Building Her Throne Burying My Heart (Claire) novel Chapter 5

Garrison didn’t let the silence settle. “You’ll wish us happiness, right?”

He moved closer, slipping his arm around Claire’s waist. She didn’t pull away, just leaned into him without a word.

My fists clenched tight, nails digging into my palms. I looked at them—Claire, the woman I would have died for, and Garrison, the man who would probably be happy if I did. And there I was, stuck, unable to change a thing.

Everyone in the room was waiting. Would I give them my blessing? Or would I let them see how much this was tearing me apart?

Claire met my eyes from Garrison’s side. There was something in her look—maybe hope, maybe she was waiting for a sign from me. I couldn’t give her one. I turned away, my voice icy.

“This has nothing to do with me.”

I left without looking back, not caring what anyone thought. I had nothing left, not even a whole body. There was nothing about me that could ever be enough for her. She deserved so much more.

Outside, I staggered over to a trash can and threw up until there was nothing left in me. The sharp taste of alcohol stung my throat and made my eyes water. My legs felt like jelly. Pain twisted through my stomach, sharp and relentless.

As soon as I finished, a security guard came over, annoyed. “Hey, what’s your problem? Your scooter’s been here forever. Move it!”

I wiped my mouth and stood. “Sorry. I’ll go now.”

Blood was sticky on my palm. I gritted my teeth, picking out tiny bits of glass from the wound, one by one. I wrapped my hand in my glove and headed home. The night was cold, the city wind cutting through the fog in my head. I never thought I’d see her again, not after all these years, not like this.

It only happened because my foster mom, Darleen, got sick a few months ago and wanted to come back to this city. If not for that, Claire and I probably never would have crossed paths again.

I picked up something for Darleen on my way home. When I got to our little apartment, she was still awake.

“Mom, why aren’t you asleep? I brought you something to eat. Try a little, okay?”

“Was it the customer who ordered the cake?”

He nodded. “Yeah, that one. Said your attitude was bad, the delivery was late, and that you acted inappropriately. This one’s coming out of your paycheck. Be careful next time. The higher-ups wanted to fire you, but I talked them down because of your situation at home. Don’t let it happen again.”

I knew exactly who had filed the complaint. There was nothing I could do except swallow it.

“Thank you. I’ll be more careful.”

After my morning runs, I dropped by home to bring lunch to Darleen. Later, a coworker caught me before I left again.

“Hey, can you help me out? My scooter’s dead. If this order doesn’t get delivered, it’ll be late.”

“No problem. Send me the address. I’ll take care of it.”