Chapter 7 - Vanessa Planned to Leave Marcus
Marcus expected betrayal to feel explosive.
Instead, everything became quiet.
“You were leaving.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“No.”
Julia displayed the purchase agreement.
Vanessa Johnson and Jordan Hale.
Joint purchasers.
Marcus looked at her.
“You were leaving.”
Vanessa finally admitted she had considered it.
She claimed Marcus was emotionally unavailable.
Always working.
Always focused on Maya.
The words came out before she could stop them.
Always focused on Maya.
Marcus heard the resentment beneath them.
“So this was about my daughter.”
“No.”
“You canceled the things she loved.”
“I was trying to reduce waste.”
“You let her walk around in broken shoes.”
“She grows out of everything.”
“You told her I didn’t want her calling me.”
Vanessa began crying.
“I wanted something in this house to be about me.”
Marcus stared at her.
Maya had lost her mother at five.
Marcus had believed Vanessa understood that his daughter would always
need special care.
Instead, Vanessa had begun treating a grieving child like competition.
Then Maya appeared at the hallway corner.
She had heard enough.
May you like
“Is Vanessa leaving because of me?”
Marcus’s heart broke.
