Chapter 13
Finley rushed home, heading straight for the bedroom as soon as he stepped inside.
He thought back to their worst fights–Claire had threatened to leave before. Every time, she’d leave her things behind, a built–in
excuse to come back and make up with him.
动
He yanked open the closet, expecting to see her clothes still hanging there. Just another bluff.
But the closet was empty.
Every last piece of Claire was gone.
Her voice echoed in his head, sharp and unforgiving: “You had five chances. Only five.”
And just like that, he realized–he’d burned through them all.
Would she ever come back? Could she? The weight of it hit him like a brick wall, and he sank to the floor, crushed by regret.
Snapping out of it, he fumbled for his phone. He had to call her, had to hear her voice. But as he scrolled through his contacts,
number wasn’t there.
He always saved it under a nickname–but now, it was gone.
Panic clawed at him as he tried to recall it from memory. Nothing. The digits blurred in his mind. Instead, Renee’s number popped up, clear and familiar, burned into his brain from years ago.
But Claire’s? A total blank.
