Who's Crying Now, Ex-Husband?

Chapter 528

In a daze, Mila seemed to hear a thousand voices and flashes of memory

ricocheting through her mind, each one making her hand tremble harder around the knife.

-Mom, I'm sorry.

-Mom, I'll be good.

-Mom, you smell so nice. Did you make something delicious for me?

-I understand, Mom.

I love your spicy chicken the most, Mom!

Wow!

-Mila! Stay calm, be careful!

-Mila!

At the end of it all, she saw Jade's face, eyes fierce with authority, a sharp command slicing through the cold, endless dark-snapping her awake.

What had she done?

The knife slipped from her grasp and clattered away. Her hands, still shaking, reached for Sophia's damp, sticky neck. Maybe she'd been out of her mind, because the cut was shallow, just a thin line of blood seeping slowly out. Realizing Sophia's life wasn't in danger, Mila collapsed, drained, and sank to her knees on top of her, arms falling limp to her sides.

She gasped for breath, lungs burning.

Her thoughts were still muddled, children's voices echoing in her ears: laughter and tears-baby talk in a cradle, a soft bundle giggling, that first wailing cry at birth-each memory rattling her chest.

imperfect, stubborn, and difficult, but he would never be cruel

to return, Mila spoke, her voice hoarse and raw in the darkness. "It's not your word I care about. I want

because she knew Lysander-and using their child as a pawn was exactly the kind of thing he'd do. So she couldn't be wholly sure Adrian was

hear it from Adrian

should bear the responsibility, and she would stand beside him to face it. But whether he was involved or not, before any judgment was passed, she owed it to him-to herself as a mother-to be the last one to decide, even

to hear Adrian

and she became aware of the violent coughing beneath her. Reality pressed in hard, and

What had she done?

She'd nearly-

nearly made a terrible

almost ruined her

Her eyes, bright and clear after all the tears, seemed to glow in the dark, yet now there was only calm in

She spoke again.

to do with me. If

Sophia by the collar

guilty! He's your child. Even if you didn't want him or couldn't care for him, you had options-you could have given him to his uncle or hired someone to look after him. There were a hundred

thing you should never have done was help destroy

mind wasn't stable, and you knew exactly

"How could you?"

...

Some time later.

glowing with sterile green light, was empty now except for Sophia. She lay on the floor, her beautiful face swollen and red, eyes

that way

her free hand, she fumbled in her pocket until she found a small metal tin,

it took several tries to light it. When she finally managed, she took one drag and immediately fell into a fit of coughing so violent it

She didn't know if it was the smoke or the pain from her neck, but