Chapter 9
+25 BONUS
The door creaked open, and in the dim light, Stephen’s face was cold, his expression unreadable. His eyes held a mixture of emotions as he looked at me.
Lying in the bed, I furrowed my brow, uneasy. He tucked the blanket around me carefully, then went over to draw the curtains closed.
“Sorry, Alison…” His apology barely reached my ears, swept away by the night breeze, barely audible.
The next morning, when I opened my eyes, he was already gone. The only sign he’d been there was the steaming hot chicken soup sitting in the thermos on the nightstand.
I had the nurse dispose of the food container and ordered a fresh hospital breakfast. The nurse hesitated, looking at me with uncertainty.
After a long pause, she finally spoke, her voice tentative, “You don’t know yet, do you? This morning, your husband called the police and had someone arrested from the hospital. Before he headed to the police station to handle things, he made sure to tell us to take extra good care of you.”
I lifted my head and asked coolly, “Who did he have arrested?”
“The one who tried to drag you down the stairs the other day!”
I checked my phone, and sure enough, the news article had a photo of Daisy, her face twisted with anger. It seemed the plot had been exposed, and she didn’t even bother to keep up the pretense anymore. She had reverted to her true nature.
The comments were full of speculation. They said she had intentionally pushed a pregnant woman, which was as close to attempted murder as it could get. There was a strong chance she’d be facing prison time.
But as I read the comments, I felt nothing. Even if they killed her, it wouldn’t bring my child back.
Stephen was just afraid that if I divorced him, he’d be left with nothing. Everything he did was to protect his own interests.
Seeing that I didn’t respond, the nurse gave up and set the breakfast down before leaving.
I turned off my phone and ate in silence.
Stephen returned to the hospital in a hurry, but he didn’t say a word to me. He simply came into my ward and started taking care of me.
There was an unspoken understanding between us. He didn’t say anything, and I didn’t ask.
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Chapter 9
+25 BONUS
A week passed, and I was finally able to get out of bed. The doctor said there were no major
one and that I could go home to recover.
Stephen immediately pulled out a black card and insisted that I stay in the hospital longer.
I couldn’t hold it in anymore.
“I’m leaving the hospital. What’s wrong with you?”
“You’ll have someone here to look after you. If you go home, I’ll have to work. I can’t just leave you alone.”
His stubbornness and earnestness made me feel like I had been transported back five
years.
“But we can never go back to the way we were. And wasn’t that black card mine to begin with?”
I slammed the divorce papers down in front of him.
“Sign it.”
“You’re crazy! Is this really how you want to destroy our happy family? What about the kids? If you withdraw the funds, the company is finished!”
“I’ve given enough over these five years. The house is mine, the money is mine, and now even the kids hate me. I’ll still pay my share of the child support. Goodbye.”
As I finished speaking, he looked completely devastated.
“Alison, can’t you just give me one more chance?”
I lifted the hem of my hospital gown, revealing my abdomen covered in scars.
“What, now you don’t find it disgusting? Stephen, I’m not the same Alison anymore. And you’re not the same either. What we had is long over.”
I stubbornly arranged for my discharge.
He was angry and gave me the silent treatment, refusing to sign the divorce papers.
After dropping me off at home, he went straight to work.
The kids were taken to his parents‘ house, and I was alone, packing my things for Zarovia.
That night, I went through all the gifts he’d given me over the last five years.
To my surprise, they didn’t even fill up a small cardboard box.
When I took it downstairs to throw away, I didn’t hesitate.
Just as I dropped the box into the trash, he pulled into the driveway.
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Chapter 9
+25 BONUS
He came inside, washed his hands, and went straight to the kitchen.
Two hours later, I found a full table of food waiting for me, including a beautifully roasted turkey. It wasn’t until then that I realized he had been cooking for me.
Thinking back on those five years, I realized I had never once tasted his cooking.
I suddenly found myself laughing bitterly at the irony.
The meal felt tasteless, like I couldn’t swallow it.
With the thought of leaving tomorrow, I pushed down all my
emotions.
But after cleaning up the table, he took a gift box out of his coat and placed it in front of me.
“Our five–year anniversary gift. Take a look.”
“I don’t need it. Keep it for your next one.”
“Alison, do you have to be so hurtful?”
“Compared to what Daisy said about me, I’d call that a compliment.”
Daisy might not show her face again, but she had already become an insurmountable obstacle between us.
We both knew that.
That night, my phone kept vibrating with Stephen’s apologetic messages. But I couldn’t bring myself to look at them.
When morning came, I heard the sound of the door closing as he left.
I got up, washed up, and called a taxi to the airport.
On the way, I blocked every one of his contacts.
I left a single message. [Never again. Bye.]
I left the house for my children and him, and I made sure the monthly support payments would cover their needs.
I took everything else–his company, all of it.
Letting go of this relationship was easier than I had expected.
Maybe all those moments from the past were just the result of too much disappointment.
After everything, I had no regrets.
As the plane took off, I said goodbye to the person I used to be.
I hoped that each new day would be better than the one before.
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Chapter 9
At that moment, I finally woke up.
