Until Debt Do Us Apart: His Dead Wife Returns

“Kealan, I want a divorce.” I slammed the papers on the desk to get his attention.

Kealan looked up at me for a second and then continued working on his computer.

“Kealan, I said I want a divorce.” This time my voice was firm. I tried to stand straight to keep my legs from trembling as I met his eyes.

“Catherine, do you really want a divorce?” My eyes welled up with tears this was the first time he had said my name in our three years of marriage.

“Valentina is back, so I don’t think I have a reason to still be her.” I noticed his expression change, but I couldn’t tell what was going on in his mind.

“We signed a contract for three years,” he said, without even looking at me.

“It’s been three years, Kealan. Plus, your wife is back from the dead.”

He finally looked at me.

“The contract clearly said three years, and there is still a month left.” He pushed his chair back and stood up. “The contract will be over in thirty days.”

He turned to leave. He was halfway up the stairs when I called out to him.

“Kealan.”He stopped, though he didn’t turn around.

“Then I have one request.” Seeing that he still wouldn’t say anything, I continued. “I want to be myself. For this one month, I want to be Catherine.” I wanted to live just this one last month with him as myself, not someone else.

“You can do whatever you want,” he said before disappearing down the hallway.

I opened the door to my room. It was decorated in soft pink. I opened my wardrobe to take out a dress every piece of clothing inside was either pink, blue, or white, because those were Valentina’s favorite colors.

I shut my eyes tightly, trying to bury the pain I had been holding in for years. The moment I opened them, the tears I was holding back came pouring out.

I let out a loud scream as I started throwing all the clothes out of the wardrobe. Then, I curled up in a corner of the room.

Three years of marriage. Three years of being someone else so long that I had even forgotten who Catherine was.

I woke up the next morning, still curled up in the corner.

“When did I fall asleep?” I let out a yawn and stood up.

I went to take a shower. When I walked out of the bathroom, my room was still a complete mess. “How didn’t I notice the mess I made last night?” My eyes scanned the clothes scattered all over the floor.

I walked to the wardrobe and pulled out a white shopping bag. Inside was a dress I had bought two years ago.

It was a short, long sleeved red gown. I hadn’t dared to wear it before because Valentina hated red, but I couldn’t take my eyes off it when I saw it on display.

I took my clip out from the drawer and pulled my hair back into a bun. I looked at myself in the mirror, no makeup.

I looked like Catherine again.

I walked to the door and took a deep breath before opening it and stepping out.

I froze in my steps. My heart felt like it was about to escape my rib cage. I swallowed hard before walking over to the dining table.

Kealan paused, holding his pancake close to his mouth as he stared at me. “Valentina,” he muttered out of habit.

The moment I heard him call me Valentina, I stopped in my tracks. “You agreed I could be Catherine for the remaining thirty days.” I didn’t know why he was doing this. Valentina was already back why couldn’t he just let me go?

“Sit down and eat, Catherine.” He emphasized my name.

I sat down and served myself three pancakes. Kealan reached for the blueberry and strawberry syrup and poured it over my pancakes.

“These are your favorites,” he said with a straight face.

I bit down on my lip to stop myself from crying. “I don’t like strawberry syrup, and I don’t even eat blueberries.” My voice trembled as I tried hard to keep myself from breaking down.

“But you always have them with your pancakes,” he said, a small frown forming on his face.

“That’s because Valentina likes them.” I pushed my chair back and stood up. “I don’t like pink dresses, they make me look childish, but I still wear them. And I hate dance classes.” Tears rolled down my face as I walked away. I paused on the stairs. “And by the way, I don’t play the piano.”

All of these were Valentina’s hobbies. I had gotten so used to doing them that I didn’t even know who I was anymore.

I shut my bedroom door and leaned against it. I wiped the tears from my eyes with my sleeve. “No, I can’t cry. I can’t.”

A loud sob escaped me as I slid down to the floor, hugging my knees as the tears came pouring out.

I was staring off into space when a knock came at the door.

“Madam, someone who looks like you is requesting to see Master,” a servant said from the other side.

I cleared my throat, trying my best to sound normal. “You can leave. I’ll be down soon.”

I went to the bathroom to wash my face, then came downstairs to find Kealan already in the living room with Valentina.

Valentina was yelling. “I want her out now, Kealan! I’m not dead!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. “I’m here now, Kealan, and I won’t leave again!” She tried to hug him, but he stepped back.

“You could have come back three years ago! You could have told me you survived, Valentina, but you didn’t!” It was the first time I had ever seen so much emotion on Kealan’s face.

“I’m sorry, love. I told you, I was in a coma and I just woke up. My first thought was to rush to you.” Valentina stepped forward and took his hands in both of hers.

“I thought you were dead, Valentina. A day before our wedding, you disappeared. I was told you were in an accident,I went crazy searching for you! I found nothing not even a body!”

“I thought you were dead, Valentina. A day before our wedding, you disappeared. I was told you were in an accident,I went crazy searching for you! I found nothing not even a body!” His eyes were red and a single tear dropped from his eyes.

Valentina hugged him, his hands wrapped around her waist.

This shouldn’t hurt right, I have watched him long for her for three years, why was it still hurting now.

“I’m sorry, Kealan. I’m so sorry. I promise I will make up for all these past years we were apart,” she said against his chest, her head buried in him.

I turned around and walked back to my room.

‘There is no use for me being here anymore, his ideal wife is back.’

My phone rang loudly, snapping me out of my thoughts. I answered and brought it to my ear.

“Hello?”

The person on the other end chuckled. “Hello, Valentina... or should I say, Catherine?”

I shut my eyes and pressed my lips together, trying to control my anger. “What do you want?”

“I heard Valentina is back, and my deal is still on.” He paused for a moment. “Catherine, you can still think about it.”

“We have a deal.” I didn’t want to think about it anymore.

“What?” He sounded shocked, as if he had been preparing ways to convince me.

“You heard me. I said we have a deal.”