The Carousel Lies Chapter 09
Jasmine didn’t answer. Instead, she grabbed my hand and forced it against her own face, hitting herself with it, confessing as she went.
“It’s my fault. I’m the one who made you and our son suffer
“It’s my fault. I never once kept my promise to our son.
“It’s my fault. I didn’t stand up for you when you were being harassed.
“Just hit me. Why won’t you hit me?”
By the end, she’d broken down into sobs.
I listened to her confession calmly, feeling nothing at all. All the tears our son and I had cried, and she thought a few tears of her own could wipe that away? Hitting her would only make me look pathetic.
Charlie noticed something was wrong from where he stood nearby. He dropped his skateboard and ran straight over, shoving Jasmine back hard and planting himself between us like a fierce little tiger guarding its den.
“Who are you? Leave my dad alone,” he started, before Jasmine lifted her head and cut him off without a word.
The second he saw her face, his eyes went red. His anger dissolved into confusion, and he froze on the spot.
Jasmine’s heart shattered. She pulled him into her arms.
“It’s Mom, Charlie. Why won’t you call me?”
She pulled the long–overdue gift out of the car and pressed it into his arms.
“This is what you always wanted, isn’t it? Whatever else you want, I’ll buy it for you from now on.
“Say something, Charlie. Your dad won’t talk to me. Are you going to ignore me too?”
Charlie didn’t take it. The gift slipped from his hands and hit the ground. His eyes were cold, and his voice came out quiet.
“You don’t have to, Mom. Dad already bought it for me. Go return it. You don’t need to spend money on me.”
It struck Jasmine like a bolt of lightning. She cupped his face in both hands.
“What are you saying? Sweetheart, my money is for you to spend. You’re breaking my heart.”
Charlie looked at her, confused.
“Why would you say that, Mom? Didn’t you take another ki to the amusement park behind my back? Didn’t you give the present you bought me to someone else instead?”
As he remembered it, a flicker of sadness crossed his face, but it faded quickly into an easy, forgiving smile.
“It’s okay, Mom. If you like other kids better, go ahead and raise them instead. I have Dad. That’s enough for me.”
With that, he took my hand in one of his and Sunny’s leash the other, and the two of us headed home at an easy Pace
Regret and grief warred across Jasmine’s face. She started to follow, but Sunny turned and bared his teeth at her, instantly on guard
I smiled to myself, relieved. Raising that dog hadn’t been to nothing
After that day, Jasmine started wiring me money every so often. First two hundred thousand dollars. Then three.
Then five.
I accepted it without a second thought. It wasn’t like I was going to turn down free money.
Around the same time, I noticed Jasmine had started secretly feeding Sunny–Australian steak, imported lamb, fresh rabbit.
Sunny turned his nose up at first, playing hard to get, but it didn’t take long before he started warming up to her. Eventually he got a taste for it and switched loyalties without a shred of guilt, wagging his tail harder for Jasmine than for anyone else. All I could do was sigh.
Charlie, on the other hand, stayed cool toward her, neither warm nor cold. That boy’s heart had really been broken, so I didn’t push him to feel any differently. He could handle it however he wanted.
Jasmine understood, too, that trust like that doesn’t come back overnight. So she went ahead and bought a house right there in town, splitting her time between Ordonia City and Longcape.
Whenever she had free time, she’d sit down and do crafts with Charlie. She even started beating me to it whenever the teacher assigned a project, showing up before I even had the chance.
I was happy to step back and let her. I’d quit my job by then. These days, my routine was simple: tending my plants, reading through translated novels, and trying my hand at writing in another language. Life had endless possibilities, and I wasn’t going to limit myself to just one path.
A year later, the relationship between Jasmine and Charlie had visibly softened.
I didn’t weigh in on that one way or the other.
She could be Charlie’s mother. She could never again be my wife.
That much, I understood clearly.
