Page 27 of Heart of Frost and Scars

“I don’t understand.” I trace the rows of hangers holding my garments, my fingers coming away with dust.

But Monty’s clothes hang freshly cleaned.

Aurora, the housekeeper, must have been given orders not to touch my things.

Charging out of the closet, I head to the en suite bathroom.

Seeing my personal items still lined up on the counter is even more unsettling. My favorite perfume sits beside my cleansers. My hair products and body wash still hog the single shelf in the shower.

In the drawers, I find my collection of soaps, lipsticks, and razors organized by my own hands. Even my hairbrush, with a few strands of red hair tangled in it, lies next to the sink.

Why keep these reminders of me as if waiting for my return? It’s both touching and troubling, smearing the lines of his feelings and intentions.

Returning to the bedroom, I make a beeline to the dresser and pull open the drawers one by one. Each is filled with my folded clothes. Leggings, bras, underwear, camisoles—everything is here, arranged with my go-to pieces on top.

These things weren’t put back in anticipation of my return today.

They’ve been here the whole fucking time.

Everything is just as you left it.

Except…there, on the surface of the dresser, I spot the items I wondered about the most.

My phone, plugged in and fully charged, sits beside my wedding rings on a crystal tray.

Like a goddamn shrine.

“Why?” Turning sharply, I find Monty’s watchful gaze, my voice tight with anger. “Why would you keep all this? It’s like walking into a time capsule of the worst day of my life!”

He steps forward, his timbre low, filled with an emotion I can’t decipher. “I thought—”

“You thought what? That I’d slip back into our marriage like nothing happened?”

Kody’s hand appears on my lower back, grounding me, while Leo’s presence looms close.

Monty looks between them, his composure airtight. “Calm down.”

“Calm down?” I lean forward and level a searing glare at him. “It’s fucking creepy, Monty. Like I was just here yesterday. Like I never left. The glass of bourbon? The hairbrush? My phone on the fucking charger? Explain it to me.”

He lowers to the edge of the bed and stares at the floor between his feet.

“I couldn’t let you go.” He lifts his head, his eyes pained. “I couldn’t remove your things and accept you were gone.”

“Didn’t stop you from fucking someone else.”

A dark, thunderous fury breaks over his expression. “Judge not, lest ye be judged for the same.”

His response stuns me into silence, but anger quickly wells up again.

He strayed first. He rejected his child. He gave up on us.

He broke my fucking heart.

If he felt a fraction of my pain, he would understand my reaction.

Before I can say something I’ll regret, Kody’s firm grip on my chin forces my eyes to him.

“Woman.” He puts his face right into mine. “Time to call it a night.”

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