He kissed the tears from her cheeks, murmuring comfort.
"Dead is dead. Even if she hadn't died, I would've served her divorce papers in a few days anyway."
"For years now, the only people in my heart have been you and the two children. There's no room for anyone else, and I won't let anyone disturb our life in this manor."
From that moment on, everything I'd ever felt for him was gone.
Edith brought me back out once I'd changed. Finn was crouching in front of Hildegarde. "Don't you remember your father?"
Hildegarde stared at him in terror, shrinking back step by step, then ran to me and clung to my leg.
"She was only a few months old when you left. You didn't come back for five years. How would she possibly remember you?"
Hildegarde was only five, but with the grime washed from her face, she looked like a little porcelain doll.
Finn scooped her up and tried to coax her. "Be a good girl, Hilda. Say 'Daddy.' I'm your daddy."
She only found him strange. Her small lips pressed into a thin line as she studied him with wide, cautious eyes.
He hadn't raised her. After a few more attempts with no response, his patience ran out.