Now I knew—the faded numbers represented seven years of his devotion to Alanna.
From the café window, I watched Derick’s car speed past before I returned home.
Once there, I pulled out my suitcase and started packing.
Skye's POV
Seven years was enough to fill this space to the brim.
It felt like everything here should come with me, yet none of it felt like mine.
But when I opened Derick’s journal, the truth became painfully clear.
The couple’s mugs on the table? They were something he promised to buy for Alanna. The cushions on the couch? They were Alanna’s favorite pattern. The gardenias in the corner? It was Alanna’s favorite flower. Even my toiletries were the same brand Alanna had always used.
I used to think Derick loved me so much that he cared for me in every possible way. But now I realized that all this time, he had only been loving me as if I were Alanna.
I shook my head silently.
If everything belongs to someone else, I might as well leave it all behind.
As I was gathering my documents for leaving the country, Derick came home. He looked exhausted with dark circles under his eyes, his whole body weighed down by fatigue.