Chapter 11

Chapter 11:
She opened the bottle and sprayed it once. The scent filled the room.
She remembered how he had kissed her lightly after spraying it on her skin.
“Should I pack this too?” Alexia asked, seeing the perfume.
Millie glanced over and shook her head. “Leave it.”
She slipped off the wedding ring Brandon had picked without thought, placing it gently on the table.
But as the movers shuffled back and forth through the space, she paused. Then, quietly, she opened a drawer and put both the perfume and the ring inside. Soon, the house had been cleared of every trace of her. Only that bottle and that ring remained.
Packing up had been tiring, but once the decision was made, it moved quickly. It was the same with her feelings.
The wind moved softly through her hair as the car headed toward her new place. Behind her, the mansion faded in the rearview mirror.
Sometimes, to move forward, one had to leave parts of oneself behind.
Millie had things to do.
The fall of the Bennett family, the unanswered questions around her father’s sudden death—she was going to find the truth.
Her life had always been shaped by what others needed.
Now it was time to live for herself.
She decided to begin with the music show. It would bring in money, and more importantly, might reconnect her with people linked to her father’s past. She pulled out her phone, found the right contact, and typed her message. “I’m joining the music program.”
Vivian was still crying.
Brandon sat beside her, muttering words of comfort. But his thoughts were filled with the image of Millie standing with her back to him, saying those words.
She had known exactly what he wanted her to say. And she had chosen not to.
He had sent her message after message. She hadn’t replied to any of them.
She had been acting strangely lately.
The change in her was too sharp, too sudden. She was provoking him on purpose.
She had done it when they filed for divorce. And again at the hospital.
Brandon remembered the look in her eyes the night before, when she asked if he had truly made up his mind about the divorce.
She had been sad but also calm.
An unexpected fear filled his heart.
“Brandon, don’t be angry at Millie,” Vivian said through tears. “I know she’s upset. After seeing the videos online, she must have come to confront us. And I understand.”
She burst into tears. “After all… I’m the one who took something from her. I’m taking six months from your marriage—what’s left of it. If she lashes out at me, I deserve it…” ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ.net
As she spoke, she started coughing—hard.
A second later, she spat blood into her hand.
“Vivian!” Brandon jumped up, reaching for his phone to call for an ambulance. As for Millie’s sudden change, he brushed it off as moodiness. In his mind, she wouldn’t dare walk away.
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