He refused.
He told Amanda they would adopt me.
Together.
She said no.
She couldn’t do it.
Couldn’t carry that kind of life.
That kind of responsibility.
That kind of pain.
So he made a choice.
He chose me.
He ended his engagement.
Walked away from his future.
And built a new one around a child that wasn’t his.
Me.
I sat there, numb.
Not crying.
Not speaking.
Just… existing in the middle of everything collapsing and rebuilding at the same time.
“I didn’t tell you to destroy him,” Amanda said quietly.
“I told you because you deserved to know what it cost him to love you.”
That sentence stayed with me.
I left without saying much.
Stopped at the bakery we used to go to every Saturday when I was little.
Bought the same lemon cupcakes he always picked.
Then I drove to the cemetery.
