Chapter 3

"Thanks again for helping with the immigration paperwork."

The words had barely left my mouth when the bedroom door suddenly swung open.

"Immigration? What immigration?" Gary walked in carrying a paper shopping bag, confusion in his voice.

My heart skipped, but I ended the call calmly. "Nothing. A friend is planning to move overseas and asked for my opinion."

Gary frowned, clearly suspicious.

He was about to ask more when he noticed the bed. Every inch of it was covered in documents.

He froze.

"Why did you take all of these out?"

He tossed the bag aside and picked up one of the papers at random.

"Fifty-eight? There are this many?"

A flicker of panic crossed his face. His eyes scanned the bed, clearly searching for the latest divorce agreement.

But I was faster. I gathered the papers into a pile and shoved them back into the locked box.

Then, I changed the subject as if nothing had happened.

"Why are you back? Weren't you supposed to be with Priscilla? Aren't you worried she'll get mad?"

In the past, the moment I mentioned Priscilla, Gary would immediately shift his attention away from me.

But today, something was different.

He tugged at his tie and spoke in a low voice, "Aren't you happy I came home?"

I froze. My body felt stiff, like a statue.

"Of course, I'm happy."

His expression softened a little.

Almost proudly, he handed me the paper bag from the floor.

Inside was a soft gray designer handbag.

"Didn't your mom always want one of these?" he said. "A friend of mine just got back from Caldrith, so I had him bring it back. Take it to your mom tomorrow."

For a moment, I didn't know if he was pretending to be innocent or deliberately trying to provoke me.

My mother died three months ago because of him.

What was this supposed to be? A burial offering?

Tears suddenly streamed down my face. I jumped off the bed, grabbed a pair of scissors, and started hacking the bag to pieces.

"What are you doing?"

Gary stared at me in shock, reaching out to stop me.

"Do you know how hard it was to get that bag? Even Priscilla asked for one, and I didn't give it to her. What the heck are you doing?"

I swung my hand and slapped him across the face. My voice broke as I shouted.

"Then give it to her! Why give it to me? Gary, you're disgusting!"

The room went silent. We both froze.

In the five years we had been married, aside from the first few fights, I had never lost control in front of him again.

Because I always remembered the night I received the 32nd agreement.

The night I lost our baby.

I stood barefoot on the cold floor, my hair a mess, completely out of my mind. I had grabbed Gary and screamed that I wanted to die with him.

He had calmly pried my fingers off him one by one. Then, he sighed and said coldly, "If I'd known you were this crazy, I wouldn't have helped you back then."

So the man who once saved me when I needed him most had long regretted it.

Tears and mucus smeared across my face. I was shaking so badly that I could barely breathe. I gripped the edge of the bed, as if I might collapse.

Gary stepped forward, trying to steady me.

But then, I caught the scent on him.

It was jasmine, Priscilla's favorite perfume.

For five years, night after night, I had fallen asleep with that smell lingering in the air. My drawer had been filled with allergy medication because of it.

Thinking about it now, I almost laughed.

I steadied myself and pushed Gary away, ignoring the complicated look in his eyes.

I didn't even bother packing. I only took the box filled with those ridiculous divorce agreements.

Step by step, I walked out of the house.

Two more days.

In two days, even if he searched every corner of this country, he still wouldn't find me.

-

At 3 a.m., I finally fell into a deep sleep in my hotel suite.

Gary didn't sleep at all that night.

When I woke up the next day, I checked my phone.

Thirty-eight missed calls.

The first one came seven minutes after I left the house.

The last one came at 6 a.m.

After washing up and grabbing some breakfast, I spent the whole day lying around in the hotel room.

It wasn't until 8 p.m. that I finally called a cab and headed home.

I had already checked Priscilla's social media.

Tonight, she and Gary were supposed to be at the movies.