Chapter 3

3

By the third time Gabe tried to hand me a bowl of soup, I pushed it away. He finally lost his temper.

"Quinn, how much longer are you going to keep this up!"

"Your dog attacked a human first. It's his own fault he's dead."

"I told you years ago that vicious animals shouldn't be kept around. I let you keep him this long out of respect for you. Don't push your luck!"

I snapped my head toward him. If I had any strength left, I would have ripped him apart.

He knew exactly how much Shadow meant to me.

There was a time when Gabe would spend his last dollar on the most expensive dog food for Shadow.

I used to tell him we didn't need the fancy stuff, that he should look after himself first.

But Gabe would look at me so seriously. "Shadow is your family, so he's mine too. He deserves the best."

"Besides, if we ever fight, I'll need to bribe him to take my side."

Then he'd kiss Shadow's head, and the dog would wag his tail like a propeller.

Our tiny, unheated apartment felt warmer than any mansion because of that love.

When did everything change?

Since I didn't say anything, Gabe assumed I was reflecting on my mistakes. He issued a command like it was a reward.

"Fine. When you're discharged tomorrow, apologize to Sherry, and we'll call it even."

He said it so casually, as if he were doing me a huge favor.

Sherry's parents died when she was young, and my parents raised her like their own daughter.

And yet, just because of a stupid dance costume, she 「accidentally」 burned my whole family alive.

She was the killer, but she escaped justice because she was under sixteen.

And Gabe? Gabe knew the whole truth.

On our wedding day, he brought her home and told me:

"Quinn, you didn't actually think I loved you, did you?"

"I remember exactly how you threw my last meal on the ground and stepped on it. I'll never love you as long as I live."

The March sun was shining on me, but I was shivering with cold.

When we were sixteen, Gabe had saved up every penny to buy me a nice steak dinner.

I saw the hope in his eyes, but I forced myself to knock the plate out of his hands.

I did it because Sherry was standing right behind him, shaking a vial of poison she had meant for that food.

We were just homeless kids. I couldn't win a fight against someone as cruel as her back then.

Gabe stayed away from me for a long time after that.

I tried to explain, but he never listened.

I clutched my chest. The heart that once beat for him was finally, officially dead.

"Apologize to a murderer? In your dreams."

"Quinn!"

Gabe stood up abruptly. He raised his hand high, but when he saw how pale and sickly I looked, he couldn't bring himself to strike.

He dropped his hand in frustration. "Your parents are dead, so what? Does that mean Sherry doesn't get to live her life!"

"Why do you have to keep bringing up the past? Nobody owes you anything!"

I watched Gabe's ugly, distorted face with total calm.

I didn't even feel angry anymore.

When I spoke, my voice was steadier than it had ever been.

"Gabe, I want a divorce."