She Got The Ring And The Marriage, I Got The Silence Chapter 07

She Got The Ring And The Marriage, I Got The Silence Chapter 07

I stayed by her side at the funeral home. Picked out her burial dress myself. Made sure she looked

perfect.

My aunt asked why I’d come so late. I almost told her. But I kept the miscarriage to myself.

“Tessa, I know about you and Graham. You two have been together since the academy. How could he marry somebody else?”

“He lied to you, didn’t he? I’m calling your cousins right now. We’ll drive down to that base and

make him answer for this.”

I told her everything. Graham. Brielle. All of it. My voice didn’t shake once.

My aunt’s mouth opened, closed, opened again. She didn’t know where to start.

She couldn’t wrap her head around it.

Married another woman to help her and never once thought about what that would do to the woman

who’d been beside him for eight years.

“Tessa…”

She trailed off. There was nothing to say.

I straightened the collar of my grandmother’s dress inside the casket and looked up.

“Graham and I are done. If I’d seen it sooner, Grandma would never have gotten caught in the

middle.”

“I’ve already filed a report. This isn’t something I’m going to let go.”

“I talked to a lawyer. Whoever went to Grandma knew about her health and went anyway. That’s

reckless endangerment. Someone’s going to answer for it.”

“Everyone responsible for what happened to her is going to pay.”

The day of the burial, Graham showed up.

He gripped the edge of my grandmother’s casket, his knuckles white, head bowed so low his

shoulders shook.

The relatives started whispering.

“Who’s that? I don’t remember Lenora having a grandson–in–law.”

“I think that’s Tessa’s boyfriend. Years together and he never married her. Tells you everything you

need to know, doesn’t it.”

“Don’t get me started. Lenora’s dead because of him. He married some other woman in the service,

nd Tessa got branded the mistress…”

Whatever color was left in Graham’s face drained away. His head dropped lower with every word,

My jaw tightened.

I pulled Graham into a side room before things got worse.

I kept my voice low, but every word had teeth.

“What are you doing here, Graham?”

“She’s gone. Can’t you even let her rest?”

Graham didn’t answer. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a stamped divorce filing.

I froze.

The last document I’d pulled from that uniform was a marriage license.

“Tessa, Brielle and I are divorced.”

got your mother’s jewelry back. All of it. Every piece.”

I snatched the box from his hands.

I opened the jewelry box. Every piece my mother had left me was there, all of it arranged neatly

inside.

My eyes burned as I counted them. Everything was there.

I closed the lid and looked up at him.

“You can leave now.”