Chapter 5 - THE BOXES FROM MY SON’S ROOM
I stood frozen in the doorway.
For a moment, I couldn’t understand what I was seeing.
Leo’s toys.
His books.
His drawings.
All packed into cardboard boxes.
My hands started shaking.
“Who did this?”
Julian appeared behind me.
“Clara.”
I turned around.
“Who packed my son’s things?”
His face hardened.
“Don’t make this dramatic.”
Dramatic.
I almost couldn’t believe it.
“My son’s room is being emptied.”
“They’re just things.”
The moment he said that…
Something inside me snapped.
“They’re just things?”
My voice became quiet.
Dangerously quiet.
“These were his things.”
Julian looked away.
“He’s gone.”
The words hit harder than I expected.
Not because they were new.
Because of how easily he said them.
Like Leo had become a chapter he wanted to close.
Like our son was an inconvenience.
I walked into the room.
I picked up Leo’s favorite book.
The one about dinosaurs.
The one he made me read every night.
“He loved this.”
Julian said nothing.
“He used to ask me to read the same page ten times.”
Still nothing.
“He believed dinosaurs were real.”
A tear slipped down my cheek.
“He said one day he was going to be a dinosaur scientist.”
Julian looked uncomfortable.
For one second…
I saw the father I thought he was.
Then it disappeared.
“I’m sorry, Clara.”
“No, you’re not.”
His eyes moved to mine.
“You’re sorry this is difficult.”
Silence.
“You’re sorry I’m still here.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Fair?”
I laughed.
“Was it fair when you were planning a future with Chloe while our son was fighting for his life?”
His jaw tightened.
“Don’t bring her into this.”
“Why?”
“Because she’s not the issue.”
I stared at him.
“Then what is?”
He didn’t answer.
Because he knew.
Everything was the issue.
The cheating.
The lies.
The documents.
The house.
Our dead son.
I grabbed Leo’s boxes.
“I’m taking these.”
Julian stepped forward.
“No.”
I froze.
“No?”
“You can’t just remove things from the house.”
I stared at him.
“This is my house.”
His face changed.
Just for a moment.
Fear.
Then anger.
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it’s true.”
He stepped closer.
“You really think that paper protects you?”
I looked at him.
“Yes.”
He smiled.
But there was no warmth in it.
“Clara, you have no idea what’s coming.”
That sentence stayed with me.
Because it wasn’t a threat.
It was a warning.
I carried Leo’s things downstairs.
But before I left…
I noticed something on the kitchen counter.
A folder.
Open.
I wasn’t trying to look.
But I saw my name.
I stopped.
The document inside had a title.
“Guardianship and Asset Transfer Agreement.”
My heart started racing.
I grabbed it.
And read the first page.
It wasn’t about the house.
It wasn’t about money.
May you like
It was about Leo.
And Julian had signed it without me.
