He never told them the full story because the real version would have ruined the image he worked so hard to maintain. He never told them that the house was sold because he needed a massive amount of cash to avoid a criminal investigation.
He leaned back in the driver seat and opened a text thread with Cassidy name at the top of the screen. For a moment he just watched the cursor blink before his thumb began to move across the glass.
“Cassidy, you should come to Paige’s wedding this Saturday since it will be good for Mason and Toby to see my side of the family.” He stopped and read the words before frowning and deleting the second sentence.
“Cassidy, you have to come to the wedding because I want you to see how well I am doing without you.” He read that twice and felt a warm surge of satisfaction move through his chest.
“Bring the boys if you want because it will be good for them to see what real success looks like.” He hit the send button and watched the blue bubble disappear into the digital void.
He believed that he had set the perfect trap and that Cassidy would walk right into the role he had written for her. He assumed she was still the same woman who would absorb humiliation quietly just to keep the peace for their children.
Across the city in a small apartment located above a local pharmacy, Cassidy Thorne stared at her phone until the letters blurred. The apartment was small enough that the sound of the clicking ceiling fan followed her into every room.
A pot of pasta sat cooling on the stove while laundry hung over the backs of the kitchen chairs because the building dryer was broken again. The air smelled like lemon cleaner and crayons because she worked hard to make the tiny space feel like a real home for her sons.
Mason and Toby were on the rug near the coffee table building a complex city out of plastic blocks and old shoe boxes. Mason was the louder twin who narrated every disaster while his toy car crashed through a cardboard tunnel.
Toby was the quiet observer who arranged the blocks into perfect rows and corrected his brother whenever the traffic patterns became unrealistic. “Cars do not fly over the buildings, Mason,” Toby said without looking up from his work.
“They do if there is a giant explosion,” Mason answered while making a loud crashing sound. “There is no reason for an explosion in a residential zone,” Toby argued.