But that didn’t mean I couldn’t start being better.
Confidence was resolved, but I was resolute in my aim to destroy them.
Harry audibly yawned.
“What was the proposition?”
My courage withered when he narrowed his eyes into slits. “Did you know that your fiancé is a new member of the board?”
Well, there was a contract I signed that stated he’d receive thirty percent of shares. I only had five more percent than him.
Which is another reason why you can’t fall in love withhim again. He’s using you for material reasons and you’re… well, you’re naive.
Great. I should win self-advocate of the year.
“What does Christian have to do with this?”
The atmosphere in the tiny space shifted.
“The board members want to hold a party in celebration for you, Adelaide. Christian is now a problem for us.”
His eyes tracked the movement of my hand brushing down the front of his shirt. “Then I guess we have to keep it a secret from him.”
A sinister grin. “You naughty girl,” he stopped my hand with his own. “If I knew you were likethis, we could have had something from the start.”
The elevator doors slide open.
He ended with, “I’ll text you all the details.”
When it was just me and the obnoxious rhythms bouncing, I sunk back against the wall.
It was morning and I already felt exhausted.
And there was only one person I wanted to tell everything to, and it wasn’t my best friend.
TWENTY-SEVEN
CHRISTIAN
My feet crunchedagainst the grass and wet mud as I strutted through the graveyard with three bouquets in my hand.
I was ashamed to admit it’s been a while since I came to visit.
No matter how much fucking time passed, I never forget the momentsEommawas buried. No child could forget it even if they tried to. Death smelled different for everyone, to me its scent was similar to bloody streets and empty homes.
She didn’t believe in religion, but in her last moments she prayed.
Her stone was an empty grey structure with nothing but her name on it. She once told me that she started with her name, and she’d like to end with her name.
“I’m gonna talk to Mr. and Mrs. Mikael first, if that’s okay?” The trees swayed at a distance and the world quieted despite the graveyard being near the city. In some ways, she replied.
I took three steps away from Eomma and stood in front of their graves.
Laura Mikael, a loving wife, and mother.
Ralph Mikael, a compassionate husband, and father.
Sitting in the space between their graves, I put the flowers down. “Mrs. Mikael,” pink roses for Adelaide’s mother. The first time I met her was on the driveway of my home. She came to giveEommasomething and found me crying. She got down to the floor next to me and brought me to her side. I thought she was weird at the time, but when she pulled out a Band-Aid from her purse and put on the wound. She told me thatbruises were little reminders of growing up—when petals fall during fall season, they grow back when you take care of them. That was the first and last time I saw her and that on its own was enough to let me know how incredible she was. Adelaide once told me her mother liked pink roses because her father bought them for her every single day. Ralph Mikael wasn’t here to give her these roses, which is why I did.
