I stared at Aurelia's retreating back, her words echoing in my mind as she walked toward her car. The box containing Violet's remains felt impossibly heavy in my hands. Every step Aurelia took away from me seemed to hammer another nail into the coffin of my denial.
"Wait!" I called out, my voice breaking. "Aurelia, please wait!"
She paused but didn't turn around. Her shoulders were rigid, her entire body radiating tension even from a distance.
I stumbled forward, my legs unsteady beneath me. "You can't just... drop this on me and leave."
"Why not?" She turned slowly, her emerald eyes harder than I'd ever seen them. "Isn't that exactly what you did to Violet? Drop promises and leave?"
Her words sliced through me like silver through wolf flesh. I flinched visibly.
"I want to see her," I said, my voice hoarse. "Take me to her grave."
Something flashed across Aurelia's face—surprise, perhaps, that I was finally acknowledging our daughter's death.
