The Carousel Lies Chapter 08
Josh assumed Jasmine still loved him and let out a satisfied laugh. But the next second, she shoved him hard. Caught off guard, Josh dropped straight onto the floor, his ankle twisting into an ugly angle. He cried out in pain.
“Jasmine, what are you doing?”
His face had gone pale.
Jasmine’s brow furrowed tight. “What are you doing at my house?”
Now that she’d finally worked out where things really stood between them, she didn’t want to look at him for another second.
Josh clearly sensed the shift in her. Panic crept in, and he blurted out the thing that had been eating at him.
“Is Cody upset with me? I didn’t mean to run him off. Isn’t it enough that I apologized?”
Jasmine’s hand froze on the door. She turned slowly, and the look on her face was terrifying.
“When did you run him off?”
Guilt flashed across Josh’s face. He stammered through the answer.
“That day, at Luke’s birthday party, he showed up… I was worried he’d cause a scene, so I asked him to leave first.”
“Asked him? How exactly did you ask him?”
Jasmine’s voice came out loud enough to be frightening. Josh had never seen her this angry before, and it stung his pride. An orphan nobody had ever wanted, nothing but a stand–in for someone else. Who was he to be compared to?
Something shifted subtly in his refined features, and his voice turned wounded.
“Jasmine, he has a nasty temper. I’d barely said two words before he shoved me and ran off. My shoulder’s still sore, even now.”
He’d assured that would make her feel sorry for him.
Instead, the room went dead silent. Alarmed, he looked up. Jasmine’s face had gone stone cold, and she hurled a krufe straight at him.
“How dare you make things up? Him, a nasty temper? He’s never once raised his voice at anyone. He only knows how to run when he’s been wronged, and you have the nerve to slander him like that?”
Josh’s legs buckled, and he nearly fell. Watching the knife graze past his cheek and clatter to the floor behind him, he didn’t dare stay another second. He fled out the door, shaking.
Jasmine went numb again. Then her phone buzzed. Someone had sent her Cody’s address.
The lifeless look on her face snapped instantly back to life. She got in her car and drove through the night without stopping
Charlie had picked up skateboarding lately, and I couldn’t have been prouder. I was always trailing behind him with my phone out, filming everything, and I never got tired of it.
As his skills improved, his mischievous streak started showing through. He’d cruise around with his puppy.
Sunny, trotting along beside him, and he made sure to swing past any pretty girl he saw, showing off shamelessly the whole time. I’d laugh so hard my sides hurt.
That was when Jasmine found us.
Watching our son laugh, so confident and carefree, and me smiling right along with him, she felt like the ground had turned to lead under her feet. She couldn’t make herself get any closer.
In the end, it was me who spotted her first and walked over She opened her mouth like she wanted to say something, but I beat her to it.
“Did you come with the divorce papers?”
Jasmine looked terrible. Her hair was a mess, dark circles ringed her eyes, and her lips were dry and cracked. She sniffed, and despite herself, tears spilled down her face.
“I’m sorry.”
I gave a brisk nod.
“I accept. So how much are you planning to give me and our son?”
She didn’t hesitate. “Whatever you want. I’ll give you all of it.”
I almost laughed. If she’d really been willing to give it up, would she have sat back and watched me struggle through years of hardship without lifting a finger? I wasn’t a fool.
“I want half. Do you have your ID on you? Let’s go get this filed at the county clerk’s office right now.”
I asked her calmly. But Jasmine’s face crumpled, and her voice came out full of hurt.
“I’m willing to give you everything, and you still want a divorce?”
I gave a flat hum in response.
Panic crept into her expression. She’d imagined every possible reaction from me on the drive over. The one thing she hadn’t prepared for was no reaction at all. It rattled her so badly that her voice started to shake without her meaning it to.
“Cody, just hit me.”
I looked at her, puzzled, “Why would I hit you?”
