ตรวนเสน่หาพาริช

Elena's Pov

The front door clicks shut behind me. I shift the paper bag higher against my hip, careful not to crush it, and nudge my heels off with the edge of my foot.

The apartment is quiet. Too quiet for this time of night. I barely notice.

My attention is on the bag, on the warmth still clinging to the paper, on the ridiculous fact that I stood in line for twenty minutes just to get it right. Alexander hates when the bread gets soggy.

I listen for footsteps. There are none. No voice. No sign that he even knows I'm home.

"That's fine," I murmur, more to myself than anyone else. "It's not like he waits."

My bare feet press against the marble floor as I move further in. The house is dim except for the low glow spilling from the hallway lights, clean and untouched, like a showroom instead of a home. Three years, and I still haven't figured out how to make it feel like anything else.

I climb the stairs anyway. The paper bag rustles faintly with each step. There's a strange, quiet anticipation sitting in my chest.. not excitement, not really, but something close enough that I don't question it.

Maybe tonight he'll notice.

I almost laugh at myself halfway up.

"Don't start," I whisper.

By the time I reach the hallway, the house feels even quieter. The door to the master bedroom is slightly ajar, a thin strip of warm light cutting across the dark floor. I pause, shifting the bag in my hands.

"Alexander?" I call lightly.

No answer.

I push the door open.

The bag slips from my hands before I fully process what I'm seeing. The soft thud of it hitting the floor barely registers. For a moment nothing moves, not even me. I stop breathing.

Alexander is in the bed.

And he isn't alone.

Leo turns first. His expression changes too quickly… surprise, then something sharper, something almost guilty. I don't react to it. I don't react to anything. My gaze drifts over the sheets twisted around bare skin, the disheveled pillows, the familiarity of this space warped into something I don't recognize.

My best friend.

My husband.

In our bed.

"E-Elena—" Leo starts, pushing himself up, his voice cracking in a way I've never heard from him before.

I don't answer.

For a suspended second, everything feels distant, like I'm watching it from somewhere outside my own body. My mind doesn't shatter. It simply aligns. The late nights. The unread messages. The way Alexander never looked at me but never quite let me go either. The quiet, creeping sense that I was the only one still pretending this marriage meant anything.

It settles into place with a clarity that almost feels like relief.

"Say something," Leo says, sharper now, more desperate. "Elena, this isn't—"

I turn before he can finish. I don't cry. I don't shake. I just make a clean, quiet movement toward the door.

"Elena," he calls again, louder. "Wait—"

I don't. I step into the hallway, pull the door shut behind me, and walk. I keep my pace steady all the way to the front door, put my heels on without thinking. The paper bag is still on the bedroom floor.

I leave it there.

Outside, the night air hits my skin, cool and sharp. I breathe it in, exhale just as slowly, and walk to my car. Nobody follows me. No one calls again.

I start the engine and drive.

*********

The sun is starting to come up by the time I reach my lawyer's building. I don't remember most of the drive, the city passed in blurred lights and empty streets, my hands steady on the wheel, my thoughts quiet. Not blank. Just settled, like something that had been trying to break for years had finally given up.

He answers the door in a wrinkled shirt, blinking at me. "Elena? Do you know what time it is?"

"Yes," I say. "I need you to draft divorce papers."

That wakes him up fully. He studies my face like he's searching for cracks. "Are you sure you don't want to—"

"I'm sure."

Something in my tone convinces him. He steps aside. "Come in."

The hours that follow move with a strange, deliberate rhythm. Paperwork spreads across the table. Pens click open and closed. Questions asked, answered, clarified.

"Assets will need to be carefully outlined," he says, flipping through a document. "Given the scale of Cross Enterprises—"

"I don't want anything I didn't bring into the marriage," I cut in.

"Elena—"

"I mean it." I don't shift my gaze. "I don't want his money. I don't want the house. I don't want the company. I just want out."

A brief silence. Then he nods slowly. "Alright."

I sign the final page just as the first real light of morning filters through the windows. My signature is clean, practiced. I set the pen down and align it with the edge of the document.

"There," I say quietly.

He exhales. "I'll have everything filed immediately."

"Thank you."

I stand, smoothing my hands over my dress out of habit more than necessity. For a second I just look at the stack of papers on the table. Three years, reduced to ink and signatures.

"Are you okay?" he asks.

I consider the question. Then I nod once. "I will be."

*******

Outside, the morning air feels lighter. I step onto the sidewalk, my heels clicking softly against the pavement as I draw a slow breath. The city is waking up around me quiet movements building into something louder, something alive. For the first time in a long time, I don't feel like I'm moving through it alone.

My phone vibrates in my hand. I glance down, expecting nothing important.

*Unknown Number.*

I open the message.

*Alexander Cross in critical condition. You are still listed as his emergency contact.*

I stop walking.

There's no sudden rush of sound or motion. Just a stillness that settles around me, heavy and precise. My fingers tighten around the phone. I read the message again. Then once more.

A strange, quiet laugh almost escapes me, but I catch it before it fully forms.

"Of course," I murmur.

Of course.

I just walked away. Just signed the papers. Just closed the door on the past.

And somehow…somehow… I'm still being pulled back in.

I lift my gaze to the street ahead of me, the early sunlight stretching across the pavement. For a moment I don't move.

Then my grip on the phone steadies.

And I exhale.