Chapter 2 - THE HOUSE WITHOUT HER LAUGHTER
Alexander stood in Grace's bedroom for forty-seven minutes.
He knew because the clock above her little white dresser continued ticking.
Every second sounded like an accusation.
Her bed was made.
The pink curtains were tied back.
A paper moon hung above the window.
On the wall, someone had removed the height chart Emily used to measure Grace every birthday.
Only four faint pencil marks remained.
Alexander touched the highest one.
Four years old.
Three feet, five inches.
He remembered teasing Grace that she would soon be taller than him.
She had laughed and declared she would become a giant.
He had promised to buy her giant shoes.
Now there would be no fifth mark.
No fifth birthday.
No giant shoes.
His assistant, Samuel Price, appeared in the doorway.
“Sir?”
Alexander didn't turn.
“Where's Emily staying?”
Samuel hesitated.
“We know she reached Toronto. We haven't confirmed her address.”
Alexander stared at the wall.
“Find it.”
Samuel remained still.
“Sir, may I speak freely?”
Alexander turned.
Samuel had worked for him for eleven years.
He had never looked frightened of Alexander.
Until that moment.
“What?”
“Mrs. Hayes left because she doesn't want to be found.”
Alexander's jaw tightened.
“She's my wife.”
“Yes, sir.”
Samuel glanced at Grace's empty bed.
“But she was Grace's mother first.”
The words landed harder than any threat.
Alexander sank into the little rocking chair beside the window.
Emily had sat there every night reading bedtime stories.
He remembered hearing Grace call from upstairs.
“Daddy! One story!”
He always answered the same way.
“Tomorrow, princess.”
There had been hundreds of tomorrows.
Until there weren't.
“Cancel everything,” Alexander said.
Samuel frowned.
“Everything?”
“The meetings. The dinner. The casino opening.”
“Sir, the investors—”
“I don't care.”
Samuel nodded.
Then his phone vibrated.
He glanced at the screen.
“There's something else.”
Alexander looked up.
“Olivia Carter is downstairs.”
The room went cold.
Olivia entered the sitting room ten minutes later wearing a black dress and a sympathetic expression.
“Alex,” she whispered.
He stood beside the fireplace.
“What are you doing here?”
She approached.
“I heard Emily left. I thought you shouldn't be alone.”
Alexander looked at her.
For years, Olivia had been a comfortable memory.
The girl he had loved before ambition swallowed his twenties.
She knew how to flatter him.
How to make him feel like the young man he had once been.
Emily, by contrast, had become associated with responsibilities.
School schedules.
Doctor appointments.
Unpaid attention.
The ordinary work of being a husband and father.
He had mistaken ease for love.
And duty for inconvenience.
Olivia reached for his hand.
“Alexander, none of this was your fault.”
He pulled away.
Her smile faltered.
“What?”
He stared at her.
“My daughter waited for me.”
Olivia swallowed.
“The school should have watched her.”
“Yes.”
“And the driver—”
“Yes.”
She moved closer.
“But you couldn't have known.”
Alexander's expression changed.
“I promised her.”
Olivia fell silent.
He looked at the necklace around her throat.
The one Emily had surrendered without a fight.
“Take that off.”
Olivia blinked.
“Alexander?”
“The necklace.”
She touched it.
“Emily said I could keep it.”
“Take it off.”
Her eyes filled.
“You're blaming me?”
Alexander shook his head.
“No. I'm blaming myself.”
He stepped toward the door.
“But I won't let you tell me I did nothing wrong.”
After Olivia left, Samuel handed him an envelope.
“Your attorney sent this.”
Alexander opened it.
The first page read:
PETITION FOR DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE.
His hands began to shake.
Then he saw the second document.
Grace's preschool pickup agreement.
His name was written in Emily's handwriting.
Authorized pickup: Alexander Hayes — 3:00 p.m.
Beside it, a small yellow star.
Grace had drawn that star herself.
Alexander stared until the ink blurred.
Then he folded the paper carefully.
May you like
For the first time in his life, he understood that some promises could not be repaired.
Only remembered.
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