7
“Auntie, you have to make her sign it. It’s the only way to get Alex out of trouble.”
“And once you get her signature, I can go to my brother’s and get you more of that special medicine!”
At that, Alex’s mother exploded, unleashing a torrent of curses far fouler than anything she had ever directec at me. When it came to her own well–being, her loyalty was absolute.
After hanging up, she scheduled a full–body checkup. As I was about to leave, she gave her husband a look He grabbed my arm.
“Clara, dear, your father–in–law here isn’t well enough to stay the night. You’ll stay with your mother.”
He said it without a trace of shame, as if it were my sacred duty.
I shook his hand off. “After today, I won’t be your daughter–in–law anymore.”
He looked stunned, as if I were joking.
I pulled out the divorce papers Alex had forced me to sign and laid them on the bed. He had been so deter mined to divorce me that we’d filed immediately. Today was the last day of the mandatory cooling–off peri od. Tomorrow, our divorce would be final.
There was no way I was taking care of them.
“You love Isabelle so much, don’t you?” I said with a smile. “You even spent a fortune to bail her out and hire her a lawyer. Why don’t you let her take care of you?”
As I left the room, I could hear them screaming.
5/10
16:17
Chapter 2
16:17
“I don’t know why he ever married her! Ungrateful bitch, abandoning me like this! I knew we were right not to give her a dowry!”
“Exactly! I could tell she was no good from the start. All these years and couldn’t even give us a grandchild.”
A child?
I glanced down at my stomach. All I could think was that having no child with him was a blessing, for both me and the child.
The next morning, I was notified that Alex was being released pending his trial. I waited at the gate with a few officers. When he walked out and saw me, his expression was one of pure disdain.
“So you finally decided to show up?”
“I’m telling you now, I will never forgive you! If it weren’t for you, would I have had to suffer like this?” he
seethed.
His gnashing teeth were almost comical.
“I’m here to get you out, but this isn’t over,” I told him coolly. “The sentencing will be what it will be. I’m jus here to finalize our divorce.”
His face fell, a flicker of genuine surprise in his eyes. He clearly never believed I would actually go through with it.
“You…”
“1
“Weren’t you the one who wanted this so badly?” I smiled. “You don’t look very happy about it now.‘
He lifted his chin defiantly. “Why would I be? Go ahead, divorce me. You’ll be the one to regret it, not me.”
He was so sure of himself. Even after we’d finished the paperwork and signed the final documents, he kept watching me, expecting me to break down and beg him to take me back.
But I didn’t. I walked out and watched as the officers escorted him to their car. It was only when the door slammed shut that reality seemed to hit him.
“Clara!” he screamed, his face pressed against the window. “You’re really leaving me? After ten years togeth- er, you’re just throwing it all away?”
“Clara, I can explain about Isabelle! Please, just sign the letter of forgiveness! I’m begging you!”
He tried to lunge out of the car, to kneel before me, but the officers held him back.
After the divorce, the world felt brighter. I checked out of the hospital, and on my way out, a nurse told me that Alex’s parents‘ test results were back.
And Isabelle had shown up.
