Chapter 4

Julian sneered. He ripped the agreement in half and threw the pieces onto the floor.

"Let me make this clear, Nora. If I don't agree to a divorce, you'll be my wife until the day you die!" He didn't care that his grandmother and relatives were watching. He grabbed my wrist and dragged me outside.

"Julian! Let go of me!" I fought as hard as I could, but the cancer had already drained most of my strength.

He shoved me into the car and sped back to our house.

He kicked the front door open and shoved me against the living room wall.

My bag dropped to the floor. The zipper split open, spilling everything across the room.

Along with my phone and tissues were two keepsakes I'd taken from my parents' house.

One was my father's old pocket watch. It had never kept time properly. The other was the emerald bangle my mother had been holding when she died.

They were all I had left of my parents.

My eyes went wide. Ignoring the numbness spreading through my body, I threw myself toward them.

But Julian was faster. His shoe crushed the watch, shattering its glass face. Then his eyes landed on the bangle.

"How long are you going to cling to a bunch of dead people's stuff and act like a victim?" His eyes were full of disgust.

"No! Julian, I'm begging you, don't touch it!" My voice broke as I tried to stop him.

He looked down at me coldly. Then he slipped his shoe under the bangle and kicked it across the room.

It slammed into the corner of the coffee table with a sharp crack and shattered.

For a moment, the whole world went silent.

I stared blankly at the green pieces scattered across the floor. When my mother's heart stopped, that bangle had still been warm from her hand.

It was the last piece of her I had left. And Julian had just destroyed it.

"What? Not making a scene this time?" He crouched, grabbed my chin, and forced me to look at him.

When he saw nothing but emptiness in my eyes, his expression changed. "Do you think pulling this stunt will make me feel sorry for you?"

Just then, the worst pain yet ripped through my stomach.

I broke out in a cold sweat, and my body began convulsing uncontrollably.

My eyes darted across the things scattered on the floor. Then I saw a white pill bottle that had rolled out of my bag.

My doctor had prescribed those strong painkillers just for me. They were the only thing keeping the unbearable pain under control and letting me hold on to what little dignity I had left.

Trembling, I reached for the bottle, but Julian got there first.

He stepped on it, then bent down and picked it up.

"What's this?" He shook the bottle and listened to the pills rattle. His face darkened. "You're taking pills to fake being sick for sympathy? Are you going to threaten to swallow them all again?"

"Give it back." Pain tore through me. I could barely get the words out.

I wrapped both arms around his leg and begged, "Julian, please, give me the pills... It hurts... Please..."

I'd used every connection I had just to get that half bottle. Without those pills, I didn't know if I could survive the night.

"It hurts?" He laughed like I'd just told him a joke. "There really is nothing you won't do to get my attention!"

He kicked me away and walked to the kitchen island. Then he turned on the faucet.

I screamed for him to stop. He didn't even look at me. He opened the bottle and poured every pill down the drain.

One by one, the white pills disappeared under the running water.

I collapsed onto the floor and watched him destroy the only thing keeping the pain under control.

"Stop pulling these disgusting stunts." Julian grabbed a tissue from the table, wiped his hands, and threw the empty bottle at my feet. "Vivian is moving in for a few days tomorrow. She isn't well. Behave yourself and don't start anything."

The front door slammed behind him. The house fell silent.

I knelt on the floor and picked up the broken pieces of emerald and glass with trembling hands.

The sharp edges sliced into my palms. Blood mixed with the cold sweat dripping from my skin.

Then I coughed up another mouthful of blood. It splattered across the broken pieces in my hands.

Mom, Dad, I'm sorry. I couldn't even protect the things you left behind. I don't know how I'm supposed to face you now.

But it doesn't matter. I'll see you soon.

Just before everything went black, I heard footsteps coming back toward me.