A black sports car sped down a silent, empty street. The man behind the wheel sat cloaked in shadows, his expression unreadable.
“Tess…” he murmured, feeling guilt and regret
Clifford slammed his fist hard against the steering wheel, just then, the phone beside him lit up and began to ring He pulled over and swiped to answer. Isabelle’s velice came through immediately.
Clifford, did you see Tessa? What did she say? Has she forgiven us?‘
clifford’s heart sank, but he still tried to comfort her. “Tess is kind and understanding. She’ll forgive me. She has no.”
Isabelle’s subs grew louder. “I was so wrong, I never should’ve hit her. She must resent me in much now…”
Clifford’s emotions were already in chaos, “Grandma, I’ll call you back later. Please try to best.”
For the first time, he hung up on her, cotting off her sobs. He’d quit smoking long ago because Tessa hated the smell of cigarettes. But now, he had no idea how tu deal with the storm raging inside him.
“Tess you don’t hate me, do you?”
shrouded in smole, he replayed everything he’d done over the past month over and over. Then, without warning, he slapped himself across the face. “Clifford, you actually let a woman like that manipulate you into ignoring the person you love the most!”
The stubbed out the cigarette and looked up at the house in front of him. I was completely dad inside.
He figured that she must be asleep by now.
Who could have foreseen that a titan of the business world would be brought this low? He was lost, helpless, and scared.
“Tess you’ll understand. You’ll forgive me.. right?” he mumbled to himself, but his mind couldn’t stop echoing the two things Tanis had said.
“No wonder Tessa insisted on divorcing you!
“Tessa has already left you!”
“No no That can’t be troe.” “The panic inside him only grew looder. Tess loves me too much. She’ll forgive me. She has to…!!
Clifford’s voice pot sother and softer, and even he started to doubt himself. After everything he’d done, would she really still forgive him?
When he gave it some thought, he realized that the last time he’d seen her was nearly a month ago. He had been at the hospital, staying with Tania to ensure her safe delivery, never once thinking about the woman waiting for him at home
It wasn’t until he stumbled onto the truth that he finally realized the extent of what he’d done and how long it had been since he’d been there for her. His chest ached as if something had toms Inside it
“Tess..ll make it up to you. I swear I will.” He pushed open the door, then froze. His heart, already high in his throat, dropped straight into the abyss.
The house was completely empty. The thick smell of dust and mildew hung in the air, telling him clearly that no one had been here in a long time.
Panic overtook him. He flipped on the lights and scanned the room, where a fine layer of dust coated everything-
“Tess! Tess!” His voice broke as panic tumed to full–blown fear. He knew that she had mild on and would never let the house get like this.
It was like he had gone mad. He opened every door and yanked open every drawer. At first, he was looking for her. Then, he started looking for anything that proved she had once been there. “Tess.. you really left me. You’re really gone..”
Chitford collapsed to the ground in despair, having turned over every inch of the house, unable to find a single trace of her. He felt completely hollow, like a lifeless shell under the night sky. When he finally made it to the bedrooms and opened the drawer in the nightstand, he saw a plain brown envelope.
His eyes lit up. “Tess! You left this for me! You’re willing to give me another chance!
Clinging to that last thread of hope, be tore open the envelope. But the moment he saw the gold lettering on the document inside, tears began to fall.
I read, “Divorce Agreement“,
“No__ No___” Clifford’s hands trembled as he reached for his phone and dialed her number.
“The inumber you have dialed is no longer in service. Please check the number and try again..!
The mechanical voice played over and over, but be continued to call Tessa’s mumber repeatedly.
He sank to his knees, broken and desperate. The divorce papers lying next to him were slowly stained with his tears. Finally, he called his assistant and instructed, Track down Mis. Jones‘ location”
The assistant, startled awake, quickly answered. “Yes, Mr. Jones. I’ll contact someone right away.”
After hanging up, he picked up the divorce agreement again, his eyes bloodshot Gazing at her youthful, innocent face in the photo, he recalled every vow he’d ance whispered to her.
“You’d better treat Tesswell and spot her like she’s your world. If you don’t, I swear I’ll never forgive you.”
If the Clifford of the past saw him now, he would we wanted to beat this pathetic version of himself into the ground. He uttered, “Tess. I’ve failed you…
And it was all because of
A pale, bitter smile crept across his face. His eyes darkened, cold and deadly.
“Tara.. I’m not letting you off the book”
