Page 32 of Shattering

A soft, faded T-shirt, discarded casually among the other clothes.

Cadi's.

His breath hitched.

Without thinking, without hesitating, he picked it up and pressed it to his face.

Her scent was still there.

That familiar mix of wildflowers and something that was just... her.

A scent that had once meant home.

A sound escaped his throat-something broken, something he didn't recognize as his own.

His chest tightened painfully, and sudden tears burned his eyes.

He squeezed them shut, gripping the fabric tighter, his knuckles turning white.

This trainwreck he had started...

Why?

Why had he let it spiral like this?

Why hadn't he just asked her?

Why had he believed the worst of her-of the only person who had ever truly been his?

Something inside him lurched, deep and sickening.

He had gotten it wrong.

Somewhere, somehow, he had made a mistake.

And now, he was going to pay for it.

His phone lit up on the bathroom counter.

He barely glanced at the screen before his stomach twisted.

A couple of messages from Vanessa. A couple from his colleagues. One from Eila

He didn't open them.

Didn't even care.

There was nothing from Cadi.

His jaw tightened as something dark and helpless coiled in his chest.

He had expected her to cry and fight. And he would have forgiven her ,he still loved her so much.

But that was not how it went.

She hadn't messaged.

Hadn't even sent something angry, something scathing, something to let him know she still cared enough to hate him.

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