worshipped lifting even a finger.
I heard footsteps outside the room. Unsteady. Drunken. Muffled voices followed.
I cracked the door open and saw Hugo leaning heavily against Myra. His arm wrapped around her waist while she held him up.
“Hugo,” she whispered, stroking his jaw, “are you sure you want to check her room? It is late. She might still be awake.”
Hugo chuckled.
“Why the hell would I go to her? She was a bitch to Milo.”
Myra led him toward her room. She did not even bother closing the door fully. I heard everything. Her soft moans. His low groans. The dull thud of the bed against the wall.
I did not move. I did not cry. I folded my hands in my lap like a quiet ghost and stared at the blank wall until the sun rose.
...
In the morning, I prepared hangover soup the way I always did. The kitchen smelled warm even if I did not feel warmth anymore. Hugo walked in, rubbing his forehead.
He sat down and avoided my eyes.
“I came home real late,” he muttered. “Didn’t want to disturb you, so I slept in the guest room.”
I nodded. “Alright.”
He relaxed instantly. He thought I was still the obedient wife. The gentle one. The silent one who never questioned anything.
Then I slid a document across the table.
The divorce papers.
