Chapter 2

After returning home, it got dark. Thinking about how Caleb carried Michele away without looking back after leaving the police station, I felt incredibly depressed.

I picked up the carefully prepared dinner laid out on the table and gave a self-deprecating laugh. For ten whole years, Caleb had never let me cook. I never imagined that my first time cooking would ruin our wedding.

After throwing everything into the trash, something poked my foot. Looking down, I saw Caleb's wedding ring, with a childish brown hair clip stuck to it. They must have accidentally ripped it off in the heat of the moment.

I felt a wave of nausea. The scene of our wedding flashed before my eyes, Caleb holding me tightly and saying he would never betray me. He would never be like my heartless father, favoring his mistress over his wife. He would never leave me alone and helpless.

Tears streamed down my face as I nodded vigorously through my blurred vision. But he hadn't kept a single one of those promises. As for Michele, she saw me as her enemy rather than her teacher. And that ring we exchanged, engraved with both our names, now lay on the floor.

I thought I could hold back, but the physiological tears still wouldn't stop flowing. I bent down to pick them up, gently rubbed them between my fingertips and then threw them in the trash.

When exactly did this begin?

Was it love at first sight when I first introduced them to each other at the dinner table?

Or was it later, because I was busy with my exchange program abroad and entrusted Michele to Caleb, we saw each other more often and feelings developed over time?

I was lost in my own thoughts and didn't even notice that Caleb had returned.

He spoke in a hoarse voice, "Once she's calmed down and given birth, I'll send her away and remarry you."

I snapped out of my daze, took a few steps forward and slapped him hard across the face, "What do you take her for? A cheap object? You think you can just send her away whenever you want? I never realized you, Caleb, were so capable, letting her decide her fate?"

His face was undisguisedly fierce, "It's because of your defiant attitude that I cheated on you! I've never received a single bit of warmth from you."

I spat in his face, interrupting him, "I think I just don't get compliments."

After a long standoff, he sighed, "Why won't you give in to her? Michele is all alone here, with no one to rely on. How can she face anyone after all this?"

I shrugged, "So I agree to the divorce and I'll give you to her."

I wanted to appear indifferent, but the words of surrender still brought tears to my eyes. Because I didn't want to be looked down upon, I rarely cried in front of others and Caleb was no exception. It was obvious to him that for a moment he was at a loss, yet filled with expectation.

But after waiting for a long time, he didn't lower his head as expected. He angrily turned and stormed into the bedroom. Less than ten minutes later, he came out carrying his luggage. It seemed he had been prepared for this day for a long time.

Just before leaving, Caleb turned back and harshly took down the family photo hanging on the living room wall. It was a photo I had insisted on taking with Caleb and my mother the year we got married. Although she was quite dislike Caleb, she didn't want to spoil my mood, so she forced a smile. I never imagined that this would be the last photo of her in her life.

I looked at Caleb warily, "What do you want to do?"

Before I finished speaking, he slammed his hands down and the photo frame shattered. I froze on the spot, feeling my vision suddenly stretch out, leaving only shards of glass reflecting the light. He picked up the photo and tore it to shreds, as if disposing of a garbage item.

His voice held a hint of revenge, "I was afraid you'd be disgusted by me, so I destroyed it for you."

The loud slam of the door slammed shut woke me. Trembling, I walked to the pile of shards, but no matter how I pieced them together, I couldn't reconstruct my mother's face. I knelt there all night, clutching the pile of scraps.

Until my phone screen lit up along with the sun.

Caleb: [3 PM, see you at the City Hall.]

University: [Your application to study abroad has been approved. You'll depart next Tuesday.]