He Welcomed Her Pup While Mine Was Cremated Chapter 06
POV: Brennan Holt
Refusing to give up, I stumbled from room to room, throwing open doors.
Bedroom, study, walk–in closet, nursery–everything had been
cleared out. Not even a trace of scent remained.
I finally couldn’t hold on any longer. My knees buckled, and I collapsed to the floor.
No wonder. No wonder last night, Maris looked at me with such disappointment and hatred.
In a flash, I remembered the dusty box Maris had been holding when I left the house today.
That was… that was Elara’s ashes!
And what had I said at the time? “What is that dusty thing? Why
are you holding it like that? It looks disgusting.”
It felt like an invisible hand had my throat in a death grip, choking off every breath.
In a daze, I suddenly remembered Elara’s fifth birthday.
Under pressure from my father, I had, for once, taken her to the amusement park with Maris.
Elara stood timidly before me, tilting her head up to look at me.
“Daddy, you don’t have to work today? I’m so happy. Thank you for
spending my birthday with me.”
“Daddy, thank you for being with us. Mommy was right. You’re the
best daddy in the whole world.”
I crashed to the floor, clutching my chest and gasping for air.
Elara was such a good girl.
But when she clung to the car door, begging me not to abandon them, what had I said?
“You ill–mannered brat! Is this how your mother taught you?
Throwing a tantrum over nothing. You’re an embarrassment to the Holt bloodline!”
Tears splattered onto the floor.
Through blurred vision, I saw some torn pieces on the floor.
I lurched up, scrambled over on my hands and knees, and pieced
them together with trembling hands.
It was Elara’s drawing–Daddy, Mommy, and me under the full moon.
The grief finally broke free. I collapsed on the floor and screamed like a dying animal.
Aside from these torn pieces, Maris left nothing behind. She hated
me. She left me nothing to hold on to.
I pulled out my phone and frantically called Maris, over and over.
But no matter how many times I called, all I got was the automated
message saying her phone was off.
My heart dropped into a void, and everything went silent. Only in
this moment did I finally realize.
All these years, whenever I looked up. I could always see Maris standing there with Elara.
She never, not even for a moment, let me be unable to find her.
Except now.
Now, she didn’t want me anymore, so I could no longer find her.
From our first meeting at six years old to now, twenty–two years, it
was always Maris bending over backwards for me.
But I, this damn bastard, let her down time and again, and in the
end, even caused Elara’s death.
I didn’t dare to think any further.
I roughly wiped my tears and rushed to the Luna suite.
Inside, my father and mother sat dazed on the large bed, holding
Elara’s photo, their faces pale.
Seeing me, my mother’s voice was still laced with anger. “Didn’t we
tell you not to come back? What are you doing here? Get out!”
I ignored her, dropped straight to my knees in front of my father,
and rasped, “Dad, please, tell me. Where is Maris?”