Chapter 26 - 27
Elodie’s POV—
I walked through the streets of the Bellini Pack, the autumn wind tugging at my coat, it now felt like a life that no longer belonged to me. Everything looked the same, familiar storefronts, cobblestone lanes but it all felt like someone else’s world. Like I was a ghost in it, unseen and unnecessary.
Near noon, a dull ache reminded me of lunch plans I had with Dante. My fingers hovered over my phone, debating whether to head home and see Liora, my little girl. Then it buzzed with a new message.
[Something urgent came up. Lunch canceled.]
I stared at the screen as the words sank in. No shock. No anger. Just the quiet, hollow hurt that had been settling into my bones for months. I wasn’t surprised. Nothing I ever asked for, ever hoped for, had seemed to matter to him. Work, friends, someone else, always first. Me, his wife, and our daughter? Optional.
I felt a familiar numbness, a hollowing in my chest where hope used to live. I had come here eagerly, heart open, only to be met with indifference. Even Liora, my little girl, the one I carried for ten months through nights of pain and fear was being pulled into someone else’s orbit.
I drove without thinking, my mind on autopilot, and ended up at the restaurant Dante and I had dined at countless times. Memories of laughter and easy conversations kept flooding into my mind. But when I approached the glass, the cold truth hit me hard across the face.
There they were. Dante, Sienna, and Liora.
Sienna sat close to my daughter, whispering and laughing, brushing Liora’s hair back, feeding her little pastries from her own plate. Liora swung her legs happily, her eyes bright but not with me. Dante smiled as he served them, but his gaze never left Sienna. She was the center of his world, the one he wanted to impress, not me, not the child he once promised he would protect above all else.
I wanted to scream, to rush in and reclaim my place. But my legs felt heavy, my heart heavier. So this was Dante’s “urgent matter,” this moment I had crossed oceans for: my child being claimed by someone else.