Chapter 3
"I dare you!" I snapped.
"Try me," Charles taunted.
He waved the urn around, totally disrespectful.
"My patience is running thin. You trashed my student's reputation, so I'll destroy what matters most to you. That's only fair, isn't it?" he said.
I stared at him, my chest heaving with rage and helplessness.
My rational mind told me I couldn't let him get away with this.
But that was my mother's ashes.
I heard my own voice, barely audible and dry. "I'll apologize."
Charles grinned, clearly pleased with himself.
"That's more like it. No need for all this drama between us, right?" he said, his tone smug.
He set the urn down on the table like it was nothing but a piece of junk, barely worth his attention.
Then he pulled out his phone and opened up the campus forum.
"Go on. Make it sound sincere. Say your menopausal mood swings made you emotional and you imagined things, so you ended up misunderstanding Karen and me," he said.
I took the phone, my fingers moving stiffly as I typed out each word. Every sentence was a betrayal of what I truly felt inside.
I typed: [This is Grace Landon, wife of Professor Charles Landon. I am here to clarify and apologize for the events at the recent celebration and the posts on the forum.]
[Due to my own unstable emotions lately, I experienced some irrational thoughts and misunderstood my husband and his student, Karen Langley. This has caused them significant distress and damaged their reputations.]
[I sincerely apologize to my husband, Charles Landon, and to Karen Langley, who was innocently caught up in this. I kindly ask everyone to stop spreading false rumors. I am truly sorry.]
He looked it over and nodded, clearly satisfied.
"Alright, that's it," he said.
"Give it back," I demanded.
Charles shot a quick look at the urn on the table and waved me off, clearly annoyed.
"It's right there. Get it yourself," he snapped.
I walked over and hugged my mom's urn tightly.
Something felt seriously off. My instincts were screaming at me.
The urn was way heavier than it should be, and there was this weird, almost sour smell coming from it.
My heart skipped a beat. I yanked the lid open in a rush.
When I opened it, I was hit with the shock. My mom's ashes were mixed with a pile of black cat feces.
Charles rushed over and peeked inside. His face twisted with disgust and embarrassment.
A timid voice came from the doorway. "Sorry, Mr. Landon, Mrs. Landon.
"A few days ago, Mr. Landon asked me to clean the cat litter box on the balcony, and I think I might've... accidentally mixed up the litter box and the urn? It's totally my fault. I was so careless."
Karen stood in the doorway, her face full of panic and feeling wronged.
I was trembling with fury, my hand shooting up on pure impulse, ready to slap her right then and there.
But Charles beat me to it, intercepting my wrist before I could land the blow.
"Grace, get a hold of yourself! Karen said it was an accident," Charles barked.
He shoved me aside, stepping in front of Karen and shooting me a look full of blame.
But maybe the shock of the cat feces was too much. Even he couldn't hide a hint of regret in his voice.
"The ashes are still there, aren't they? I'll get your mom a brand new gold urn. Stop it," he said.
Karen hid behind him, flashing me a smirk that was both triumphant and provocative.
Suddenly, she let out a cry, clutching her stomach, her face going pale.
"Mr. Landon, my stomach hurts so much," she whimpered.
Charles instantly became anxious. He rushed to Karen's side and supported her.
"Are you alright? What's the problem?" he asked.
"I think something's wrong with our baby..." Karen gasped.
Charles stiffened suddenly, frozen in place.
He stared at me, his eyes full of shock, panic, and a flicker of excitement at the thought of becoming a father.
Watching Charles panic and scramble, I couldn't help but find the whole thing absurd.
Wasn't he the one who made all those grand promises about focusing on his career, about keeping our world the two of us, insisting we'd never have kids?
I gave up the right to be a mother all for him.
And now, he had a baby with someone else.