He Paid Five Million to Cut Ties, Then Came Crawling Back Chapter 08

He Paid Five Million to Cut Ties, Then Came Crawling Back Chapter 08

Six months later, Kingswell hosted the National Fine Arts Invitational.

I entered a piece under a pseudonym.

I called it Rebirth.

A bird tearing free from a cage, its wings still scarred and raw, its gaze fixed on the open sky as if nothing else existed.

It won first place.

At the ceremony, I stood under the lights and let the moment wash over me. Everything I should have had eight years ago was finally here.

My eyes found Graham in the audience.

Front row. Looking up at me like I was the only person in the room.

Then I saw someone else.

Bennett.

He was by the exit. His eyes hadn’t left me.

When it was over, I took Graham’s arm and headed for the door.

Bennett intercepted us.

“Maren.”

His voice was wrecked.

I tried to step around him.

—

He moved with me, blocking the way. “Just talk to me.”

“We have nothing to say to each other.”

“Five minutes.” Barely a whisper.

Graham’s grip on my hand tightened. He stepped between us.

“Back off, Ashford.”

“She belongs with me. This is none of your business!” Bennett’s composure shattered. He was shouting now.

Graham didn’t flinch. “Belongs with you? You lost the right to claim her a long time ago.”

“She’s Mrs. Calloway now.”

All the color drained from Bennett’s face.

His eyes darted between Graham and me. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

“No. No, that’s not… Maren, tell me he’s lying.”

“It’s true.” I stepped out from behind Graham and faced him. “I’m already married. And it isn’t to you.”

I watched it break him.

He stumbled back until he hit the wall. The look in his eyes was something between grief and madness.

“Why…” He was talking to himself as much as he was talking to me. “I had Serena locked up. She’s in prison. I broke her hand myself. The exact same way she burned yours. I did that for you. Why won’t you

—

come back to me?”.

My stomach turned.

He broke her hand?

I looked at Graham. He shook his head. A silent warning: don’t engage.

“Bennett.” I steadied myself. “None of that was for me. That was for you. You didn’t avenge me. You just needed to feel like you were still in control.”

“You never understood me. Not once.”

“You didn’t understand why I painted. You didn’t understand why I stopped. And you never once tried to understand what I was going through after.”

“All you saw was that I was difficult. You never looked past it long enough to see that I was in pain every single day.”

“You saw Serena’s perfect hands and forgot whose hand was ruined saving you”.

“So stop telling me you love me. Your love costs too much, and it’s worth absolutely nothing”.

“I’m done carrying it.”

I slipped my hand into Graham’s and walked past him.

I didn’t look back.