The Heart He Never Knew How To Love

After climbing out of my car, I dragged myself toward the mansion. My hands wouldn't stop trembling, and sweat ran down the back of my neck. It still didn't feel real. The divorce had finally become official, and the papers inside my purse proved it. I had come to deliver the remaining documents... and take Leo with me.

As soon as I stepped inside, quiet voices made me stop. I almost entered the kitchen, but what I heard left me rooted outside the doorway.

"Why can't I stay with you and Mom?" Leo asked. His voice cracked as he spoke.

Hearing him nearly tore my heart apart. I would've given up everything for my son, but our marriage had been a terrible mistake filled with lies and broken dreams.

"You already know the reason, Leo. Your mom and I aren't together anymore."

He spoke to Leo with a softness and warmth he had never shown me. Throughout our marriage, he had only treated me with coldness and indifference.

"But why did you have to break up?"

"Sometimes relationships just don't work out. That's all..." I imagined the frown on his face as he tried to avoid our son's innocent question. However, Leo wasn't ready to give up.

"So you don't love Mom?"

My whole body went still, and I could barely breathe. Even though I already knew the truth, I waited for him to say it. Everyone else knew the answer. Leo was the only one who didn't.

"Dad, please answer me. Do you love her?"

Silence filled the kitchen. After a long pause, Harry finally gave in and answered in a tired voice.

"I love her because she gave me a son."

That wasn't a confession of love. It was only his way of avoiding the question. Still, his answer hurt just as much as it had the first time. He had never spoken those three words to me. He hadn't said them at our wedding or when Leo was born. In fact, he hadn't said them even once. I had devoted everything to him, yet all he gave me in return was coldness and betrayal. The woman he had never stopped loving had always stood like a shadow between us.

Tears stung my eyes, but I forced them back. I was done crying over a man who had never wanted me.

Suddenly, his sharp voice came from behind me.

"Has no one ever taught you that listening to private conversations is rude?"

I straightened my shoulders before walking into the kitchen. Harry stood beside the counter, and mockery shone in his gray eyes. However, my attention quickly shifted to Leo. He was my greatest treasure and the only good thing I had gained from this marriage. His brown hair came from me, but his intense eyes were exactly like his father's.

"Hi," I murmured.

"Mom!" Leo cried out. He rushed over and wrapped his arms around me. An ache spread through my chest as I kissed his forehead, and then he went back to finish his food.

Even after all this time, I still felt like a stranger in that house. It had never truly belonged to me. Harry had built every part of it for her, as though the mansion itself was a silent confession of his love.

"Why are you here?" he asked coldly. He checked his watch before adding, "You promised you wouldn't interfere with my time alone with Leo."

"I remember... The divorce certificate arrived today. I came to give you a copy and take Leo home with me."

His face instantly hardened, and his eyes became cold and piercing. Whenever he stared at me that way, it felt like he was crushing the last pieces of my heart into dust.

For years, I had trusted in marriage and held on to the hope that love would make him choose me someday. However, he had never made a place for me in his heart. I had wasted nine years chasing someone who was never truly mine.

"Leo, go upstairs to your room. Your mom and I have something to discuss," he ordered, and his jaw tightened.

For a moment, our son remained where he was. In the end, he gave us a reluctant nod.

"Don't start arguing," he warned before heading upstairs.

Once we were alone, Harry struck the counter with his fist.

"You could've had those documents delivered to my office! Now you're taking away the little time I have with my son!"

"Harry..."

"Enough!" he snapped. "You destroyed my life nine years ago, and now this divorce is tearing apart whatever remains. Is this your way of getting even? Are you punishing me because I was never able to love you? Then hear this clearly, Ava. I hate you."

His words sliced straight through my heart. What could I possibly say when the man I still loved threw his hatred right in my face?

"Leave my house. I'll return Leo once my time with him is over."

I set the documents on the counter and turned to go, but my phone suddenly buzzed. "MOM" flashed across the screen.

"Mom?" I murmured.

She spoke in a panic before I could say anything else.

"Come to the hospital right now! Your father's been shot!"

The call ended without warning. My fingers went numb, and the phone fell from my hand.

"What's going on?" Harry asked.

I reached for my phone with a pale face and murmured, "My dad... He's been shot."