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.

the legacy." Mum always said to me, but how

Dad's voice in my head, stern but kind, telling me to stand tall. I could see Mum's soft smile, always believing in me

But they aren't here.

I'm so alone.

My arms wrap around myself as I kneel there, broken and

forcing a small smile as I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. "It was a tough one. Thoracic. Complicated. But I... I

at the 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 don't bother wiping them away. They fall freely now, soaking into the collar of my coat, tracing the curve

I miss

like fingers through hair, and for a second, almost believe it's my mum's hand on my shoulder. Or Dad standing beside me,

how you both used to freak out every time I so much as grazed my knee," I say, my voice trembling. "And now...

laugh escapes me, watery and broken. My knees press

under me. My fingers trace the letters of their names like I'm trying to memorize

"I miss you."

miss everything," I whisper. "Your voices. Your hugs. The way Dad used to hum when he cooked. The way Mum always knew when I was lying... even when

over,

curling into myself slightly. "Sometimes, I do all these incredible things, and I look around, waiting for someone

you are. I hope you

a moment, letting the

there is no need to worry about me. I love you