Too Late to Keep Her

By the time the police arrived, Tristan was standing coldly to one side, watching as the workers dismantled the mood lighting I had carefully arranged.

The intimate products I had painstakingly saved up to buy were also smashed and thrown at my feet.

"You're just as disgusting as ever, Jefferson."

The sharp edge of one of the packaging boxes scraped across my cheek, leaving a stinging pain that made my eyes redden despite my best efforts.

I bit my lip hard, stubbornly refusing to let the tears fall, but Tristan only sneered more viciously.

"I heard you ate nothing but dinner rolls for half a year just to save money for this garbage. You really went to a lot of trouble, didn't you? Since you're not ashamed of yourself, I'll indulge you tonight."

I parted my lips, wanting to explain.

I wanted to tell him that I had never meant anything malicious by it. I had only wanted my seriously ill grandmother to have no regrets before she died.

I had only wanted to fulfill his grandmother's…

But he did not give me a chance to explain. He turned toward the police, who stood there looking uncomfortable, and said coldly, "My wife attempted to rape me. Please deal with her according to the law."

I stared at him in disbelief. I never imagined he would actually call the police, much less accuse me of something like this.

Two female officers politely but firmly helped me to my feet and prepared to take me away. Fighting through my humiliation, I tried to grab a coat to cover myself, only for Tristan to step on it. "You've already thrown away all your shame. Why bother putting clothes on now?"

As I was led out the door, I heard him make a phone call. "Old Mrs. Jefferson? This is Tristan. I'm sorry to disturb you so late at night… Sylvia took advantage of me while I was drunk and forced herself on me…"

"No! Don't!"

Every shred of reason I had left snapped instantly.

I struggled free like a madwoman and lunged toward him, trying to snatch the phone away. But I missed and fell heavily to the floor.

I crawled over and grabbed the hem of his trousers, begging him through my pain. "I'm sorry! You can punish me however you want! Just don't tell my grandmother. Her heart is weak…"

However, he pried my fingers off one by one. "It's too late."

Then, into the phone, he said each word with deliberate clarity. "She's been arrested for rape."

He ended the call and shut the door in my face, the entire sequence of movements completed without the slightest hesitation.

All I could do was hold myself together in the police car and keep trying to call my grandmother. But none of my calls went through.

…

By the time they took my statement, dawn had begun to break, and my grandmother arrived in a wheelchair, her face deathly pale.

The moment she saw me, her eyes turned red. "Sylvia… My darling, you've suffered so much…"

Those few words shattered the last of the defenses I had desperately been holding together.

Tears poured down my face like a never-ending waterfall.

The caregiver standing nearby, however, spoke with barely concealed sarcasm. "Ms. Jefferson, you really should show some restraint, too!

"Your grandmother was sent to the ICU again last night because you upset her. She had only just been resuscitated, yet she rushed here to see you…"