His patience had completely worn out. He picked up his phone, opened our WhatsApp chat, and furiously sent over a dozen voice messages in a row.
“Aurora! If you don’t reply right now, never return!
“If you keep stirring up trouble, don’t blame me for turning against you! Don’t you dare torment my mom just because she’s old!
“How long are you going to keep this up? I seriously regret marrying you! If I had known you were this vicious, I would’ve cut ties with you long ago!”
His eyes were bloodshot, his chest heaving violently.
The ever–composed and stoie Joel was now so furious that he completely lost control.
Too bad for him—I was already dead.
He could no longer use the threat of divorce against me.
Eileen stood off to the side, watching his hysterics
Her expression shifted from rage to utter disdain.
After briefly pausing, she said coldly, “Get lost, Joel. Don’t disturb Aurora’s peace.”
With that, she turned and left, thoroughly disappointed.
My heart ached when I saw the exhaustion on her face, yet my soul was drawn toward Joel.
+15 BONUS
After glaring at Eileen’s retreating figure, he gently reassured Priscilla a few times, coaxing her to sleep before carefully slipping
out the door.
A faint smile played on his lips as he walked, and every so often, he pulled out a phone I had never seen before to send WhatsApp
messages.
A bitter ache spread through my chest
It was no wonder I could never reach him before. He had long since gotten himself a second phone I knew nothing about.
1 eventually followed him to a high–end shopping mall.
He walked straight into a well–known luxury jewelry boutique, where a sales associate handed him a set of exquisitely crafted,
opulent jewelry pieces.
“Mr. Xander, here is the custom order you placed last month. Would you like to double–check the ring size?”
The salesperson smiled warmly, clearly harboring a good impression of this thoughtful, attentive man.
Joel smiled back and casually measured the ring with his fingers.
“The size is perfect. There’s no need to double–check it.”
Hovering behind him, I felt my heart go numb from the pain.
Seven years of marriage, and he never once remembered my birthday or our anniversary.
He never knew my clothing size, my shoe size, or my preferences.
No matter how many times I hinted, reminded, or even tearfully begged him to prepare a simple gift, the most he ever did was
transfer me some money as a brush–off.
Yet now, with just his fingers, he could precisely gauge another woman’s ring size.
He had never changed; he just never loved me.
