Dear Ex Wife Please take me back by The Every Woman

Chapter 91 ~ Are you proud?

ATHEN

"Hi mum, Dad."

The words leave my mouth barely above a whisper as I crouch beside the two headstones, brushing away the dried leaves clinging to their bases.

I was given a leave day so I could visit my parents' grave. for their memorial I came here every year and sadly this is the first time I've visited with good news.

Tears blur my vision as I trace my fingers over the engraved names

Elena and Marcus Dawson

My parents.

My everything.

"I'm sorry," I whisper, my voice cracking like brittle glass. "I should've come sooner."

The guilt coils tighter in my chest, like a vice. Last year, I couldn't bring myself to step foot here.

I was drowning in pain, in fear, in the crushing weight of being told I had killed my

own son.

legacy." Mum always said to me, but

voice in my head, stern but kind, telling me to stand tall. I could see Mum's soft smile, always believing in me even when I didn't believe in

But they aren't here.

I'm so alone.

trees as if they're responding. My arms

strand of hair behind

names carved in stone. "I know you would." "I just wish you were here to hug me." I choke. "I wish I could come home and tell you everything. I wish I wasn't always walking around pretending I'm fine when inside I'm..."

away. They fall freely now, soaking into the

you. God, I miss you

hand on my shoulder. Or Dad standing beside me, arms crossed, beaming with that quiet pride he always had whenever I won a science fair or aced

so much as grazed my knee," I say, my voice trembling. "And now... now I hold hearts in my hands, and stitch lives back together. You'd probably

laugh escapes me, watery and broken. My knees press

legs under me. My fingers trace the letters of

"I miss you."

when he cooked. The way Mum always knew when

spill over,

I do all these incredible things, and I look around, waiting for someone to tell. But you're not here. You're not anywhere. And it

you are.

for a moment, letting the silence wrap around

better now. So, there is no need to worry about me.