Delicate

Chapter Thirty Five

I'll be doing a Q&A at the end of the book, so you can ask any questions about the plot, characters and/or author here!

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It was the last day of school before Christmas break, and Milan was confused when he reached home and his parents' cars were still in the driveway. He had left before his parents in the morning, which wasn't unusual, but they should've been at work now.

Milan walked inside to find his parents sitting in the living room. From the looks of it, they were discussing something serious. Milan had a gut feeling about what the matter was, but he didn't want to make any assumptions.

"Mila, come sit with us," his mom said.

Milan nodded wordlessly, and kept his bag on the table before sitting next to his mom. She opened her mouth to say something, but closed it again. It was as if she was struggling to speak up, which reinforced Milan's suspicion.

"Your mother and I are getting a divorce," his dad finally stated.

Milan glanced at his dad, and then back at his mom. His mom nodded, a sullen expression on her face.

"Oh," Milan blinked, "okay."

"We're really sorry that it has come to this—" his mom was interrupted by Milan shaking his head. He kept a reassuring hand on her arm as he spoke up.

"Sometimes marriages don't work out. I'm old enough to understand that. You have nothing to apologise to me for," Milan said.

Frankly, a part of Milan was glad that his parents were getting divorced. He didn't know whether that made him a terrible person or not, but he knew his parents' marriage had been stressful for a long time now. They were two very different people, and he knew both of them would be better off away from each other.

"Well, now that this is over—" his dad spoke as he stood up "—I'll be moving out by this weekend."

"Wait, what about Christmas?" Milan asked with a frown.

"I'll be at your grandmother's house. You're welcome to join me," he answered.

Milan's frown grew deeper as he looked at his father. Unlike him, his mom's parents were still living in Korea. That meant it he spent Christmas with his dad and grandparents, then his mom would be alone. And there was no way in hell he was going to leave her alone on Christmas of all days.

"I'll stay with mom," Milan replied.

His dad gave him a firm nod, before turning around and going upstairs. Once the two could no longer hear his footsteps, Milan's mom wrapped her arm around her son's shoulder and pulled him closer.

"Thank you," she said, her voice barely a whisper. "For being so mature about the divorce, and for staying with me."

"You're my mom, this is the least I can do for you," Milan replied. "And don't take this the wrong way but... you're much better off without dad."

His mom chuckled. "Well, that's kind of the thought behind divorcing him."

"Why now?" Milan asked. His mom tilted her head slightly in confusion, so Milan clarified. "Why the decision to divorce him now? After all these years?"

"I— that is not for you to know, Milan," his mom answered.

"Mom," Milan frowned, "you just said i handled this maturely. I'm not a child anymore."

"This is different, I don't want to do or say anything to ruin your relationship with your father."

"We don't have much of a relationship to begin with." Milan shrugged.