Chapter 6

Keegan, ever the dutiful man, did everything Cora asked. The sounds of him cooking, of their lighthearted chatter, drifted up the stairs.

Haven stayed in her room all day. She packed the last of her belongings into a single suitcase. Everything else, all the remnants of her seven-year mistake, she left behind.

As evening fell, she went downstairs for a glass of water. Keegan was in the kitchen, his back to her. Cora was curled up on the sofa, scrolling through her phone. The scene was perfectly domestic. Haven was the intruder.

She tried to slip past unnoticed, but Cora saw her. A malicious glint entered her eyes.

"Oh, Haven," Cora said, her voice sickly sweet. She stood up and walked over to the mantelpiece, where a silver-framed photo of Haven' s parents sat. It was one of the few things Haven had brought from her family home.

"Such a lovely photo," Cora said, picking it up. "It' s a shame they' re not here to see how happy you are." Her hand "slipped."

The frame hit the marble floor with a sickening crack. The glass shattered, scattering across the image of her parents' smiling faces.

A white-hot rage, pure and absolute, erupted in Haven' s chest. Without a second thought, she strode forward and slapped Cora across the face. The sound echoed in the silent room.

Keegan rushed out of the kitchen at the sound. Cora immediately crumpled, tears springing to her eyes.

"I' m so sorry, Haven," she sobbed, clutching her cheek. "It was an accident! I didn' t mean it!"

Haven saw the lie in her eyes and moved to strike her again. But her wrist was caught in a viselike grip.

Keegan stood over her, his face a mask of fury. "That' s enough, Haven."

"She did it on purpose," Haven said through gritted teeth.

"She said it was an accident," Keegan said, his voice cold. He was defending Cora. Of course, he was.

"It was a photo of my parents!" Haven cried, her voice breaking. "If someone insulted your parents' memory, could you just stand there and take it?"

"Cora would never do that," he said, his voice dangerously low. "She' s not cruel like you. She has a good heart. She' s never lied to me."

His words struck her with the force of a physical blow. He trusted Cora, the master manipulator, completely. And he saw Haven, who had given him everything, as cruel.

The fight drained out of her, replaced by a chilling, profound coldness. It was over. It was truly, finally over.

"My face hurts, Keegan," Cora whimpered from the floor, playing her part to perfection.

Keegan' s eyes fell on the red handprint blooming on Cora' s cheek. He shot Haven a look of pure disgust.

He let go of her wrist, shoving her backward. She stumbled, her hip hitting the sharp corner of the coffee table. Pain flared, but she barely felt it.

She watched as he knelt, gathering the weeping Cora into his arms. He lifted her as if she were made of glass and carried her toward the door.

"I' m taking her to the hospital to get her cheek looked at," he said, his voice dripping with contempt. He didn' t even look at the shattered frame on the floor, or at Haven, who was now bleeding from a fresh gash on her forehead.

He left. She listened to the sound of his car pulling away, a final, definitive sound.

She touched her forehead. Her fingers came away wet with blood. But the only thing she felt was a deep, weary desire for it all to end.

She would marry Edwin. She would build a new life, a life where she was valued, a life where she was not a ghost in someone else' s love story. A life without Keegan Valdez.