Page 31 of Shattering

Then, after a long pause, he exhaled slowly.

"This is my fault." His voice was quiet, heavy with guilt.

Callum shook his head, staring at the floor like it held all the answers. "I should've told him. Right from the beginning. I shouldn't have expected you to keep this a secret. I just... I didn't want him to hate me."

Cadi let out a slow, shuddering breath.

"It wasn't my secret to share."

Callum ran a hand through his hair, frustration evident in every line of his posture. "I want to talk to him now."

"No." Cadi's voice was firm, immediate.

Callum looked at her, surprised at the sharpness in her tone.

She shook her head. "Let's do the DNA test results first. You've waited this long. A few more days won't matter."

Callum clenched his jaw. "But if he knows—"

"The damage has already been done."

Cadi lifted her red-rimmed, exhausted eyes to his.

"What he's done... how can I forgive this?"

Her voice cracked.

"If he had just asked me, Callum. Just once. He knows me better than this."

Callum didn't reply.

Because they both knew the truth.

Grayhadknown her better than anyone else.

Until he didn't.

Chapter 20

The house was too quiet after she left.

The soft click of the door felt final, like a closing chapter in a book he didn't want to finish reading.

Gray stood there for in a daze for a long moment, staring at the space where Cadi had been, at the suitcases she had dragged across the floor, at the last trace of her presence before she was gone.

Then, slowly, as if in a daze, he moved to clean up the broken glass.

The shattered remains of their framed photograph glittered cruelly against the wooden floor, mocking him. He crouched down, mechanically picking up the pieces, working slowly, methodically-like if he fixed this mess, it might somehow undo the other mess he had made.

A sharp sting.

A thin sliver of glass sliced into his finger.

Gray exhaled sharply, watching a single drop of blood bead up, then slide down his skin. Fitting, he thought bitterly.

He stood up and walked to the bathroom, flicking the tap on and letting cold water run over the cut. His hands were steady, but his mind was anything but.

Then, as he reached for a towel, his eyes caught on something in the laundry basket.

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