After Divorce, No Longer Waiting for Him

Chapter 1

During the Midsummer Festival, my daughter was on the brink of death.

She'd been frail and sickly since she was little, and her only wish, her only wish, was to have her biological father, Tom Carr, spend one birthday with her.

He only agreed after I begged him over and over again.

But on her birthday, he didn't show. That night, she passed away with that regret still in her heart.

Later, his beloved first love, River Patel, posted a picture of the two of them together.

The caption read:

"Only a fool tries to use a child to tie a man down. In his heart, I've always been the one."

Everyone laughed at me.

I didn't say much, just commented coldly:

"The leash is off. No need to sneak around eating scraps anymore."

That night, while the world celebrated the festival, I was stone-cold calm. I arranged my daughter's funeral alone. Quietly.

No one was surprised Tom chose River that night.

In the six years I was with him, all it ever took was one phone call from her and he'd drop everything to run to her.

Whatever his excuse was this time didn't matter anymore.

I packed my things, left the signed divorce papers on the table, and got ready to walk out of his life for good.

But just as I opened the door, I saw River stepping out of Tom's car.

"Amber Brown, what kind of drama are you pulling now?"

Tom slammed the car door, his eyes catching the suitcase at my feet. He frowned, like I was the unreasonable one.

River clung to his arm sweetly and said,

"Amber, are you mad at Tom because of what happened the other day? His dog got hurt and I was so scared I cried. Tom came right over to help. I didn't even know it was your daughter's birthday."

Her dog.

I almost laughed.

After all these years, after everything our daughter had been through, hospital stays, surgeries, crying herself to sleep asking where her daddy was, he always had some excuse. "Work," mostly.

But he had time to drop everything for River's dog.

If there was ever a question about whether he loved me… or our daughter… the answer couldn't be clearer now.

I looked him straight in the eyes.

"Tom, let's get a divorce."