Not once.
There was no crushing regret. No panic. No terrifying sense that I was betraying the past.
And in that quiet realization, I understood something important.
I was finally beginning to heal.
When I reached home, I spent the rest of the day packing the most important belongings of Eva and Chloe, the things I would take with me to the new apartment. Each item carried a memory, but for the first time, those memories felt less like chains and more like something I could carry forward with love instead of grief.
23
COLE
Over the weekend, Jiya left Emma and Lucas with Geeta for a couple of hours and came over with Jack to help me move into my new apartment.
While the staff moved around my apartment unpacking boxes and placing things where they belonged, Jack excused himself and said he had to check on the restaurant.
I walked over to the fridge, grabbed two glasses of iced tea, and handed one to Jiya.
“Guess who I met a couple of days ago?” I asked, watching her reaction carefully.
She turned toward me. “Who?”
“My brother, Liam.”
“Oh,” she said, pretending to be surprised. “That’s nice. How did it go?”
“It went quite well.” I took a sip of the iced tea and studied her over the rim of the glass. “Especially since he got a visit from you, which you didn’t mention.”
She cringed slightly and looked away.
“How did you even find him?” I asked.
“Jack helped me,” she admitted quietly. “I’m sorry, but I wanted to do something nice for you since you’ve been there for me through everything.” She looked down at the floor and bit her lip. “I’m sorry for interfering, but I felt if he knew the whole story, he would come around.”
I stepped closer to her.
“Thank you,” I said sincerely.
She lifted her head and looked at me.
“Your interference helped our relationship,” I continued, smiling. “It will take some time to mend it, but it was a good start when I met him for lunch.”
“I’m so happy for you,” she said.
Then she hugged me tightly.
The moment my arms wrapped around her, my heartbeat picked up. I allowed myself to hold her before she pulled away, patting my shoulder lightly as if brushing aside the moment.Then she asked me to tell her about my meeting with Liam.
Finally settledinto my new place, I stood in the living room with a glass of lemonade in my hand and looked around slowly.
The apartment felt like the beginning of something new… a fresh start.
Even though I had moved on, pieces of my past were still with me. A few framed photographs of Eva and Chloe sat on a shelf. A silver-coloured box rested nearby, containing Eva’s letters, her favourite earrings, Chloe’s handkerchief, and her favourite toy.
I could not bring myself to remove my wedding ring.For now, I had decided I would keep wearing it, even if one day I started dating again.
In the den, I placed my easel beside a stand filled with paintbrushes and tubes of paint. That space would be my creative corner. My place to work, to think, to breathe.
