บททั้งหมดของ Where I Stood Waiting: บทที่ 1 - บทที่ 10

I shook out a handful of pills and shoved them into my mouth, forcing them down dry. The bitterness spread across my tongue. I sank back into the couch, tipped my head against the cushion, and stared at the ceiling without moving.Celeste had always believed that I had lied to her, that I had betrayed her.Five years ago, at our wedding, I had walked out in front of everyone. I left her standing there alone and turned her into a joke across the whole of Mayworth City.That night, she grabbed me by the collar and screamed until her voice broke."You did that on purpose, didn't you? You wanted to humiliate me."I tried to explain, over and over."My mom was old, and she lived so far away. I never planned for her to come to the wedding. But she came on her own without telling me, and on the way there, the tractor she was riding flipped. She didn't make it."It did not matter what I said. She would not hear a single word of it.She pulled off her wedding ring and hurled it at the w

It was strange. Celeste was the one who had told me to drink, and yet she was the one panicking.My stomach burned, every breath was a struggle, and red welts were spreading across my skin. Everyone at the table looked shaken.Celeste held me up, her fingers trembling as she dialed for an ambulance. "Did you do this just to spite me? You knew you couldn't drink, so why did you? You win, okay? I forgive you. We can have another wedding. We'll do it over."I could not make out the rest. All I remembered was being lifted onto a stretcher. Everything in front of me blurred.Celeste had said she forgave me. For five years, that was all I had been waiting to hear. Somehow, now that I finally had, all I felt was tired.My voice came out raw and barely there. "There's no need."Celeste pressed close, leaning near my mouth, trying to catch what I was saying.I steadied my breathing and managed one more sentence. "If you want, we can get a divorce."Celeste's eyes went wide, filled with

The shoot wrapped quickly. Celeste said a brief goodbye to Kieran and told her driver to head to the hospital. She wanted to see Everett.She had leaked the wedding portrait shoot to him on purpose, just to see if it would make him panic, if it would make him come. She had even sent him the address. However, the shoot was already over, and Everett never showed.What kind of man would let his wife take wedding photos with another man and do nothing about it? The thought gnawed at her.She told herself she would just look in from the hallway. One glance would be enough. No matter how much she pretended otherwise, she still needed to know he was all right.When she arrived at the hospital, Celeste went straight to his room in her heels, but the bed was empty. The room had been cleared out.She stood in the doorway for a long time, and her heartbeat gradually slowed. However, before she could steady her breathing, a passing doctor stopped."Excuse me, are you Mrs. Hartley?"Celeste

Kieran came to see Celeste several times over the following days."I know Everett's missing, but the most important thing right now is to file a police report. Maybe he's doing what he's always done, just trying to make you worry."Part of Celeste wanted to believe that. Instinctively, she almost chose to believe it because she could not bring herself to face the reality that Everett wanted to end their marriage. He loved her so much. There was no way he would actually go through with a divorce.She held on to that thought and agreed with Kieran, but she still did not stop looking.Kieran told her, "If you want to find Everett, trust me. He wants a divorce, so make him come say it to your face."The words struck something in Celeste, and suddenly, it all seemed so obvious.She had been calling Everett for days, and every call went unanswered. Every message she sent had been blocked. However, both parties needed to cooperate for a divorce to happen. If she used divorce as an excus

Three months passed before I saw Celeste again. At first, I treated her like a stranger. When she got persistent, I nearly called the police. Without my memories, nothing she said could reach me."You really don't remember me, Everett? I'm your wife. We've been married for five years."It was only when she said that that the single remaining reminder in my phone came back to me. Celeste Kendrick was my wife, and we needed to get divorced.I met her eyes."Are you here to sign the papers? I've already signed the divorce agreement. Let's just go through the process."Celeste stood frozen. The color drained from her face. "Why would you want a divorce? You love me more than anything."Three rounds of electroconvulsive therapy had taken my memories, but they had not made me stupid. I gave her a thin smile."According to my notes, the person you love is Kieran Vance. You hate me. You hate me for leaving you alone at our wedding."The version of me that existed before the surgery cho