His Loss, Not Mine
I stayed seated, trying not to flinch as he exhaled and rubbed his temples like I’d just handed him a math problem too complicated to solve.
“I want you safe,” Cedric said finally, his tone quieter than before. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted. Even if it didn’t seem like it.”
I didn’t speak. I couldn’t. I just stared at him, trying to see some version of the man my mother had loved. Trying to believe that behind all this cold detachment, there had once been warmth. Something real.
“I loved your mother,” he went on. “God knows I did. But unfortunately... she didn’t love me back. Not the way I needed.”
My chest tightened.
He looked away.
“What we had—it was a mistake. A beautiful one, maybe. But still... a mistake.”
My lips parted, but nothing came out. His words kept swinging back and forth in my chest like a pendulum, cracking something open.
“You,” Cedric said, “were a consequence of that mistake.”
The way he said it wasn’t cruel. But it wasn’t gentle either. It was plain. Like a fact he’d accepted long ago and didn’t see any reason to sugarcoat.
I swallowed hard, blinking back the burn in my eyes.
“I thought about taking you in,” he added. “After your mother died. But your aunt—she had already filed all the paperwork. Claimed she was fulfilling Harper’s wishes. And I figured... maybe that was for the best.”
“You figured?” I croaked.
He nodded, completely unfazed by the crack in my voice.
“You lived a happy life, didn’t you? Went to college. Built a name for yourself. Married into the Vaughn family, for Christ’s sake. You have two beautiful kids. A man who’d probably burn the world down for you. That’s more than most people get.”
“But I didn’t have you.” My voice rose, but I didn’t care anymore. “I grew up thinking I was abandoned. Like I wasn’t wanted. You could’ve changed that. One visit. One letter. Anything.”
He didn’t flinch. Just stared at me like he was tired. Like I was a storm he no longer had the strength to weather.
“Bringing me into your life now?” he said. “That brings attention you don’t want. Enemies that don’t forget. You think your world’s dangerous now? You have no idea what the De Luca name still carries. I dismantled everything I owned. Sold the businesses. Burned the connections. I became a ghost for a reason.”
“Then why am I here?” I snapped. “Why give my aunt an address to find you, if you didn’t want to be found?”
He leaned back, face unreadable. “I wanted to see what kind of woman you became. That’s all.”
I stared at him, completely hollow.
No more questions. No more begging.
I stood.
His gaze followed me as I walked to the door. I turned to him one last time, hoping—stupidly hoping—he’d say something. Anything to make this feel less like rejection number two.
But he didn’t.
He just nodded once and looked away.
**#$
The rain had stopped when I got outside. The clouds still hung low and heavy, the air damp enough to cling to my skin.
I reached the car, slipped inside, and slammed the door shut behind me.
Everything was quiet.
Too quiet.
My hands gripped the steering wheel as my chest shook, and I closed my eyes.
Tears spilled down without asking. It was hot, burning my cheeks.
Gosh, such stupid tears.
It wasn’t even about the rejection anymore.
It was knowing I had family.
And they didn’t want me.
I wasn’t just abandoned.
I was... disposed like some forgotten piece.
Still, I wasn’t that little girl anymore. The one waiting for someone to come back. To choose her. I had people now. A life. A man who’d walk through hell with me. Kids who looked at me like I held the whole world in my hands.
It was Cedric’s loss. Not mine.
And he could live with his ghosts.
I wiped my eyes, took one last shaky breath, then set the car in motion.
The road was wet, glistening under the afternoon sun that had finally pushed its way through the clouds. It made the air feel heavier than it was—like the kind of quiet that comes before a storm you can’t see.
I reached for my phone on the passenger seat and hit the first name on speed dial.
“Hey,” Rowan's voice came through, rough and familiar. “You alright?”
I swallowed the lump in my throat, gripping the steering wheel a little tighter. “I have you. The kids. That’s what matters.”
There was a pause. The kind that stretched, warm but alert. “Remi, what happened?”
“Nothing.”
“Hmm…”
I gave a soft laugh that sounded nothing like me. “What?”
“You called me, I expected you to be laughing but the first thing is that you have me and that's all that matters. It's fishy and making me worried. What's wrong love?”
“Rowan, I am fine. Just reassuring myself.”
“You okay?” he asked again. “Really?”
“I said I’m fine.”
“You’re lying.”
I didn’t answer.
Because he was right.
“Fine, I met with Cedric. Victoria told me where he was and let's just say I’m… a little hurt,” I admitted quietly. “Not surprised. Just… I guess I thought hearing it would feel different. Like maybe some part of him would show up. But he didn’t. He said I was a mistake, Rowan. A consequence. I mean who says that, right?”
His voice softened. “That man doesn’t know what he lost.”
I blinked fast, focusing on the road as I smiled faintly. “Yeah. You say that now.”
“No,” he said firmly. “I’d say it a thousand times more. He doesn’t get to define you. You’re not a mistake, Remi. You’re the strongest person I know. You’ve survived too much to let one man’s bullshit crack you.”
“You always know what to say,” I whispered.
“That’s ‘cause I spend all day memorizing your moods,” he teased.
That pulled a laugh out of me. A real one this time.
“There she is,” he said. “There’s my girl.”
I rolled my eyes, but my smile lingered. “You’re annoying.”
“You love it.”
“I tolerate it.”
He chuckled low. “Where are you now?”
“Just turned onto Crescent. I’ll be home in twenty. You wanna order something? I could go for—”
A horn blared. Metal screeched.
Something slammed into the side of my car—hard.
The world spun.
I didn’t even have time to scream.
The car flipped once.
Then again.
And again.
My head smacked the roof. My shoulder hit the door. Glass shattered and rained across my skin like a thousand tiny razors. Something sharp tore through my cheek. My knee cracked against the dashboard.
The wheel twisted in my hands, useless.
All I could do was brace.
It didn’t matter.
The final tumble landed me sideways, upside down, every part of my body trembling. My ears rang. Blood dripped down my temple, into my eyes, mixing with the sting of embedded shards.
I blinked, or maybe I didn’t. I couldn’t tell anymore.
Pain roared somewhere in the background—my leg, my ribs, my chest.
But
all I could hear was his voice.
“Remi? Remi!!”
My mouth moved, but no sound came out.
Just air.
Blackness crept in from the edges.
And then...
Everything went still.
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