My Husband’s Ex Lived in My House for Three Years Chapter 04
I didn’t answer. Instead, I called my lawyer, James Olson, into my office.
“James, how much longer until Lucas and I are officially divorced?”
“Three more days of the cooling-off period. After that you can go finalize it.”
“Good.” I stood at the floor-to-ceiling window, looking down at the traffic below. “In three days, announce the divorce publicly.”
I didn’t want to be Mrs. Adams anymore.
I was Caroline, general manager of Langley Group’s overseas division, a daughter of the Langley family. I was no longer one of the Adams.
Three days passed in a blink, and before I even had the chance to make the divorce public, Lucas’s call came in first.
“Duffy’s dead.”
I gripped the phone and froze where I stood. “What are you talking about? Didn’t I tell you both exactly how to care for him? Why would he die?”
Lucas paused. “Hannah did everything you said, but he still wouldn’t eat or drink. He threw up once last night. I booked a vet for this morning, but we didn’t make it in time…”
I thought about that silly cat. Whenever I used to travel, I’d leave him with a close friend, and he’d always been perfectly fine.
He never once starved himself just because I was gone. As long as they did what I said, he would have been okay.
“I want to see him one last time,” I said.
The line went quiet for a few seconds.
“Okay. Come over. He’s at the villa.”
I hung up.
I’d thought I would never set foot in that place again.
But Duffy was still there, and after three years together, I couldn’t stop myself from wanting one last look.
An hour later, I reached Claude Villa. The outside of the house had changed completely.
The tree by the gate had dropped all its leaves, the lawn had been relaid, and even the porch lights had been swapped for fancy brass fixtures I didn’t recognize.
Every trace of the three years I’d lived there had been scrubbed clean.
Hannah stood at Lucas’s side with her eyes red and swollen, a tissue crushed in her hand, and her shoulders trembling faintly.
Duffy lay on the cold front step with a white towel draped over his small body.
I walked up, crouched down, and lifted a corner of the towel. His blue eyes were half open, his fur dry and matted, his ribs jutting out one by one. I’d raised him for three years and never once let him get this thin.
“Duffy.” I called his name softly.
Duffy didn’t respond.
Something clogged my throat. “Duffy… Duffy, it’s me.”
The cat didn’t move at all.
“Ms. Langley, he’s already gone.” Hannah’s voice came from above me.
I lifted my head with my eyes rimmed red, and my voice went cold as a blade. “I know that!”
Hannah startled backward a step, and tears filled her eyes in an instant.
I looked at her. “He was plump and healthy when I handed him back to you. So why is he dead after only a month?”
Hannah dug her nails into her palms.
“I don’t know either… I really did everything you told me…”
Her tears rolled down.
“Caroline.” Lucas stepped straight in front of Hannah, his brow furrowed. “Don’t blame her. Duffy’s dead, and she’s his owner, so she’s taking it harder than anyone.”
Hannah was the owner, taking it harder than anyone.
I stood frozen in place.
I had raised Duffy for three years.
I’d gotten up at five every morning to warm his food. I’d rubbed his belly for three years because I worried his stomach hurt.
Now Duffy was dead, and I didn’t even have the standing to ask what had happened.