Chapter 4Arrogance Knows No Bounds

The man’s voice was thick with lust. "I know, I know, I'll be gentle. I promise I won't hurt our precious little baby."

A moment later, the sounds of their lovemaking filled the living room.

They were in the master bedroom. I couldn't go in, couldn't pack. All I could do was stand there, rooted to the spot, forcing myself to listen to every sordid sound. It was a form of self-torture, a punishment I felt I deserved.

I don't know how long I stood there before they finally emerged.

Ethan had a smug, triumphant look on his face, though he feigned politeness. "Oh, Liam! When did you get back? It's all Alice's fault, she insisted the kids were at daycare and dragged me back here. So sorry about that, man."

Alice emerged from behind him, melting into his embrace as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Why are you even talking to him? He has no right to question what we do." She turned her face up to Ethan. "Come on, let's go. Weren't you hungry?"

Throughout the entire exchange, Alice never once let her gaze fall on me.

I stepped aside, clearing a path for them to leave.

As she passed, her eyes finally landed on the two boxes I was holding. "What are those?" she said, wrinkling her nose. "They look so dusty and grim. Disgusting."

With that, she took Ethan's arm, and they walked out the door.

I looked down at the urns in my arms and gently wiped their surfaces. "It's okay," I whispered. "Mommy wasn't talking about you. Don't listen."

I carefully placed the urns on the coffee table and began to pack. Their clothes, their toys, their easel.

His last painting was still on it, unfinished.

My hands trembled as I removed the canvas. At the top, in a child's clumsy scrawl, were three words.

OUR FAMILY.

And below the drawing, a smaller line of text.

MOMMY LOVES DADDY, followed by a tiny heart.

Clutching the canvas to my chest, I finally broke down, my body shaking with silent, agonizing sobs.

In the five years I raised them alone, no matter how bad things got between Alice and me, I never said a single bad word about her in front of our children. But they weren't blind. They could see it for themselves. Mommy didn't love Daddy.

By the time night fell, I had packed several boxes with their belongings. I had already scheduled a long-distance moving company. I watched as the movers carried everything out to the truck, piece by piece.

"Everything's loaded, Mr. Hayes," the foreman said. "We're ready to go."

I nodded, then walked back inside one last time. On the coffee table, I placed the divorce papers I had already signed.

As I left the house, clutching the urns tight, a strange sense of relief washed over me.

I had just settled into the passenger seat of the truck when my phone buzzed. A message from Ethan.

Hey Liam. Sorry, but Alice won't be home for the next few days. She's insisting on taking me to Hawaii for a vacation. Tough luck!

Attached was a photo, but I didn't bother opening it. The message stirred nothing in me. No anger, no pain. Just a hollow, echoing emptiness.

I pulled out my SIM card, snapped it in two, and as the truck pulled away from the curb, I tossed the pieces out the window.

Holding my children close, I watched in the side mirror as the house I had lived in for seven years grew smaller and smaller, until it was nothing but a memory.

Meanwhile, at the airport, Mr. Blackwood and Mark intercepted Alice and Ethan as they were about to go through security.

Alice's face instantly darkened. "Is Liam insane? He acts all magnanimous to my face, then sends you two to chase me down at the airport? He's absolutely pathetic..."

Before she could finish, her grandfather's hand cracked across her face, the sound sharp and final.

"You monster! You murder your own children and you still have the gall to run off on a trip with this parasite? How did the Blackwood family ever produce a heartless beast like you?"

Alice staggered back, stunned. "Grandfather... what... what are you saying?"