Chapter 8

'Tried to kill himself?' Garrick slowly raised his head and looked at the woman before him, her face contorted with rage. All he felt was a sense of absurdity so overwhelming that he almost laughed.

His lips curved slightly, but his voice remained flat and steady. "First, I didn't sell anything to the tabloids. Second, he posted that video on his own account. If he was brave enough to post it, why would he be afraid of what people say?"

Josephine's temples throbbed with fury at his indifference. "You! Garrick! Won't you stop until you've driven him to his death?

"Silas is simple and kind. He doesn't understand all these twisted schemes! All he did was post something on his own account, and you, with your vicious heart, leaked that video!

"Now the whole world is calling him a homewrecker! How is he supposed to show his face anywhere after this?"

Garrick regarded her coldly. "Whether he's a homewrecker or not, don't you already know the answer?"

Josephine's voice dropped to a low growl. "There's nothing improper between us! I already told you, nothing has happened between us since that time!

"Garrick, how much longer are you going to hold on to this? This has gotten completely out of hand. It's damaging his reputation.

"I've arranged a press conference. You're going there right now, and you're going to apologize to him in front of the entire country. Otherwise, you can forget about ever getting this back."

She pulled out her phone, found a photo, and held it up for him to see.

It showed a ruby brooch his mother had left him, a keepsake from his grandmother and his mother's most treasured possession before her death. It had remained locked away in a bank safe deposit box ever since.

Josephine's voice turned cold. "If you don't go to that press conference, apologize, and clear his name as I've asked, you'll never see this brooch again. I mean every word."

Garrick stared at the familiar brooch in the photo, and a chill swept through his entire body, as though he had been plunged into a pit of ice.

She was using his mother's keepsake against him, all for another man.

"Josephine..." His voice broke under the weight of his pain and disbelief. "Are you even human anymore?"

Josephine looked away, though her tone remained just as hard. "The choice is yours. Go apologize, and you'll get the brooch back. Refuse, and you'll have to live with the consequences."

Garrick studied her cold profile. This was the woman he had loved for half his life, yet the last faint ember of that love finally went out, leaving nothing but cold ashes behind.

"Fine." He heard himself speak, his voice so calm that it frightened even him. "I'll go."

…

The press conference took place in a conference hall at the Hawthorne Group building. The floor below the stage was packed with reporters, their cameras all trained on Garrick.

He wore plain, unremarkable clothes. His face was pale, his eyes vacant, and he read word for word from the script Josephine's assistant had given him.

"Regarding the recent false rumors circulating online about Mr. Silas Morrison, I would like to formally clarify, for the record, that Mr. Morrison is not a third party in my marriage. He and my wife, Ms. Josephine Hawthorne, share nothing more than an ordinary friendship.

"All these rumors arose from my own jealousy. I misinterpreted the nature of their relationship and spread false information, which caused serious damage to Mr. Morrison's reputation.

"I feel deep guilt and regret over my actions, and I offer my sincerest apologies to Mr. Morrison and his family. I hope everyone will stop spreading false information and allow him to move forward in peace."

His voice was flat and mechanical, as though he were reading a verdict that had nothing to do with him.

Camera flashes went off incessantly below the stage, and the reporters bombarded him with sharp, merciless questions.

"Mr. Langdon, are you admitting that jealousy drove you to falsely accuse Mr. Morrison?"

"Has your marriage to Ms. Hawthorne been nothing more than a formality for some time now?"

"Is this apology an expression of genuine remorse, or were you pressured into making it?"

Garrick kept his eyes lowered and answered none of their questions. He merely repeated what the script instructed him to say.

At last, the press conference ended.

With bodyguards on either side of him, Garrick kept his head down and hurried toward the parking lot.

The moment he stepped outside the building, the crowd gathered there erupted into an uproar.

"That's him! That vicious man!"

"He was so jealous that he framed someone as a homewrecker!"

"Disgusting! Shameless!"

Rotten vegetables, spoiled eggs, and even small stones flew at him from every direction.

The barrage sent Garrick staggering backward, his hair and clothes smeared with filth.

He looked up, and amid the chaos, two small, familiar faces caught his eye.

Caleb and Ruby stood among the crowd, each with something in hand, and hurled their makeshift weapons at him with all their strength.

Caleb threw a sharp-edged stone that struck Garrick squarely in the forehead.

A sharp pain shot through his head, and warm blood immediately began to flow, blurring his vision.

He stood frozen, staring at the twins a short distance away. Their faces shone with excitement and righteous satisfaction as they hurled objects at their own father.

Whatever remained alive in his heart finally died. Even the last thread of blood that bound them together had snapped, severed by their own hands.

Darkness swallowed his vision, and he crumpled to the ground.

…

When Garrick regained consciousness, he was back in his bedroom at home. Gauze covered his forehead, which throbbed with a dull ache.

Josephine stood beside the bed. When she saw him wake, her expression betrayed nothing, and she spoke in a flat, even tone. "I hope you actually learn something from this. I won't be home for a while. Silas' condition is still unstable, so I need to stay with him at the hospital."

She paused, then added, "This is what you owe him. It's only right that I make it up to him."

With that, she turned and left without another glance at him.

Garrick was alone in the bedroom, surrounded by silence. He lay motionless, without tears or anger.

His phone screen lit up with a message from his lawyer.

[Mr. Langdon, all the divorce paperwork is complete. As requested, the divorce documents have been sent by courier to the address you provided. They're expected to arrive this afternoon.]

The enormous weight that had pressed down on Garrick's chest for so long finally lifted.

He slowly sat up, walked to the window, and gazed out at the bright sunlight.

…

The courier arrived that afternoon, right on schedule.

Garrick opened the envelope and found two documents inside.

He picked up his copy, opened it, and stared at the two words printed across it: Divorce Certificate. Beneath them were their two names, side by side.

His fingers trembled slightly. Then he gently placed Josephine's copy on the bedside table.

Beside it stood the suitcase he had packed long ago.

Today was also the last day of the month, the day he was scheduled to leave for the front lines.

There were no goodbyes. He had no reason to linger.

Garrick picked up his suitcase and took one last look at the place that had once held all the love and grief he had ever known. Then he turned, stepped outside, and closed the door behind him, shutting away everything from his past once and for all.