After the Last Tear: Rising from the Ashes of a Broken Marriage By Cassila K

Chapter 10
At the last second, Alistair turned back around.
Something made his heart pound unexpectedly, but the hallway was already
empty.
That feeling of panic transported him back to years ago, to the year Sophia died. They'd been fighting over something trivial
when her call came through. He'd assumed she was calling to apologize, and was about to smirk when he heard her fading voice
instead.
"Alistair," she'd whispered, "I will die."He frantically asked where she was. The answer: the hospital.
He'd sprinted there only to find Sophia on the operating table, covered in blood. She was died. She'd left him alone, never to

return.
After that, his every girlfriend is resembled Sophia in some way, then dumping them the moment he noticed their differences.
Until he married Elaine.
She was nothing like his previous girlfriends. Nothing like Sophia. But sheloved him deeply enough to accept all his affairs, to
clean up his messes when he grew bored, even keeping a child that might resemble his dead girlfriend.
But right now, something felt wrong.
For no reason he could name, he remembered what she'd said moments ago.
"This is important. Don't you want to see what it is?"
Important? What could be so important? He had no idea.
A tug on his sleeve brought him back to reality. Vivian looked up at him from the hospital bed. "Alistair, what's wrong?"
He shook his head and sat beside her, placing his hand on her slightly swollen belly, feeling nothing beyond the physical contact.
Thinking about that strange panic, he buried his emotions and told himself it was probably just anxiety about whether the baby
would resemble its mother.

Or maybe he was just thrown off by how long Elaine had been upset this time— he'd grown accustomed to her obedience during
their three years of marriage. They'd never even had a real fight. This prolonged cold shoulder was unfamiliar territory.
Nothing, he'd smooth things over with her later.
Alistair stayed with Vivian for hours, repeatedly checking his phone.
He kept turning the screen on and off, but no messages from Elaine appeared.
That night, lying in bed, he felt he'd missed something important.Suddenly, he looked down the hallway toward Elaine's
bedroom.
Somehow, He pushed it open and stepped inside.
Her room mirrored his own-minimalist, decorated in black, white, and gray. It looked much the same as the last time he'd been
there.
The bedside table was empty except for a crystal lamp.
Alistair distinctly remembered a picture frame had been there. Their wedding photo!
He hated having his picture taken, especially with someone he didn't care for. During the three years, their only photos together
were from their wedding.
Elaine had carefully selected one and placed it by her bed. Now it was disappeared.