Chapter 8

 

The living room was silent after Damien disappeared upstairs.

Shirley remained seated on the sofa with the document resting on her lap.

She felt too numb to move.

The signature line on the document blurred before her eyes.

Three years…three years of trying.

Three years of convincing herself that if she loved him enough, everything would somehow return to the way it used to be.

She remembered the boy who had waited outside her college after lectures.

The man who had stolen kisses whenever her father wasn't looking.

The man who had promised that class differences meant nothing.

Somewhere along the line...

That man had disappeared.

Or perhaps he had never existed at all.

A slow breath escaped her lips.

She reached for the pen lying on the coffee table.

Her hand hovered over the papers for only a moment before she signed.

Shirley Schrett.

The ink had barely dried when she pushed the papers back into the envelope.

‘So this is how it ends,’ she whispered.

She had no strength to fight and the last thing she wanted was another argument. 

The only thing present in that moment was a loud silence. 

She rose from the sofa and walked toward the staircase.

Halfway there, she stopped.

The nursery.

‘Cindy would already be asleep’.

Shirley smiled faintly at the thought.

No matter how exhausting her day had been, seeing her daughter asleep always brought her peace.

She climbed the stairs quietly.

The hallway was dark except for the soft light coming in from the wall lamps.

Damien's bedroom door was shut.

She didn't even glance at it.

There was nothing left to say.

She pushed the nursery door open.

Cindy lay curled beneath her blanket with one hand wrapped around her favorite teddy bear.

A tiny smile rested on her face.

Shirley knelt beside the bed and brushed a few strands of hair away from her daughter's forehead.

"I'm sorry,” she whispered.

"Mummy's so sorry."

Cindy shifted in her sleep before mumbling something Shirley couldn't understand.

Then she settled again and Shirley kissed her forehead.

As she stood to leave, her phone vibrated inside her cardigan pocket.

She frowned.

It was almost midnight.

Who would be texting her at this hour?

She glanced at the screen.

‘Unknown Number’, it read.

Her brows knitted together.

Slowly, she opened the message.

‘Signing the papers was the right decision.’

Her heartbeat slowed.

She looked toward the bedroom door before reading it again.

The message had arrived less than ten minutes after she signed the divorce papers.

No one else had been in the room.

She didn't have much time to process anything before a second message came through.

‘If you love your daughter, leave that house before sunrise.’

Shirley's fingers tightened around the phone.

A chill crawled up her spine.

Someone knew she had signed the divorce papers.

Her breathing became uneven.

She remembered the orange juice.

The strange white residue floating near the rim and Violetta's smile. 

Everything flashed through her mind at once.

Her stomach twisted.

‘No…Those incidents couldn't have been accidents…Not both of them.’

She quickly dialed the number but the call failed immediately.

‘Number unavailable.’

She tried again and it was the same result.

Shirley lowered the phone slowly.

Her hand instinctively rested over her stomach.

‘My baby’, she muttered.

A lump formed in her throat.

For the first time since discovering the affair, her thoughts weren't on Damien.

They weren't even on the divorce.

They were on the two tiny lives depending entirely on her.  

One sleeping peacefully in the bed before her and the other growing quietly beneath her heart.

She looked at Cindy again.

Her daughter trusted everyone.

She smiled at strangers.

She believed every adult who spoke kindly to her.

What if...

What if next time Shirley wasn't there?

Her pulse quickened.

She couldn't take that chance…not anymore.

The decision came so suddenly that it startled even her.

They had to leave and it had to be that night.

Not tomorrow and not next week when Violetta moved in.

Tonight was the right time.

Without making a sound, Shirley walked to the wardrobe and pulled out a small travel bag.

She folded three of Cindy's dresses: two tiny sweaters, a pair of shoes, her favorite storybook and the teddy bear would have to come too. 

She later slipped into her bedroom and packed a few clothes for herself.

Nothing fancy…only what they could carry – her passport, Cindy's birth certificate and a folder containing a few personal documents.

Then she paused.

The pregnancy test still rested inside her bedside drawer.

She stared at Damien who was sleeping peacefully as if nothing had happened that night.

“I'm sorry, Damien”, she whispered, “but I can't risk my children.”

After a moment's hesitation...

She reached for the pregnancy test from the drawer and with that, she left the room. 

She was about to enter the nursery when she noticed the door was open.

Her heart stopped for a moment. 

She walked in slowly but Cindy was nowhere to be found. 

She couldn't yell or else Damien would wake up and things would escalate. 

With trembling hands, she picked up the bags she had packed and went room by room in search of her daughter.

But Cindy wasn't there. 

Now she remembered the messages she had received and her breath hitched. 

She noticed the front door was opened and she followed the light coming from outside. 

“Cindy!” she called out, trying not to yell.

Then she heard a sound from around the corner.

She followed it and found Cindy at the edge of the pool.

She dropped all the bags in her hand and ran with all her might to save her daughter.

“Mommy!” Cindy giggled as she saw her mother. 

Terrified and completely shaken to the core, Shirley pulled Cindy into a tight embrace.

She scanned the area with her eyes, trying to find the culprit but there was no one in sight.

Now, any little doubt she had about leaving was gone. 

She picked her daughter up and took the bags that were lying on the ground.

Just as she saw setting off, she received another message. 

‘You’re doing the right thing. Cindy survived today but I can't guarantee it next time.’

Her whole body went cold and she knew someone was watching her. 

With tears in her eyes, she ran out of the mansion with Cindy. 

“Where's my daughter?!” Damien yelled the next morning, upon realizing that both Cindy and Shirley were not in the house.