He Stands at the End of Memory

When Sebastian came home, I was sorting through all my clothes and jewelry.

He probably assumed I was just in a bad mood and wanted new things to lift my spirits. He wrapped his arms around me from behind, his palms warm, his voice soft with indulgence. "There's an auction in a few days. I'll take you to pick out new pieces, and I'll stay close and make it up to you."

I said nothing, letting him hold me, too tired even to offer a polite smile.

His gaze drifted to my waist and stopped.

He seemed to notice that the slight swell of my belly from the week before was flat again.

He was about to ask when his phone rang.

It was my uncle.

The gentle voice on the other end asked if I wanted to come by for a gathering. Serena was back from abroad.

Serena, my cousin.

Before I could react, Sebastian had already accepted for us.

He had completely forgotten that my father had been buried only days ago, that I was still sunk in the grief of losing him. He spared me not an ounce of thought, not a shred of consideration.

He hung up, let go of me, and turned to open the safe, taking out a box of lavish custom jewelry. He pressed the heavy gift box into my hands.

"You two haven't seen each other in ages. Here's a gift. Pass it along to Serena from me, to welcome her home."

I looked down at the box and nodded, as compliant as some outsider who did not matter.

Dinner was held at my uncle's house.

The room was full of family and friends, loud with laughter.

I looked at the beef and lamb in my bowl and did not touch a bite.

Since getting pregnant I had suffered terrible morning sickness. The sight of meat turned my stomach, and Sebastian had eaten vegetarian alongside me for two months.

But today he did not think of it at all, pushing every delicate vegetarian dish on the table toward Serena.

When dinner ended, we stayed at the old mansion together.

Late in the night, the warmth beside me quietly vanished.

I had expected it. I got up and pushed the bedroom door open.

Sebastian's voice carried a seriousness and an obsession he had never shown me. "All these years, there has only ever been you. Vivienne was a stand-in from the very start. Stay this time, for my sake, won't you?"

Serena's voice held a note of dismay and helplessness. "Are you out of your mind? She's carrying your child. How can you treat her like this?"

"I'm perfectly clear-headed."

His tone was certain, fully arrogant. "She loves me too much. No matter what happens, she'll never leave me."

At those words, I let out a quiet laugh.

I raised my hand and brushed it lightly over my flat stomach.

“Sebastian, you really do not know me at all.”

“You think I will stay trapped in this fake love, clinging to it on my knees.”

“But you do not know that I let go a long time ago. Not the child, not you.”

“The woman you were so sure would never leave had already planned her clean exit.”

That night, he never came back to the room.

In the faint light of early morning, I slipped without a sound out of the house that had trapped three years of my honest heart, and went to file my immigration papers.