He Faked His Death And I Came For Our Daughter’s Ashes Chapter 09

He Faked His Death And I Came For Our Daughter’s Ashes Chapter 09

Brandon found the plush toy. Celeste had thrown it into a storage closet. Its fur was dirty, and one of its eyes had been torn off.

He had never done any kind of handiwork in his life. He hired a professional tailor to teach him how to sew the eye back on.

The stitches were crooked, but he put everything he had into it.

On the day he went to Morning Light Memorial Park, he placed the bunny in front of the headstone and sat on the ground for a long time.

“Tessa was so afraid of pain,” he said. “How much did she suffer? How scared was she? She wasn’t even six years old.”

“When I put her on that bus, she was disappointed, but she forced a smile and told me not to worry. She said she knew that route well, that the driver would look out for her.”

“I stood on the curb, and she waved at me, her eyes crinkling into little crescents. If I hadn’t left. If I had just spent the whole day with her. Maybe she wouldn’t have died.”

Brandon covered his eyes. His shoulders shook.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Tessa. Daddy is so sorry.”

But no amount of sorry could change anything. Some regrets just stay regrets.

I looked at the photo of my smiling daughter and remembered how warm she felt curled up against me. Tears streamed down my face.

As we left the cemetery, Brandon asked me what my plans were.

I said I was going back to Crestwell.

“I run a business with a friend there. I actually have a job now, so I can’t stay in the States too long.”

His face flickered with embarrassment.

“Will you… come back?”

“Once a year, probably. To see my daughter.”

He nodded.

After a long pause, he finally managed to ask, “Mandy… do you feel anything for me at all anymore?”

His voice was hoarse from crying.

I stopped.

“I know Tessa’s death was my fault. I know you won’t forgive me right away.”

“But I want to prove myself to you. For real.”

His words came out fast.

I kept walking. I didn’t answer.

Sometimes, not answering is an answer.

But I didn’t expect him to follow me to Crestwell.

He got my address from Margaret.

“You know how stubborn he is,” she told me. “Once he sets his mind on something, nothing can stop him.”

“He went from barely knowing how to read to teaching himself everything just to get into school and defend you. That’s the kind of determination he has.”

I sighed. “One thing doesn’t cancel out the other. I have a good life now. I’ve been fine without him.”

Margaret also told me that after Celeste moved out, she didn’t last long at her job.

“The connections she had all came through Brandon. Without his help, her numbers dropped fast.”

“Plus, word about you and Brandon got around the office. People were laughing at her. Even if they hadn’t fired her, she wouldn’t have stayed.”

Later, I heard from a friend what happened next.

Celeste went back to her hometown with her daughter, but people there looked down on her. Her mother, worried about what people would say, pushed her into a marriage.

Within a few months, she married an older widower. After the wedding, he complained that she didn’t earn enough, and they fought constantly.

I felt conflicted. I couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for her.

Between work, I stayed involved with a local nonprofit. I helped out at charity events whenever I could.

One of the projects I had been working on for three years was a girls’ health initiative.

One day, while helping set up for an event, I spotted a familiar face in the crowd.

The director, Barbara Jensen, greeted me warmly. “This is a donor from the States. He just gave us one point five million dollars for the program. Now you don’t have to come begging for donations with me anymore.”

“And he’s a handsome single man too. Natalie and Paula have both been throwing themselves at him. I sent them away so I could make an opportunity for you.”

She winked at me.

I smiled awkwardly. “He’s my ex-husband.”

Barbara’s mouth fell open. She stared at me for a long time.

Brandon came over to say hello. He looked just as awkward.

“I just wanted to support a cause you care about,” he said. “And maybe do something to honor Tessa.”

In the days that followed, he kept showing up. Always with some excuse. Always doing favors.

I couldn’t make him leave.

I didn’t even know if I should.

So I called in sick and stayed home. He sent over fruit, hard-to-find spices, jars of sauce.

I sent everything back.

But even after being turned away so many times, he still didn’t give up.

Margaret told me, “You don’t have to forgive him. He won’t forgive himself anyway. Everything he does now, he owes you. So why feel guilty?”

I sighed and lay down on my bed.

In the humid heat of Crestwell, the shadows of palm trees swayed against the wall in the breeze.

Life is long. No one knows what will happen next.

I once thought we would be together forever. Now I’m in a foreign country, divorced, my daughter gone, living alone.

But tomorrow, the sun will rise again.

Everything will be new.