Chapter 3

Liam didn't come back to our home that night.

I tossed and turned for hours before finally drifting into a restless sleep.

In my dream, I vaguely remembered Madame Zelda's words from back then.

Liam had asked Madame Zelda to read our love line with Tarot cards, but she shook her head, a knowing look in her eyes: "Your love line… I cannot read it for you."

I didn't care much for these things, but Liam was adamant.

Eventually, Madame Zelda said that if he was truly sincere, he first had to go to a remote chapel and retrieve a crucifix, proving his true feelings for me. Then she would reconsider.

That chapel was very far from us, with no public transportation. You had to drive, and it was a ten-hour journey.

I felt bad for him and convinced Liam to drop it that day.

After all, true love lives in the everyday.

I had eyes; I saw his love. I didn't need this to prove it.

But the next evening, a battered and exhausted Liam, his eyes sparkling, held up a crucifix. "Honey! I did it!"

I just had to laugh at his foolishness.

When I woke up, I lay still for a long time, then immediately went to find Madame Zelda.

I needed to ask if she had foreseen something back then, and if there was a solution to my current situation.

Madame Zelda asked me, "Why didn't you leave him sooner?"

I was about to protest, but she drew my gaze to another part of the room.

One look, and a wave of anger washed over me.

Liam was embracing Ashley, coming to the fortune teller together.

I forced myself to swallow the lump in my throat, convincing myself I was here to seek guidance.

Madame Zelda looked at my pale face, sighed, and handed me a Tarot card.

"Take this home, tape it above your bed, and get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow, you'll have your answer."

I followed Madame Zelda's instructions, taping the card to my headboard. After that, I had a very long, vivid dream.

I dreamed I was seven months pregnant, going for a prenatal check-up. On the way home, Liam received an emergency call from the precinct, leaving me to go home alone.

On my way back, I got into a car accident and went into premature labor, losing one of the twins.

Liam held the deceased baby, his eyes red-rimmed, demanding why I hadn't been more careful.

I, too, was heartbroken over the loss of our child.

That incident became a wedge between us.

Later, our surviving daughter was diagnosed with autism at three years old.

Liam's assignments at the precinct grew more frequent, and he came home less and less.

I became a shadow of my former self.

I'd secretly check his phone, drop by the station unannounced when he worked late, and tell our daughter, "Daddy doesn't want us anymore."

Almost every time he came home, we'd have a huge fight.

"If you hadn't given birth to her, we wouldn't be living in such misery!"

In the dream, Liam slammed the door and left.

A month later, I found a movie ticket stub in the pocket of his police uniform, which he'd left for the laundry.

It was for a couple's row.

I stared at the ticket stub, my eyes welling up.

That night, he had told me he'd been at the station all night interrogating a suspect.

Later, similar incidents piled up.

The scent of perfume clinging to his clothes, the accidental lipstick stain on his collar, and that unlabeled but frequently called number on his phone.

I watched, scene by scene, as things became irrevocably broken.

Ashley gave birth to a son, healthy and remarkably bright.

On our daughter's fifth birthday, he promised to take her to an amusement park but broke the promise because he had to take Ashley's son to the hospital.

Our daughter cried, asking, "Mommy, does Daddy not like us at all?"

We hated the sight of each other, but stayed together for our child.

Finally, the scene froze on Ashley standing at the edge of a rooftop with her son.

She smiled at a frantic Liam, saying, "Liam, next life, I hope I meet you sooner."

Then she jumped.

And Liam, eyes bloodshot and sharp as knives, glared at me. "Chloe, are you happy now?"

I jolted awake, drenched in a cold sweat.

I touched my still-flat stomach, my mind a chaotic mess.

Before seeing the future with my own eyes, I'd always thought, how could our relationship ever reach that point?

But after witnessing, firsthand, how Liam's and my marriage gradually decayed…

I closed my eyes. As he wished, I signed the divorce papers.