The Words You Forgot

Cassian didn't come home until two in the morning.

When he saw me drenched from head to toe, he frowned. "Why are you still up in the middle of the night? Look at the state you're in. Don't you have work tomorrow?" he asked disdainfully.

My hands were slick with cold sweat, and my voice came out hoarse. "Where were you?"

He casually looked down as he changed his shoes, not even bothering to look at me. "Same as always. Working late."

"Working late all the way to picking Celine up from work, is that it?"

His hands stopped abruptly.

He looked up and gave me a quick glance without saying a word. He couldn't even be bothered to pretend anymore.

In that moment, all the fear and hurt I'd been forcing down all night came crashing out.

I stumbled toward him, my eyes red as I glared at him.

"I called you 13 times for help. You said you didn't have time, yet you drove 18 miles out of your way to pick up Celine. Cassian, have you forgotten who's your actual wife?"

He hurled his shoes into the cabinet, the impact sending a dull thud through the entryway.

He turned and looked down at me. "That's enough, Sienna! I married you. That doesn't make me your personal chauffeur or bodyguard!

"Are you seriously comparing yourself to Celine? She's a young woman living alone. Do you have any idea how dangerous that is? If I didn't go pick her up and something happened to her, how could you expect me to live with myself?"

I grabbed his sleeve in disbelief, my mind flashing back to the look in that man's eyes in the dark alley.

My whole body began to shake uncontrollably.

"But you know I have severe night blindness! There weren't even any streetlights on that road, and that creep followed me for three whole blocks. All night, I kept wishing you'd come get me. Even if you couldn't come, you could've at least stayed on the phone with me and told me not to be afraid."

A powerful shove suddenly sent me stumbling backward.

I hit the floor hard, pain shooting through my back until my vision went black. Yet, his eyes held nothing but undisguised reproach.

"Sienna, this time, you jumped at shadows and convinced yourself someone was following you. What about next time? Am I supposed to drop everything and become your full-time bodyguard every time a stray cat happens to cross your path?

"When did you become so fragile? Just because Celine and I are close, do you have to keep driving a wedge between us? When are you going to learn from Celine? Be more understanding, considerate, and kind like she is!"

His words were poisoned blades, each one cutting into my heart. I didn't know when I'd become the kind of woman he saw me as.

I only knew that, as his wife, I was asserting the one right I had left.

I didn't want my husband getting a late-night call from another woman and immediately dropping everything to go running to her.

I didn't want to make plans to travel with my husband, only for him to abandon me before our flight took off, choosing to go on vacation with another woman somewhere else.

And I certainly couldn't stand the vague, overly intimate relationship between them.

When I fell silent, he walked straight into the kitchen and pulled out two boxes of cold medicine.

He walked past me as I sat slumped on the floor without even breaking stride. "Celine caught a cold after getting soaked in the rain tonight. I need to get these to her. From now on, don't bother me with these little complaints over nothing."

He pulled open the door. Cold night air rushed inside, making my whole body tremble.

"I'm not coming back tonight. I'm worried Celine might spike a high fever and have no one to take care of her."

He didn't even give me a chance to argue.

The front door slammed shut, and I watched his taillights disappear into the rainy night.

That was when I finally broke. I sank to the floor in the entryway.

Whatever little hope I'd had left for him was completely crushed.

With trembling hands, I pulled out my phone and sent a message to my best friend, who was a lawyer. "Draft a divorce agreement for me. I want it as soon as possible."