“She was reported dead several years ago,” Leo began, his voice measured, but Nicole could sense the storm of emotions beneath his calm facade.
His words were like a blow to her heart. She didn't move her gaze from him as he continued. "She was my mother," he said, his voice growing softer, as if saying it out loud made it even more unbearable.
“She had left after a fight with my father, one of those fights to which you don't return, words thrown at each other like daggers cutting so deep they wouldn't heal. She stormed out that evening, and that was the last time we saw her alive.”
Nicole's brow furrowed. She remembered his earlier claim that his grandmother's dementia had only recently set in. But this? This loss had happened years ago. The timeline didn't add up.
She didn't voice h
