His Last Cup of Warm Milk Came With Divorce Papers Chapter 09

His Last Cup of Warm Milk Came With Divorce Papers Chapter 09

Sebastian went on a business trip.

In the four years we had been married, it was the first time he had ever left.

I was an art conservator, restoring historic paintings and artifacts.

The work was tedious, solitary, and repetitive.

No matter how busy he was, he always drove me home.

People at work envied me and said I had married well.

But back then, it only felt suffocating.

It felt like being watched.

I never said a word to him in the car.

Now, after several days without seeing his familiar car waiting outside, I felt an emptiness open up in my chest.

Had he left without a word because he was truly done with me?

I had been an ice queen, never once warming up to him.

I started to worry.

Fumbling through daily life with Leo, I realized just how hard it was to raise a child, even one as good as him.

There were so many little things to watch out for.

And then he got sick.

Guilt washed over me.

Leo lay there with a cooling patch on his forehead, his cheeks flushed.

He reached up and wiped my tears with his small hand.

“Don’t cry, Mommy. Daddy says everyone gets sick sometimes. It is normal.”

“I am tough. My immune system is great.”

“As long as you are with me, I will get better fast.”

The comments had said he would end up as Charlotte’s son one day.

They had said he would grow up to resent my coldness.

That thought scared me more than I wanted to admit.

I wanted to hold onto something.

But by midnight, his fever still had not broken.

I had never nursed him.

I had never slept beside him.

Watching him shiver and flush, I could not help it.

I called Sebastian.

I expected him to ignore it.

But three seconds later, his gravelly voice came through.

“What’s wrong?”

“Leo has a fever. He is still burning up.”

“I gave him medicine, but it did not work.”

“He is so hot. What if something happens?”

I was rambling, losing it.

“I don’t know what to do…”

“Stay calm.”

“What’s his temperature now?”

I grabbed the forehead thermometer.

“38.7.”

“There is children’s ibuprofen in the desk drawer in my room. Give him the dose listed on the box.”

“Okay… don’t hang up.”

“I won’t.”

I went into his bedroom for the first time.

My eyes went wide.

Across from the bed stood a row of display cases, all filled with photos of me.

“What’s wrong?” Sebastian asked.

“N-nothing.”

I grabbed the medicine and turned to leave, but my foot kicked something on the floor.

I bent down and picked it up.

A utility knife.

The dark red stains on it looked like they had dried only days ago.

“Sebastian, there is a knife here…”

He paused.

“Just put it on the desk.”

“Okay.”

Under his direction, I gave Leo the medicine and switched to a cooling compress.

An hour later, his temperature finally dropped back to normal.

I let out a long breath.

Then, in the quiet of the night, Sebastian’s voice came again.

“Go get some rest. Let the nanny take over.’

I realized with a jolt that I had never hung up.

Sebastian had stayed on the line the entire time.

Just like back when we were online, when he always waited for me to end the call first.

A strange, soft ache spread through my chest.

And then my mind drifted back to that knife.