Chapter 9

Jeff did not visit the hospital the week after that, and once Cecilia was better, she checked herself out of the hospital on her own.

Back at their apartment, she packed up her things. For the things she did not need anymore, she had the cleaning lady toss them out. The things she wanted to keep, she had a delivery service box up and shipped to Riverie City.

She had her own place in Riverie City before she came to the capital, so she did not have to worry about where to put her belongings.

After that, Cecilia got rid of everything they had bought together in the apartment, like their matching coffee mugs and pajamas.

She was leaving, and it was time to wipe away every last trace of her life there.

Time to clear the way for Jeff's new sweetheart.

Once she finished, Cecilia went to look up flight tickets on her phone but saw a post from Yvonne instead.

[It's so wonderful to have someone with you at the prenatal checkup. Our little one is doing great, and so is my big guy.]

The photo showed two hands holding tight. The mole on one hand was right where Jeff's would be.

Cecilia clicked on Yvonne's profile and saw all the posts she had made that week:

[A new little life is growing inside me, and it's so touching.]

[A man has to really love you to want you to have his baby. Some people just don't get it.]

[It doesn't matter how much she tries to hold on, his heart is here with me, and so is he.]

All the photos showed Jeff taking care of her in different ways.

Even though the photo did not show the person's full face, Cecilia could tell it was Jeff from the little bits that showed. She was looking at the pictures so intently that she did not notice it had gotten dark outside.

When Jeff walked in and flicked on the light, he jumped a little at seeing Cecilia there. "Cecilia, you're out of the hospital? When did you get back?" he asked.

Cecilia put her phone away and said without much feeling, "This morning."

"Why didn't you tell me to come get you? I'm sorry, I've been really swamped with work at the company these days," Jeff started to say, but he stopped when he saw that Cecilia was not even looking at him. It was like she did not care where he had been or what he had been up to.

She just said, "I'm going to take a shower," and went into the bedroom.

Jeff felt a growing worry inside him.

Over the next few days, he made sure to come home from work on time, and Cecilia was always there, but his worry did not go away. He tried to talk to her about their wedding plans. "My assistant brought over some wedding stuff this morning. You got it all, right?" he asked.

Cecilia had her head down in a book and did not look up. "It's all in the living room."

"Let's open the boxes and start decorating…" Jeff began, walking over to her.

However, Cecilia quickly got up from the bed. "I'm going to take a shower. You can do the decorating," she said.

He reached out a hand, but he only caught the edge of her nightgown before it slipped away.

His worry deepened. He went to the living room and saw the pile of wedding things on the floor. The apartment should have felt fuller with all the new stuff, but somehow it felt more empty than ever.

He was feeling all mixed up inside and decided to change into his pajamas and take a shower, but he just could not find his favorite pajamas anywhere.

"Cecilia, where's that black pajama set you gave me? The matching one for couples?"

"I threw it out." Her reply was blunt.

He was taken aback. "Why'd you throw them out? I really liked those pajamas."

"They were old, so I threw them out." Cecilia, with her backpack slung over her shoulder, walked to the door. Today was her last day in Zephyr City. She was getting ready to go out and cancel all her things—bank cards, phone cards, everything.

She figured she would not be coming back anyway.

Jeff's brow furrowed as he heard that, and he said quickly. "You gotta remember to get me a new set. Wait, where are you headed?"

He hurried to the door, calling out to Cecilia, who was already waiting for the elevator.

Cecilia spoke evenly: "I've got some errands."

Jeff wanted to ask what she was up to, but the elevator dinged, and Cecilia stepped in and went down.

For some reason, seeing Cecilia like that made Jeff's heart race. He had that nagging feeling that something was about to happen.

He went back inside, pulled out his phone, and sent Cecilia a message: [Don't forget we're getting our marriage certificate tomorrow.]

Cecilia did not answer, so he sent another message: [?]

Hours later, she finally replied: [Got it.]

Jeff stared at those two words for the longest time. It was not until Yvonne called, sobbing and saying she was not feeling good, that he turned off his phone with a grim look and stood up to go see Yvonne.