Goodbye, Saintess.의 모든 챕터: 챕터 21 - 챕터 30

Sebastian: [That's it. I'm turning off my phone.]That was the last thing I typed before shutting it down and tossing it aside. My patience had run out completely. Sleep came easily afterward.At the bar…Hera sat on the curb outside, her eyes fixed on the string of messages she had just received. Her gaze was vacant, distant. It was as if the light had gone out behind her eyes."He really doesn't care anymore?" she whispered, dazed. "I've already stooped this low… and he still won't come? What happened to us…"A single tear slid down her cheek. Anyone who saw her then would have felt the crushing weight of it, like watching a porcelain doll shatter—fragile, broken, and still painfully beautiful.That was when the men loitering nearby finally lost patience and moved in."Hey, gorgeous. Got dumped, huh?" one said, stepping a little too close."Honestly, guys these days have no idea how to treat a woman right. Especially a stunner like you. Not worth crying over some loser.""Ye

Ever since Sebastian moved out, the house never felt like home again, even with Bobby and Edmund moving in."Alright." Morgan knew Hera had a small private bedroom at the office, so he did not argue. He simply turned the car toward Edge Inc.Partway through the drive, Hera suddenly spoke up. "Morgan, find out why Sebastian refused to come tonight. And where he's living now."Morgan glanced at her through the rearview mirror, his expression faintly resigned.'I'm not a mind reader,' he thought. 'How would I know what's going on in that man's head? Still, tracking down his address? I can do that.'What surprised him was how much Hera suddenly seemed to care about Sebastian again."Of course, Ms. Bishop. Actually, if you really want to see Mr. Grimwald tonight, I have one idea. A guaranteed way to get him to show up."Hera sat up straighter, her eyes sharp despite the alcohol. "Really? What is it? Tell me."Morgan said only one sentence. "Mr. Grimwald is a firefighter. If there's

I stared at the screen, surprised at first. But when I saw the personalized nickname she used for Edmund, the surprise vanished.It was just one word, a nickname meant only for him. Suddenly, everything felt absurd.'What a joke. Hera Bishop. When I loved you with everything I had, you ignored me, belittled me, crushed my dignity like it was nothing. Now, with another man living in your house—a man who clearly cares about you—you're playing the same games, trying to pull me back in? What's wrong with you?' I wondered indignantly."Whatever's going on between you two has nothing to do with me." My voice came out cold. I brushed past her and kept walking.Her voice echoed after me in the parking garage, refusing to let go. "Sebastian, Bobby's not my biological son. I know you saw everything at his school that day."I only acted that way so Bobby wouldn't feel different from the other kids. I wanted him to believe he had loving parents, just like the rest. I didn't even kiss Edmund!

Now, keeping some distance from my soon-to-be ex-wife felt like the wiser choice.Hera kept leaning in, but I stepped aside again.Eventually, I could no longer watch her stumble. Like Morgan had done earlier, I reached out and offered a light, symbolic touch to steady her arm. "Careful."My quiet warning made her pause. Her beautiful eyes widened in disbelief, as if she could not grasp that the man who had once catered to her every whim—the man who had spent five years warming himself on the cold shoulder of her indifference—could be this distant."Thanks." Her voice sounded oddly deflated. She made no attempt to get closer again, turning instead to walk ahead.We entered her office. She moved with practiced ease, pulling a key from a drawer and unlocking a hidden door beside the bookshelf.It revealed a small private bedroom. I stopped in my tracks. There was no way I would step inside. I did not want to see the room she had hidden from me all these years, nor imagine who or wh

"A person devoted to spiritual cultivation must abstain from desire. Marital intimacy is allowed only on the sixteenth of each month."She spoke those words to me five years ago. Now, I returned them to her, word for word, then hung up and shut off my phone.At that moment, a taxi pulled up. I got in without looking back and vanished into the quiet night."Sebastian!"Back at Edge Inc., Hera stood by the massive window, searching hopelessly through the city lights. She found nothing. Her phone slipped silently from her fingers and hit the floor as the first tear rolled down her cheek.She caught her reflection in the glass—tear-streaked, hollow-eyed, devastated. Her heart ached as if someone had stabbed it.That night, sleep refused to come. Her mind throbbed with exhaustion, but she could not close her eyes. When she tried, it felt like something inside her vanished forever.By morning, Hera looked like a ghost. Dark circles shadowed her eyes. Her face was pale and lifeless as