Nine months too late: After divorce

Sylvie kept wondering if it was only a coincidence that Lancelot ended up shot after his argument with Lana in the bar the previous day. The coincidence was alarming, but the last thing Sylvie wanted was to get involved in any more drama than she was already in. Kage kept calling her the whole day. She knew he must know where she was but wanted to give her some privacy. A little seemed to have changed with him. But unfortunately, she needed to end things with him. Later in the evening, she called him to make sure he was home, then went to his place.

Her nervousness increased with each step that brought her closer to his doorstep. I need to do this-she kept telling herself. For her family, for the kids. But it wasn't for herself. No. Because what herself would have wanted was to give the Hawkins the middle finger and go for who she wanted. But she wasn't living for herself anymore.

She met Kage in the living room-wearing shorts and a vintage top. He looked so good in it, she wondered how she'd managed to be around him all this while without drooling.

"Hey." He tipped his chin at her. "How are you doing?"

The way he looked at her, it was as though he knew something was wrong, and she was about to say something even more

wrong

"I'm good." She swallowed. "Uh... I heard what happened with Lancelot. Sorry about..."

"He's still alive, just unconscious," he cut her off. "And you should know I don't give a damn about him."

Well, neither did Sylvie. The man had been a pain in her as** for years; she wasn't surprised anyone would hold enough of a grudge to want to kill him.

"I'm glad you're home." Kage adjusted in his seat. "You should..."

"I came to get my things." Her heart jumped into her throat as she spoke. She wasn't looking at him now. Of course, she couldn't.

"I'm sorry, Kage. I thought about what you said, and I... I don't think I can do this. I can't be with you."

The words expected it

ed bitter on her tongue. She never realized how much she wanted to be with him until now. She never feel such pain.

The way he stayed

silent, his cold eyes fixed on her, troubled her more than she cared to admit. She never knew a day would come when she'd give a damn about Kage's reaction.

"You and I, we can't be together. Go be with Lana, or anyone you want to. But it can't be me." She exhaled deeply. "We'll co- parent, if possible. But that's the only form of relationship we can have, Kage." In a more broken voice, she added, "I'm sorry, Kage." She went up the stairs. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she gathered her things. He didn't say anything. God, for the first time, silence killed her.

She went downstairs with her luggage, and by the time she arrived, he was nowhere in the living room.

Her heart ached. She hurt him-anyone could see that. She wished she didn't have to.

She got into her car, crying on the way to her lodge.

3

A memory from the day she'd passed out in his car teased at her

"Hey, you'll be fine, okay? You'll be fine." She remembered him uttering those words as he held her closely in the car.

She should've known from that moment that she meant more to him.

But it was too late now to know anything.

She needed to go on a vacation-away from all of this. And she was going to have it.

"Almost isn't good enough, Mum!" Lana queried in the room. "How dumb can he be to miss a good shot!? All he had to do was quite simple! Shoot him in the f****g head! Yet, he missed!"

Rebecca sighed. "I am as worried as you are, Lana, but you need to calm down. Okay? The doctor said he might not make it."

"But what if he does? And what if it happens before the wedding? You think he wouldn't figure out we were the ones who almost had him killed? He might choose to jeopardize things for us! For me!"

There were moments of silence.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure he doesn't wake up," Rebecca said.

Lana's eyes grew wide with curiosity. "And how are you going to achieve that?"

"You just worry about your wedding. I'll take care of the rest."

The following day, Evelyn reached her with some news, telling her that Westley had a meeting with someone the previous day concerning his grudge against Kage. She also mentioned a flash drive that contained evidence, and that Sylvie needed to find it at Westley's place. Sylvie was beyond nervous when she heard the news.

She headed for Westley's place. It was in the middle of the day. She knew he'd still be in his office.

Of course, she had access to his house and wasn't questioned by anyone.

His room was unlocked when she arrived. He always left it open so the maids could tidy it. Only the Sylvie was sure she wouldn't be a problem.

cook was around now.

She wasted o time and began searching. From what Evelyn had said, he wouldn't walk around with something that valuable.. there was a good chance it was there in his house.

It hurt Sylvie that Westley could be that person. She hated that she was doing this to him-searching through his things. But she couldn't let him hurt Kage.

For more than twenty minutes, she kept searching. She found a few flash drives, but when she plugged them into her laptop, they turned out to be plain company files. It wasn't what she was looking for.

She heard the sound of a car from outside and rushed out to see Westley's car driving in Huh? How Was it just a coincidence?

She darted her eyes around the room, and as quickly as she could, began putting things in order.

was he home so early?

She left the room in haste, intending to meet him in the living room. But she wasn't fast enough and met him in the hallway.

She froze, her blood turning cold for a few seconds. The room she always used whenever she was there was still ahead of her. So, she couldn't tell him she'd been coming from his room

08:51

4

The only room behind her was his, and that was very suspicious. "Hey," There was a hanging question in his voice. "Sylvie?" "H-Hi." She cleared her throat, tucking some hair behind her ear! Oh, God. She really needed to pull herself together.

They'd both stopped walking, standing only a few paces apart.

"You didn't tell me you were coming." His eyes swept over the laptop in her hand.

"Yes!

I... was just thinking you'd be home and thought I could surprise you." She forced a smile.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

"Okay... That's sweet." He chuckled-but it was almost dry. Humorless. "But you know I'm always at the office at this time."

"Yet, here you are!" She laughed-a forced laugh which she hoped wasn't too nervous.

Westley only smiled. "Were you in my room?" He looked at the room behind her.

Sylvie turned to glance at the door, like she was trying to make sure. "Yeah. I, um... just got here and thought I should check for you." "You just got here? The gateman said you've been here for a while now."