Chapter 7
After coming back, I rediscovered some old passions.
Extreme sports. Racing.
And, for the first time, I got a dog I actually wanted.
Before I got engaged to Kaiden, I was carefree and spontaneous.
I loved anything bursting with energy and life.
But eventually, I lost even my own freedom–so how could I talk about love?
My dog is a mixed–breed Maltese, and I named her Addie.
She has soft caramel–colored fur and the most innocent, wide eyes.
Whenever she runs, her ears flap like little wings–she looks like a tiny gas canister bouncing around.
Dogs are easier to get along with than people.
Dogs understand what their owners need.
A dog never ignores you. If she knows you love her, she loves you right back.
The next time I saw Kaiden was at the front door of my new place.
I was about to take Addie for a walk.
I opened the door, and there he was, standing by the elevator.
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05:58
Next to him, Nash was clutching his hand, staring nervously at Addie in
my arms.
“What are you doing here?”
I sat across from Kaiden, my voice cold and detached.
Nash perched at the end of the sofa, frowning as he watched Addie wolf down her food.
Kaiden studied me in silence for a moment. “Valerie, you’ve lost weight.”
I barely looked up. “Don’t dodge the question.”
“It was our son. He wanted to see you. I couldn’t stop him.”
“Kaiden,” I said, “Do you remember what I told you last time? We’re divorced. Please stop coming here and disrupting my life. Is that so hard to understand?”
Kaiden pressed his lips into a thin line. “Valerie, Nash is still young. He needs his mother.”
I just laughed
Then I called building security and had the father and son escorted out.
Nash didn’t want to leave.
He stood stubbornly at my doorway, mouth half–open, as if he wanted to say something.
I held Addie tight and didn’t look at him.
I shut the door, firm and final.
I knew if I looked back, I’d soften.
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05:58
He was the child I brought into the world in agony, lying on the operating table, torn apart by pain.
I’d held him, loved him, soothed him, worried over him.
The first word he ever spoke was “Mommy.”
When Nash was little, he cried around everyone, but when he was in my arms, he was quiet and sweet.
However, Marlene said I was raising him wrong, insisting on some elite- style education for him.
A child’s upbringing is always a reflection of the family’s influence.
Whatever someone told him, he remembered. He did what he was told.
As he grew older, he stopped wanting to be close to me.
He started keeping his distance, treating me with the same formal politeness as Kaiden.
He’d call me “Mother,” always speaking in that stiff, respectful way.
“Mother, can Father teach me instead? Grandmother says your education isn’t as good as Father’s, so you can’t teach me well.
“Mother, why are you always at home? Don’t you have any hobbies? All my classmates‘ mothers do.
“Mother, you’re too serious. You’re not like Delaney–she always has fun, creative ideas.
