Chapter 24
Word of Callum’s liver cancer spread quickly through New York’s business elite.
Laurina rushed back from Paris, arriving to find him occasionally murmuring Cassie’s name through his morphine haze. The painful truth crystallized instantly–some realizations require no explanation.
She called Cassie that same evening: “Callum has terminal liver cancer,” she said without preamble. “The doctors
are saying weeks, maybe days.”
Her voice dropped lower. “He keeps saying your name, even when he’s barely conscious. Is there any possibility you might come to New York? Just to… be with him at the end? After everything you shared?”
The news momentarily stunned Cassie–not because she still carried feelings for Callum, but because death has a way of making even distant memories feel suddenly present.
She glanced across the sunlit bridal boutique where Fabio and his mother were engaged in animated debate over veil lengths while Martina dramatically demonstrated the “proper” way to walk down an aisle. Her heart filled with absolute certainty.
“No,” she said firmly. “I won’t be coming back.”
Laurina’s sharp intake of breath carried clearly across the international connection. “How can you refuse? You were his wife for years.”
“He’s like this because he fell apart after you left,” she added, a note of accusation creeping in. “Doesn’t that make you feel even slightly responsible?”
“His choices are his own,” Cassie replied evenly. “Just as mine are mine. I wish him peace, but that chapter of my life
is closed.”
She ended the call before Laurina could respond, refusing to let the past hijack her present even for a moment.
Fabio noticed her expression immediately, crossing the boutique to take her hand. “Everything okay? Who was
that?”
Cassie squeezed his fingers, the substantial weight of her engagement ring a comforting reminder of all she had
built. “Nobody important. Just ghosts.”
“Hello? Earth to lovebirds!” Martina interrupted, approaching with two necklaces draped across her arms. “Can we focus on the crisis at hand? This delicate pearl choker I selected, or the vintage sapphire monstrosity Mom’s insisting is a ‘family tradition“?”
Cassie laughed, pulling Fabio toward her spirited future sister–in–law. “Let me see these options properly…”
Meanwhile in New York, Callum struggled for breath in his penthouse bedroom, having refused hospice care. The cancer had progressed with stunning speed, accelerated by the years of alcohol abuse and the strain his single kidney had endured.
10-15
Addio To The Stand–In Past This Time I Chose To Reclaim My Own Life
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Chapter 24
Through vision that blurred and sharpened unpredictably, he made out Matt’s grim expression and Laurina’s tear–streaked face. Somewhere, a monitor beeped with annoying persistence.
“She’s not coming,” Laurina whispered, gripping his hand. “I’m so sorry.”
The news wasn’t surprising, yet the finality of it hollowed him out completely. As consciousness began to slip away, his dying brain offered one last mercy–a vivid hallucination of the life he’d destroyed.
He saw Cassie, gloriously pregnant, playfully scolding him: “Seriously? Your slippers in the middle of the hallway again? I can barely see my own feet anymore and still have to pick up after you!”
In this beautiful fantasy, he laughed, arranging the footwear neatly before leading her to the sofa. He pressed his ear against her rounded belly, delighting in the strong kicks against his cheek.
“If it’s a girl,” dream–Cassie asked, running fingers through his hair, “what should we name her?”
He considered carefully, his hand resting protectively over where their child grew. “What about Kaylie? A little bit of both of us–Callum and Cassie together.”
The peaceful vision fractured briefly–Cassie was suddenly handing him documents, her expression unreadable. The memory tried to intrude, but his dying mind pushed it away desperately, clinging to the happier alternative.
In this merciful fiction, they welcomed their daughter together. She grew impossibly quickly, developing a preference for sparkly dresses and chocolate ice cream, refusing all vegetables with impressive determination. Her tiny hand would seek his while crossing streets, her complete trust humbling him daily.
Her first word was “Dada,” though she said “Mama” more clearly when she finally managed both. On weekends, they’d explore Central Park as a family, Kaylie learning to ride a bicycle with their patient guidance. Strangers would comment on how strikingly she resembled Cassie, predicting she’d grow into a beauty.
Kaylie would respond by clutching his hand tightly: “My daddy is handsome too!”
In this final, comforting delusion, they were walking into a golden sunset together, his little family complete and joyful–the life he could have had if he’d recognized the genuine treasure before him instead of chasing shadows.
Callum’s lips curved into a faint smile as his heart finally surrendered, the monitor beside him flatlining with a prolonged tone that no one rushed to silence.
At that exact moment across the Atlantic, Cassie stood at the entrance of a centuries–old cathedral in Rome, resplendent in a gown that caught the light filtering through stained glass. The elegant train followed her like gentle waves as she moved steadily forward, carrying a bouquet of perfect white lilies wrapped in her late father’s favorite
tie.
With each deliberate step, she drew closer to Fabio, who waited for her with visible emotion, his
hers.
s never leaving
Outside, white doves took flight, circling the ancient building as a quartet played Vivaldi, the music spilling onto the cobblestone streets where local Romans paused to witness the celebration.
Cassie placed her hand in Fabio’s, absolute certainty filling her as she began her vows. This was no fairy tale
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Chapter 24
ending–it was something far better. A beginning built on honesty, mutual respect, and a love that celebrated her exactly as she was.
From this day forward, she would journey hand–in–hand with her true partner, grateful for the painful path that had ultimately led her to genuine happiness–and to herself.
-Lifa
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