189 Chapter 189 Complete Erasure
Chelsea’s weathered face creased into a gentle smile. “Mrs. Dennis Senior brought this special milk during her last visit. She specifically requested that I prepare it for you when the opportunity arose.” D
Her toiletries remained in the master bedroom, forcing her to make the walk down the familiar hallway,
The entire room had been transformed beyond recognition. Only the hardwood flooring remained untouched, like a skeleton beneath new flesh.
But to strip away seven years of shared life before their marriage was even legally
ended? The haste felt like another wound.
The master bedroom lay shrouded in darkness and silence. Cullen was nowhere to be
found.
Sabrina padded out of the room on small bare feet, her nightgown trailing behind her like a miniature ghost.
She sipped the warm milk slowly, letting its comfort settle in her stomach before making her way to the third floor.
Seven years of her life had been spent within these walls. Every corner, every shadow, every piece of furniture had been etched into her memory through countless nights and mornings.
“Okay.”
The water dispenser hummed quietly in its corner, brand new. Even the simple drinking mugs had been replaced with ones that had never known her lips.
Chelsea hesitated for a moment, her fingers adjusting the tray’s position. “Mr. Dennis instructed me to gather all of your personal belongings at the start of this month. I’ve relocated everything to the third floor guest room. If you need anything brought down, or if you’d prefer to collect items yourself…”
The hot water felt therapeutic against her skin, washing away the strange sensation of being a guest in what had once been her home.
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Veronica shook her head, smoothing Sabrina’s hair with gentle fingers. “You go ahead, sweetheart. I’ll be here when you get back”
The implication hung heavy in the air. The master bedroom was no longer her domain.
After helping Sabrina with her evening bath and carefully drying her daughter’s silky hair, Veronica prepared for her own bedtime routine.
Beside her, Sabrina remained lost in deep sleep, her breathing steady and peaceful.
Dawn arrived with pale fingers of light creeping through Sabrina’s curtains. Veronica’s eyes opened naturally, her internal clock unchanged despite the upheaval in her living
situation.
“That’s very thoughtful of you, Chelsea. I’ll retrieve what I need myself later.”
“Goodnight, my love.”
“Mom, Daddy says goodnight to you too.”
Veronica switched off the bedroom lights, casting the transformed space back into darkness, and carried the tray down the hallway to Sabrina’s room.
Most telling of all, her vanity table had vanished entirely. The antique piece where she had prepared herself each morning, where her perfumes and creams had lived, where she had caught Cullen’s reflection watching her in the mirror during happier times – gone without a trace.
“Hello, Chelsea.”
She turned to find the housekeeper approaching with a silver tray balanced in her hands. A single cup of steaming milk sat centered on its surface.
As they prepared for sleep, Sabrina sat up with sudden purpose. “I want to say goodnight to Daddy. Do you want to come with me, Mom?”
“Of course.”
Veronica reached over and turned off the bedside lamp, plunging the room into the soft darkness that would carry them toward morning.
Chelsea glanced toward the milk, then back to Veronica’s face. “Should I bring this to Miss Sabrina’s room instead?”
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Veronica felt a flutter of warmth at the gesture from Cullen’s grandmother. “Thank you
so much.”
Veronica closed the storybook and placed it on the nightstand, her voice barely above a whisper. “That’s nice of him.”
Sabrina yawned widely, her small body automatically seeking the warmth of Veronica’s embrace. Her daughter’s arms wrapped around her waist with the unconscious trust that only children possess.
Everything else had been systematically replaced. The crystal chandelier that once caught morning light now hung as a completely different fixture. New curtains framed the windows in fabric she had never chosen. The bed where she had shared countless intimate moments with Cullen bore different linens, different pillows, different
everything.
The corner room where her belongings had been relocated was immaculately maintained. Chelsea had clearly been caring for the space, keeping dust at bay and ensuring everything remained properly arranged.
She selected fresh clothes for the morning and gathered her toiletries, then returned
to Sabrina’s room for her bath.
Chelsea nodded with understanding that went unspoken.
The memory burned fresh in her mind. When Niall had taken that bullet meant for Cullen, he had raced back to her with desperate urgency, pressing new divorce documents into her hands with an impatience that spoke volumes. His message had been crystal clear – he needed to be free to give Niall the legitimacy she deserved.
Moving carefully to avoid disturbing her daughter, Verónica slipped from the bed and made her way to the small bathroom attached to Sabrina’s room. After washing her face and brushing her teeth, she dressed quietly and headed downstairs toward the kitchen to begin another day in this house that was no longer quite her home.
“It’s my pleasure, Mrs. Dennis.”
Her clothes hung neatly in the closet. Her books were stacked with military precision on the shelves. Her jewelry box sat centered on the dresser like a small altar to her displaced life.
Her eyes swept across unfamiliar nightstands, a foreign round table positioned by the
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window, a couch that held no memories of their conversations, a coffee table that had never supported her morning coffee cup, even a rug that her feet had never touched.
Yet nothing before her felt familiar anymore.
Three minutes passed before she returned, climbing back into bed with the serious expression of someone delivering an important message.
The timing aligned perfectly with when she and Cullen had signed those initial divorce papers, sealing their fate with black ink on white paper.
After drying off and changing into comfortable pajamas, she settled beside Sabrina for their nightly reading ritual. Tonight’s selection was a fairy tale about a princess who found her own castle.
Of course it made sense. Their divorce papers sat waiting for final signatures, the legal dissolution of their marriage nearly complete.
Every remnant of her existence had been deliberately and methodically erased.
“Now we can sleep, Mom. Goodnight.”
Veronica stepped backward, her hand reaching for the light switch to flee this monument to her erasure, when Chelsea’s voice called softly from behind her.
Veronica reached for the tray, her fingers careful not to brush Chelsea’s. “I’ll handle it
from here.”
She flicked on the light switch and stood frozen in the doorway, wondering if she had somehow entered the wrong room by mistake.
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