I Was His Wife, Then His Widow, Then No One's But My Own novel Chapter 169

When they arrived home, Cassie tossed her little backpack onto the sofa. Without even changing her shoes properly, she went stomping up the stairs.

Nora stood in the entryway, watching her figure disappear at the top of the stairs without asking a single question. She swapped her shoes for slippers, went straight into the kitchen, took shrimp and squid out of the fridge, and began prepping them.

Cassie closed the door to her room, pulled her tablet from under her pillow, and flopped onto her bed to initiate a video call with Seraphina.

Once the call connected, her little legs kicked back and forth in the air, a smug, eager-to-please excitement lighting up her face. "Seraphina! My mom picked me up tonight! Didn't you say the other day that you wanted my mom's seafood chowder? I already told her to make it. Once she's done, I'll tell her to leave, and then you can come get me, okay?"

Seraphina's gentle voice quickly replied from the tablet. "Your mom came? Isn't she injured? How is she picking you up?"

Cassie rolled over dismissively. "Mom looks much better. She can drive, so making the chowder is definitely no problem. Are you coming or not?"

What Seraphina was worried about naturally wasn't the chowder. She was concerned about Nora slipping further and further out of her control lately.

But she didn't voice any of this to Cassie. Instead, her eyes curved into a smile. "Alright, thank you, Cassie. I'll be over soon."

Cassie hung up the call, satisfied, and tossed the tablet onto the bed. Her little nose had already caught the scent of the seafood chowder wafting up from the kitchen downstairs.

The savory aroma of shrimp and squid sizzling in hot oil, mixed with the rich, thick scent of slow-cooked broth, slipped through the door and filled her room.

She hadn't had it in days. The seafood chowder her mother made was better than any restaurant out there.

An hour later, Cassie finally deigned to come downstairs. Nora had already ladled the chowder into bowls and set them on the dining table. She untied her apron, draped it over the back of a chair, and seeing Cassie tiptoeing closer, said flatly, "It's ready. Come eat."

Nora looked at the barely concealed excitement in her daughter's eyes, her tone as placid as ever. "Yes, I have things to do."

She folded the apron, placed it on the counter, and grabbed her coat to drape over her shoulders. "I'm leaving now."

She knew about Cassie contacting Seraphina, and she could guess exactly whose mouth this bowl of seafood chowder would ultimately end up in.

She had no intention of stopping it. She would be completely severed from the Fletcher family soon anyway, and Cassie would go on to live with Seraphina and Finnegan.

In this limited remaining time, she wanted to grant her daughter one last sliver of satisfaction, if only as a final closure for her own ten years of dedication.

Hearing this, Cassie immediately hopped off the chair, ran over, and hugged Nora's waist. "Okay. Have a safe trip, Mom!"