I was holding a spoonful of soup when he said it.
Slowly, I set the spoon back into the bowl so nobody would notice my hands trembling.
Upstairs, ten-year-old Ava was wrapping Christmas presents in her bedroom.
Thankfully, she couldn’t hear the man I had loved for eight years erase seven years of motherhood with a single sentence.
« What exactly are you saying? » I asked quietly.
Vaughn took a slow drink of water.
His tone was calm.
Too calm.
The kind of calm that comes from rehearsing a speech beforehand.
« Celine and I discussed it, » he said.
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