They Voted Me Out After Fifteen Years Together Chapter 06

They Voted Me Out After Fifteen Years Together Chapter 06

Dax stumbled back half a step. His phone rang.

Bree’s voice whined in his ear.

“Dax. Willa’s still crying. Why aren’t you back yet? Sable’s got a hard life. She’s not going to die

from a little accident.”

For the first time, he didn’t answer. Just hung up.

When he got back to the wedding house, the living room was still trashed.

Balloons sagging. Streamers on the floor.

My boxes were dumped near the door. The gray scarf sat on top.

Dax crouched down. Picked it up.

Rain and mud on the wool. A dark stain at the edge. Blood.

He stared at that dried red. His throat moved.

On the coffee table. The diamond necklace. Still in its box.

I hadn’t taken it.

Half the closet was empty.

My notebooks were gone from the shelf.

His phone rang again.

This time it was Daphne.

“Online sentiment is great. Willa’s followers are all attacking Sable. Just have her post an apology

and this whole thing is over.”

Dax’s voice scraped out.

“She got hit by a car.”

Silence on the other end.

Daphne recovered fast. “Well, you can’t blame Willa for that. She ran into the street herself.”

Dax pressed a hand to his chest.

Something was squeezing it. Hard.

He thought about yesterday. Me on my knees. Clutching that muddy photo.

I’d said, “They were throwing out my things.”

And what had he said?

“They were just helping you move out.”

The doorbell.

A delivery guy handed over a box.

Addressed to him.

No sender name.

Dax tore it open. Inside was his old ring. The one he’d given me in college. And a thick photo album.

He’d knelt in the grass back then.

“I’ll get you a bigger one someday.”

First page of the album. The little cake on my eighteenth birthday.

Second page. The cheap takeout we split in our rented apartment.

Third page. Him in a hospital bed after his first funding round. Me at his side.

On the back, my handwriting:

[Dax said he’d spend every year with me.]

He flipped through. Page after page. His hands shook worse with every one.

The last page held a single sheet of paper.

The handwriting was faint. Like the person writing had no strength left:

[Dax. Your home. Given back to you.]

[Don’t look for me anymore.]

Dax’s vision went dark. He grabbed the table to stay upright.

Then his phone pinged with a local news alert:

[Woman Critically Injured in Rainstorm Hit-and-Run. Condition Unknown. Suspected Target of

Recent Online Harassment Campaign.]

The comments were already flooding in:

[Karma.]

[Crazy ex finally shut up.]

Dax stared at those words. His breathing went ragged.

Then he bolted.

Willa was running down the hallway toward him. Wrist still bandaged.

“Dax, where are you going?”

He didn’t stop.

She grabbed his sleeve. Crying.

“You promised you’d come with me to my parents’ today.”

Dax peeled her fingers off. One by one.

“Willa.”

His voice was terrifying.

“If something really happened to Sable, I will never forgive you.”

Willa’s face went bloodless.

Dax was already gone. Swallowed by the rain.

Ten days after I woke up in Southbay, I could finally sit up.

Two broken ribs. Left leg in a cast. Seven stitches in my forehead.

The doctors called me lucky.

Reed got me a private room.

Outside the window, a tall sycamore rustled its leaves in the wind.

Every morning, the first thing I did was check that the tin box was still on the nightstand.

The photos had dried. But my mom’s face was creased.

I smoothed it with my thumb. Gently. Like I was afraid of hurting her again.

Tess came to visit. Brought a stack of documents.

“Sable. Your overseas assignment. Still intact.”

“The anonymous complaint against you was traced back to an HR email account at Dax’s

company.”

I wasn’t surprised.

Dax said I’d lose everything without him.

He wasn’t just threatening me.

He actually did it.

Tess handed me her phone.

“He’s been looking for you.”

On the screen. Videos of Dax searching hospitals.