05: Thank You

WINTER:

I smiled sadly at the realization that my husband had already decided he was going to leave me. “You cannot be stopped, Calcifer.”

Calcifer smiled sadly. “I already decided, pumpkin. I am leaving,” he stated quietly. “This is for the best.”

For the best? What kind of twisted idea was that? I loved him so why was he leaving me? 

How could he be so unfair?

My heart continued to bleed like crazy.

If only I had the power to make him stay…

You can make him stay if you tell him that you two are expecting a baby!

My hands laid protectively on my stomach.

If he already left me over some simple thing, how much more if it was already serious?

Calcifer was the type of man who would leave whenever he had the chance to and telling him that we would soon be parents just to make him stay was something I did not want to do.

I tried to memorize his face for the last time. His nose. His jaw. The beautiful colors of his eyes. Everything about him. How could it come to this? I loved this man so much if he only knew. 

I breathed deeply, trying to contain the pain before I could burst into tears.

There will be no waterfalls. I won’t gonna cry in front of him. I had to show him that I was not affected by this and that he could go on with his life. I did not give a damn. 

“Since when?” Did my voice shiver in the end? I hoped it did not. I did not want to look pathetic. 

“The moment you withdraw from me. It made me think and realize something. I did not want to be with someone who would shut me off without even saying anything at all. You keep me in the dark. That's not the kind of marriage I want even if this was nothing but a contract marriage. I want this marriage to be real.”

He was only saying that it was because of me shutting him off. The moment he did not even ask me why I shut him off was enough to tell me there were far more reasons than that. 

Carmela. 

It had something to do with that woman.

I picked the glass of water even if I was tempted to drink wine, but remembered I was pregnant,  and emptied the contents.

“Such bullshit, Calcifer. Just tell me the truth that the real reason is Carmela. You’re throwing the blame on me when in fact it had something to do with your woman.”

His expression turned dark. “Leave her out of this. She is innocent. It was never about Carmela. It was always about you and me.”

I put the glass on the table. 

“And now you are defending her. You’re making a fool out of me. Do you want to divorce me? Fine. I will sign the divorce paper and then marry the richest man I could lay my eyes on. There were a lot of men who were after me. Men whom I did not choose because Dad had chosen you for me.” 

It was not that impossible given Dad’s connection. There were a lot of men who wanted to marry our family, wanting to be the next heir to our family business. I could easily change my husband.

“Think what you want. I don’t care. I already tell you the reason. It was because of your withdrawal and is not transparent. Pumpkin. I am your husband and I deserve to know whatever is going on with you.” 

I shook my head. “No. Stop saying those kinds of bullshit. This is your true color,” I commented.

“You can think whatever you want.” He pulled out a pen and without hesitating, affixed my signatures with a heavy heart. 

When I was done, I shoved the documents next to him.

“I will be sending you a copy,” he declared. 

I folded my arms in front of my chest. 

“Does Dad already know about this?” I asked. “Who did you call earlier?”

“My sister. She’s the first one to know.”

“You don’t have plans on telling Dad? Why would you pass me the burden? Have you lost your balls?”

“Your father was nothing but good to me. Your family is. That’s why I tried my best to make this marriage work. As the saying goes, it takes two to tango. How could this marriage work if I’m the only one trying? I got tired of reaching out to you, pumpkin. It was hard to break the barrier that you had built around you.”

My hands trembled. “You think you’re the only one who tried? You think you’re the only hero? I did try, too, Calcifer, but it was never enough for you.”

He poured another wine into his glass and drank the contents.

“I will be leaving this house tomorrow. All my clothes had been taken away.”

That fast? His excitement never failed to show. Was I that bad of a wife that he was in a hurry to leave me?

I smiled sadly. He had been planning this for so long without me having any idea.

I was about to ask him where he would stay, but I stopped myself.  Not knowing where he was staying would be better since I might get tempted to go after him and ask him to start over. I did not want to run after him and beg him to stay. He was the one who was leaving this marriage and if he had plans of coming back, it would be his own decision. Not mine.

Winter Morgan never begged.

“Good for you. Don’t leave anything else. When you move out tomorrow, I want no traces of you.”

I stood and tried to act calm and brave, even though I wanted to cry right now. My heart was already grieving for my loss. 

One day, Calcifer will regret that he divorced me. I will make sure of this.  

“Thank you for staying for two years, pumpkin,” he said and stood. “This is our goodbye. I hope you will be happy.”

How could I be happy when the father of my child will be leaving me?