My Birthday, My Downfall novel Chapter 44

Two days later, when Noah returned home with Eileen's ashes from the funeral home, it felt eerily empty. Marie had already been sent away and their adoption bond severed because she had insulted Eileen.

As he placed the ashes on the table, he felt the vastness of the house more than ever. He entered Eileen's room, hoping to find something worth keeping, but it was filled with Marie's things. Where were Eileen's belongings?

A headache swelled. He remembered telling Marie that she could take whatever space she wanted, and it seemed she'd shoved Eileen into storage.

In the storage room, Eileen's things fit into a single battered suitcase—the one he'd bought for her in college. She had loved that color and never replaced it.

Opening the suitcase revealed some old clothes from years ago. He suddenly remembered how Eileen had loved to shop, dragging Rosy along, both of them laughing and asking him for money.

But after Rosy's death, it seemed Eileen hadn't bought anything new.

His heart ached. Then, looking deeper, he found a tattered file folder. Taking it out, several items fell out—a pink gemstone necklace and a handwritten prayer book.

He recognized the necklace as Rosy's birthday gift to Eileen, celebrating her first-place win in a dance competition. So that was why Eileen had fought with Marie.

And the prayer book?

Flipping it open, he saw a hand-written passage of a prayer for the deceased, in her handwriting meant for Rosy.

Tears welled in Noah's eyes. For six years, he had been trapped in his own anguish, but what about Eileen? Didn't she suffer too? She hadn't wanted Rosy to be hurt; it was his unwillingness to face their shared guilt that brought them here.

Fighting back tears, he dug through Eileen's belongings. He found two medical reports: one for late-stage stomach cancer and the other for severe depression.

Boom!

It was like a bomb had exploded in his head. He trembled as he tried to hold the papers, unable to comprehend the weight of it all.

Late-stage cancer and severe depression...