The Hour He Never Gave Chapter 11
The doctor lowered his voice even more. “She just had surgery. Don’t tell her the truth yet. Try not to upset her.”
I let out a quiet laugh.
I never thought the thing I once told Pierce-that he didn’t deserve Ellie-would come true like this.
I crouched beside the bed and gently brushed her hair back.
“You’ve been so brave. Once you’re discharged, wanna move somewhere new with Mommy?”
**
The day Ellie was discharged, I finished the discharge paperwork, grabbed the visas I’d prepared months earlier and left with her for a small town in Northern Europe called Lakevale.
I’d spent six months picking it out.
Fresh air. Clean water. Green everywhere. A lake sat right at the edge of town.
Perfect for Ellie’s recovery.
After everything we’d been through, we needed somewhere quiet. Somewhere without all the noise. Somewhere we could finally heal.
We needed distance from the past. A slower life. A fresh start.
Lakevale was safe, too. I wouldn’t have to worry about raising Ellie there alone.
Between the “rent” Pierce sent me and the divorce settlement, Ellie and I could live comfortably for the rest of our
lives.
After we arrived, I spent weeks taking Ellie around town.
We finally picked a house with a yard.
It wasn’t huge, but it was enough. I bought gardening tools and followed online tutorials until I’d turned over all the soil myself.
The front yard was for Ellie’s favorite flowers. The backyard was for vegetables.
“Mommy, I want a whole rose garden like in fairy tales. And vines climbing up the walls. And a swing set, so we can swing at night and watch the stars!”
Ellie ran around the yard, throwing her arms wide while listing everything she wanted.
While I was picking out vegetable seeds, she suddenly got serious.
“Mommy, you need to check what grows well in this soil and water. Some vegetables can’t survive in other countries. My science teacher told me that!”
After fixing up the yard, I bought a small car.
It made grocery trips into the city easier. On holidays, I could drive Ellie around town.
We went camping sometimes and had picnics in the nearby woods.
Little by little, we settled into our new life overseas.
We didn’t have a butler, housekeeper, or chef anymore like we did back in Floravia
But cooking every day and taking care of the flowers and vegetables became its own kind of happiness.
Watching the seeds I planted sprout, grow taller, and finally bear fruit-
It slowly made me believe in our future again.
My cooking went from completely inedible…. to barely okay.
Then decent enough to eat.
Until one day, Ellie cleaned her plate and yelled, “Mommy, more!”
With me around all the time, Ellie’s mood got better fast.
Even without knowing the language, she fit right in with the neighborhood kids.
They talked through hand gestures half the time and still ended up cracking up together.
Because of Jared, Ellie used to keep her distance from kids her age.
Now she played freely, shared snacks and toys without hesitation, and laughed without holding back.
For the first time in a long while, I finally relaxed.
Once we settled in, I signed Ellie up for language classes.
I found a job as a translator too.
My supervisor was easygoing, my coworkers were nice, and the workload was manageable.
The pay wasn’t amazing, but earning money on my own felt a whole lot better than living off Pierce.
But the peace didn’t last long.
That morning, I’d just finished nagging Ellie to eat breakfast.
I buckled her into the car and reached for the ignition to take her to school-
Then an unwanted guest showed up at the gate.
