Chapter 3

Chapter 3

LINA

The cemetery was quiet and empty in the late morning. I had brought fresh lilies-it used to be my mum's favourites, and held them to my chest as I walked the familiar path leading to their graves.

I'd been here countless times over the years, but today felt different. Today I was going to tell them what I hadn't told anyone yet.

I rounded the corner past the old oak tree, and my steps faltered, as I slowed down, my eyes zeroing on the figure ahead of me.

Damien was there.

He stood about twenty feet away from my parents' graves, and he wasn't alone. Adora was beside him, looking elegant, even in black, dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief. They were positioned in front of a different headstone, one I didn't recognize.

My heart was pounding against my ribs. What were they doing here? 

Damien spotted me first. His expression shifted immediately from somber to sharp, his jaw tightening as his eyes were locked on me. He said something to Adora,  who nodded her head then strode toward me with purposeful steps.

"Are you following me?" 

I stood frozen, the lilies clutched against my chest. "What? No, I—"

"Don't lie to me, Lina." He was close now, too close, his presence overwhelming me as I took a step back.

 

"First you question me about last night, and now you just happen to show up at the same cemetery where I am? What is this, some kind of surveillance?"

The accusation stung like a slap. "I'm not following you, Damien. I have every right to be here."

"Do you?" His eyes were cold, suspicious, clearly not believing me and standing with his own assumptions of what he thought was right. 

"This is a private moment. Adora lost someone important to her, and I'm here to support her. The last thing she needs is you spying on us."

She had approached during his speech, looking concerned, or something close to it, as she stood beside him and placed a hand on his as she spoke.

"Damien, please, I'm sure this is just a misunderstanding."

The casual intimacy of her touch made my stomach turn.

"Lina," Adora continued, her voice filled with false kindness, "Damien is simply accompanying me to visit a dear friend who passed away. There's nothing else happening here. I hope you understand."

The implication was clear, to anyone who had a working brain cell—she thought I was the jealous wife, tracking my husband's every move. 

"I wasn't following you," I repeated, my voice shaking now. "I didn't even know you'd be here."

"Then why are you here?" Derek demanded. "Of all the places in the city, you just happened to come to this cemetery at this exact time?"

"Because I—" I stopped, my throat closing up as I swallowed hard, forcing the restr of the words down. I didn't want to explain myself to him, didn't want to share something so personal while Jasmine stood there watching with those  eyes of hers that made me uncomfortable.

"Because what?" Damien pressed, taking another step toward me. "If you're going to stalk me, at least have the decency to admit it."

 "I am not stalking you!"

"Then prove it." His voice was furious now. "Show me why you're really here."

"Damien, maybe we should—" Adora started.

"No," he cut her off, his eyes never leaving mine. "I want to know the truth. I'm tired of the games. If she has something to say, she should say it."

 "I don't have to prove anything to you."

"You're my wife," he said, and the word sounded like an insult to my ears. "If you're going to follow me around, checking up on me, I have a right to know why."

"I told you, I'm not—"

"Then what possible reason could you have for being here?" He was relentless, backing me into a corner, demanding answers I didn't want to give.

"Damien, please," Adora interjected again, her voice gentle. "This isn't necessary. I believe her."

But her words only seemed to fuel his anger as he refused to give up on this self proclaimed truth he seemed to believe in. "Come on, Lina. Let me show you exactly why we're here. ."

Before I could protest, his hand trapped my wrist, and he began pulling me toward the headstone where they'd been standing. I tried to pull away, but his grip was irontight and I couldn't break free, no matter how hard I struggled.

"Damien, stop—"

"Here," he said, forcing me to stand in front of the grave. "Read it. This is Lyra Scott, Adora's college roommate. She died in a car accident six months ago. We're here to pay our respects on what would have been her birthday. Are you satisfied now? Or do you need more proof that your jealousy is unfounded?"

I stared at the headstone, the words blurring through my tears. I hadn't been following him. I hadn't even thought about him when I'd driven here. Just my baby and my dead parents and what advice they would have given me if they were still alive.

"I'm sorry for your loss," I managed to say to Adora, though the words felt hollow, even to my own ears.

"Thank you," she replied, sniffling, as if she were graciously accepting an apology I hadn't meant to give.

Now apologize to me," Damien said. "For following me. For not trusting me."

I turned to look at him then, really look at him. The man who thought so little of me.

"I won't apologize," I said quietly, "for something I didn't do."

'' Lina—" His voice held a warning.

I tried to step around him, to leave before I completely broke down, but Jasmine moved at the same moment. We collided, and she stumbled backward with a small cry. Damien's hands immediately left me to steady her.

"Are you alright?" he asked her, his voice filled with concern he had never showed me.

"I'm fine," Adora said, though she winced as she tried to stand on her feet. "Just twisted it a little."

"You should be more careful," Damien said, and it took me a moment to realize he was talking to me. "You could have seriously hurt her."

"I didn't mean to—" I started, but the words died in my throat. What was the point? He would always see what he wanted to see, believe what he wanted to believe.

"You never mean to," he said coldly. "But you always seem to cause problems anyway.

Adora touched his arm again, playing the peacemaker. "Damien, I'm sure it was an accident. Lina didn't mean any harm."

I turned to leave, my head down.  The lilies hung limply in my hand, forgotten.

"That's right, just walk away," Damien called after me. "You've disrupted enough for one day."

Something inside me snapped. All the pain, all the loneliness and injustice, I have been experiencing were building up to this as I stopped walking.

 

I turned back to face him, and I let him see the tears rolling down my face. Let him see what he'd done.

"My parents are buried here," I said. "Twenty feet from where we're standing. I came to visit them, Damien. I've been coming here every few weeks for ten years—since your grandmother took me in after they died. I didn't know you'd be here. I didn't know anything about Lyra or you people even coming here today, I have far more better things to do with my time. I just wanted to talk to my parents."

I watched the color drain from his face as he realized what he should have known as a man who claimed he was my husband.

"I wasn't following you," I continued, my voice stronger now despite the tears. "I wasn't checking up on you or spying on you. I was visiting the graves of the two people who loved me unconditionally, the two people who died saving your life. The two people whose sacrifice bound me to you forever."