He Made Me Draw A Lottery For Our Dead Child Chapter 09

He Made Me Draw A Lottery For Our Dead Child Chapter 09

Another year passed, then another.

Time had come to mean little more to me than waking up and going to sleep again.

Before I knew it, five years had gone by.

My divorce had been finalized three years earlier.

Once the required two–year separation period ended, the court approved the no–fault divorce despite Bastian’s refusal to cooperate.

Not even Crestmont’s undefeated attorney could stop it.

I had also submitted the photo of him embracing Colette as evidence of their inappropriate relationship and the irretrievable breakdown of our marriage. He couldn’t deny what the picture

showed.

I rarely heard any news from back home.

The last update came when I settled my final bill with my divorce attorney.

“Bastian and Colette are enemies now.”

“Colette stole confidential files from Bastian’s firm and handed them to someone else to prove her

loyalty.”

“Bastian’s firm has seen its standing in Crestmont’s legal community plummet.”

The news meant nothing to me.

I simply smiled as if he were a stranger and said, “He brought it on himself.”

During my years in Lindenmere, I devoted myself to caring for Dad.

Thankfully, he regained consciousness six months ago.

Thinking of that, I entered his hospital room with a smile.

“How are you feeling today, Dad?”

He was sitting up, and his physical functions had mostly returned to normal.

“I’m fine. I keep telling you I don’t need to be here anymore, but you insist on keeping me locked up in this hospital.”

I smiled without answering and set the nutritious meal I’d prepared on the table beside him, just as

I did every day.

Dad watched me for a moment, looking hesitant.

Elowen, I haven’t asked you much since I woke up, but I haven’t seen Bastian once.”

“You two…”

The question didn’t stir anything in me. Too many years had passed, and I’d long since moved on.

“We’re divorced. It was finalized three years ago.”

“You’d only just woken up, and I didn’t want to burden you with that mess, so I never mentioned

it.”

Dad lowered his eyes, already blaming himself for what had happened to my marriage.

I cut him off with a helpless smile before he could apologize again.

“This wasn’t your fault.”

“The problems between Bastian and me had been there for years. What happened to you was only

the catalyst.”

Dad fell silent.

Dad fell silent, and so did I. I knew he would come to terms with it.

I had never expected to see Bastian again, nor did I want to.

But as I pushed Dad’s wheelchair through the hospital’s healing garden, I saw Bastian standing in

the distance.

His eyes filled with emotion when he saw us.

I stopped walking.

Bastian approached, looked from me to Dad, and apologized.

I asked Dad’s caregiver to take him back to his room, then took Bastian aside.

“How did you find me?”

He pressed his lips together.

Five years had left him looking older and more worn.

“The hospital published a volunteer poster. You were in one of the photos.”

That explained it.

“So you saw me. What difference does that make?”

He lowered his head.

The arrogance and control he’d once shown me were gone.

“I came to ask for your forgiveness.”

“I want us to be together again.”

For a moment, I thought I had misheard him.

Once I realized I’d heard him correctly, the absurdity and bitter irony of his request hit me.

“Together again?”

“After everything you did, what makes you think I would ever take you back?”

“You’re unbelievably arrogant, Bastian.”

He had no answer.

All that remained in his eyes was a silent plea.

His display of remorse only irritated me. It looked like another attempt to manipulate me, and I had no interest in listening to him any longer.

“Leave.”

“I’m going to say this one last time. We will never be together again. Don’t come back or interfere

with my life. The sight of you disgusts me.”

Bastian went pale and looked as if he might collapse.

I didn’t care.

I turned and walked away without ever looking back.