I Heard His Heart But Lost Mine Chapter 10

I Heard His Heart But Lost Mine Chapter 10

It was our first child. His and mine. And it had been alive just the day before.

It died while I was screaming for him to open the door.

If he’d believed me

just once- and opened that door, the baby might have made it.

Julian’s hands crushed the edges of the report. Then he broke a raw, shattered sound that didn’

stop.

“Audrey… Audrey…”

He’d wanted this child for years. A child he had loved before he even knew it existed. Gone – bled

out on a storage room floor while he drove Chloe to the hospital over a scratch.

On the back of the report, in my handwriting, three words. Let me go.

After ten years, it was the only thing I’d ever asked him for.

A few days later, the signed divorce papers arrived at my new apartment, hundreds of miles away.

A note was clipped inside — a date and a location. The first of next month, in the afternoon. The family courthouse. To finalize the divorce.

The word “divorce” at the bottom was smudged, the ink feathered out

on it.

–

as if a tear had fallen right

On the first, I walked into the courthouse. Julian was already there.

He was wearing a black coat that made his face look even paler than I remembered. The dark circles under his eyes were brutal like he hadn’t slept since the day I left.

When he spotted me, something flickered in his eyes

me in like a man dying of thirst.

relief, hunger, grief all at once. He drank

I looked better. He could see it and it broke him a little more. He managed a weak smile anyway.

“It’s been a while.”

I nodded. “Yeah. It has.”

The silence stretched between us until I couldn’t stand it anymore. I gestured toward the building. “Should we go in? Get it done?”

julian hesitated. His gaze dropped. “Okay.”

We went in and signed the papers. Neither of us said a word.

There was no screaming, no begging, no scene. Not like the other couples in the waiting room. We looked like two people finalizing a business deal.

Outside, I looked down at the paper in my hand and let out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding

“Audrey.” Julian’s voice caught me from behind.

–

I turned. He was holding out the emerald bracelet — my mother’s.

The one Chloe had shattered across the living room floor.

Now it was whole again – almost. Where the cracks were too deep to hide, thin veins of gold held

the seams together.

“I went to a lot of specialists. The damage was too bad to make it look the way it used to. But I think it turned out all right. No matter what it looks like now, it was your mother’s. It belongs with you.”

I took the bracelet. The weight of it in my palm felt familiar, but aching.

“Thank you, Julian. Really. This means a lot.”

Julian’s jaw tightened. “Don’t thank me. It only broke because of me. Because of what I did. I’m the one who should be sorry. I’m the one who owes you that.”

I stared at him.

Ten years. In all the time I’d known him, Julian had never once said he was sorry.

He really had changed. But so had 1. And we weren’t the same people who could’ve made this work.

“You paid four million for it. It was yours to do what you wanted with. But if you’re giving it to me,

then I owe you that money. I’ll transfer the funds to you tomorrow.”

“Don’t.” His voice was raw, almost desperate. “Audrey, please. Don’t treat me like I’m a stranger.”

I didn’t know what to say to that. Julian looked away first, blinking hard.

He remembered it too. He was the one who’d made me feel like an outsider in my own marriage. He was the one who’d thrown the price in my face. Told me I wasn’t worth four million. Told me I had no right to keep it.

His head dropped. He couldn’t look at me.

He drew a long, unsteady breath and looked up.

“When I took the bracelet from you that wasn’t about money I was trying to make you stay I was terrified you’d leave. But I didn’t know how. I couldn’t bring myself to just ask ”

“I thought if I showed you how much I needed you, I’d be handing you power over me. And then you could walk away whenever you wanted. So I did the opposite. I tried to control you. Tried to bully

you into staying. And I see now how insane that was.”

“I let Chloe go weeks ago. I never cared about her – not once. She was just someone I used to make

you jealous. I’m not telling you this because I expect you to forgive me. I just need you to know-

“I love you. I’ve always loved you.”

For once in his life, Julian said exactly what he meant.

I held still for a second. Then I smiled.

“I’m glad, Julian. And I mean this — whoever you love next will be lucky. You’ve learned how to

open up now.”

Julian didn’t answer. He just watched me — steady, aching, certain. His eyes said what his mouth

couldn’t anymore

that there wouldn’t be anyone else.

But my love for him had run dry. There was nothing left for me to pour out.

I nodded toward the car waiting for me at the curb. “It’s getting late. I’ve got a long drive back.” I

paused. “Take care of yourself, Julian.”

Julian’s smile barely held. “Okay.”

I turned and started walking. Behind me, Julian called my name one more time.

This time, I didn’t turn around. And he understood.

“Just be happy.”

“I will. You too.”

I lifted my hand in a wave and kept walking faster now, steadier. Toward a life that was finally,

completely mine.

-The End