Chapter 246
“Okay, okay,” he said in a conciliatory tone. I won’t hold you. Just please don’t jump out. Okay?”
His voice softened further. Please don’t be angry. I just want to spend a little more time
with you, just talking.”
Facing my unyielding attitude, he seemed completely at a loss.
Sensing that Henry truly meant what he said that he simply wanted to talk with no malicious intent–1 allowed my tensed body to relax slightly. Forcibly suppressing my irritation, I pretended to be casual.
“What do you want to discuss?” I asked.
“How about we talk about Billy?” he suggested. “And this weekend’s parent–child activity?”
I frowned in confusion. “Parent–child activity? The teacher didn’t send me any messages about that.” I was immediately suspicious. ‘School activities are always communicated to parents via text message.”
Typically, the kindergarten would notify parents at least a week in advance of any parent–child activities. Seeing my skepticism, Henry quickly explained.
“Why the rush? Perhaps you’ll receive the notification tonight.”
After his explanation, Henry inwardly cursed James: What’s wrong with that man? Wasn’t he supposed to coordinate with the principal earlier? Why isn’t there any movement on this yet?
Outside, the rain had intensified. Droplets streamed down the glass, leaving watery trails on the window. I stopped speaking and turned my face toward the window, staring out at the rain for a long time.
What had happened to the proud, arrogant Henry I once knew? Why was he acting so subservient around me now? This behavior only made me uncomfortable.
This Henry–constantly apologizing and stubbornly holding onto my hand–was a stranger to me.
After watching the nighttime scenery outside the car window for quite some time, I realized we weren’t heading toward Betty’s apartment. Irritated, I addressed the driver directly without looking at Henry.
“Please take me to Rose Garden Apartments. Thank you.”
Henry immediately instructed the driver to listen to “Mrs. Harding.”
The term “Mrs. Harding” sounded so jarring to my ears that I couldn’t help but correct him. “Mr. Harding, please stop referring to me as ‘Mrs. Harding. I’m not! Get that straight.”
Faced with my rejection, Henry gave a bitter smile. “If you’re not, then who are you? At least until now, you’re still Mrs. Harding. We’re not divorced yet!”
I looked at this face I had once been obsessively in love with and felt nothing but exhaustion. Suppressing the anger rising in my chest, I tried to reason
with him.
‘Henry, during the six years of our marriage, you were absent on my birthdays, missing on New Year’s, and couldn’t even manage a perfunctory message on Valentine’s Day, let alone a gift. You were never there for any important dates. What’s the point of keeping you in my life?”
‘And what right do you have to come looking for me now? Who stays in one place waiting forever?”
Only I knew the disappointment, the heartache behind each setback, how time had crawled inch by inch across my skin.
I looked directly into his eyes, my voice calm to the point of emptiness.
“You know what? Over six years, this miserable life drained all my hope and passion. Every day I stood on the edge between awareness and numbness, unable to fall and unable to break free.”
Chapter 246
It’s a kind of pain you can never understand.”
So please, stop coming to find me, okay?”
*Because every time I see you, all that suffering surrounds me again. I’ve finally managed to gather a little courage, and I don’t want you to drain it away completely.”
I’ve made peace with myself. I’ve accepted that making you love me is beyond my capabilities. I’ve accepted that I’m powerless against fate’s arrangements, accepted that there’s no possibility between us anymore.”
*Please continue living your life and stop disrupting mine, will you?
“Henry, this is my final act of kindness toward our marriage.
you do that?:
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