Dear Ex Wife Please take me back novel Chapter 91

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.

“Carry on the legacy.” Mum always said to me, but how can I when I can barely hold myself together?

Every night, as I cried myself to sleep, I could hear 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 even when I didn’t believe in myself.

But they aren’t here.

I’m so alone.

The wind picks up slightly, rustling the trees as if they’re responding. My arms wrap around myself as I kneel there, broken and small in the cemetery

“I, uh… I scrubbed in today,” I say, forcing a small smile as I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. “It was a tough one. Thoracic. Complicated. But I… I did well.”

My voice cracks at the end, and I bite my lip, shaking my head with a soft laugh.

“You’d be proud,” I add, staring 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’m…” My words trail off, swallowed by the ache in my chest.

A tear slips down my cheek, then another. I don’t bother wiping them away. They fall freely now, soaking into the collar of my coat, tracing the curve of my chin.

“I miss you. God, I miss you both so much.”

“I’ll come again soon,” I promise. “And next time… I’ll tell you more. Everything. Even the messy stuff.”

I lean down and press a kiss to each headstone.

As I turn to leave, the quiet crunch of gravel under shoes draws my attention.

“Athena,” a voice calls out low and unfamiliar.

I freeze mid-step, my heart giving a small jolt as I spin around.

He looks to be in his sixties, maybe older, but his posture is steady, almost military-like.

My brows draw together. “I’m sorry, do I… know you?”

The man doesn’t answer the question. He simply looks at me, eyes solemn. “Come with me.”

I blink, stepping back instinctively. “What? No. I’m not just going to follow some stranger-”

“I’m not a stranger to your parents,” he interrupts gently but firmly. “Elena and Marcus gave me a task. A promise, actually. Something I was meant to give you ten years after they passed.”