Take This Withered Love
"Mom, please look at me! Please!"
Elena looked down at the daughter she'd once loved with her entire being, but she didn't bend down to pick her up. Instead, she gently pried Charlotte's hands off her gown.
"Goodbye, Charlotte. Goodbye, Benjamin. Don't come looking for me again. You should live your lives because I have one of my own now."
When she turned, she could hear Lucas struggling to hold himself together and the children sobbing hysterically behind her.
But when she returned to the venue and saw Calliope running toward her with the flower basket and Caspian smiling at her in the sunlight, the sound of crying seemed to fade.