Chapter 6
Later that afternoon, after handling the last of the paperwork, I stood outside the registrar’s office and dialed Albert.N
“I’m done,” I said.
Il send a car around six,” he replied. “Be ready.“N
Once the call ended, I exhaled slowly, as though releasing something I’d held in for years.
Even while trapped in that gilded cage they called a family, I’d never abandoned my work. I’d been quietly assisting Albert’s research team all along–submitting data, coordinating projects, contributing silently from behind the curtain. No one knew. And frankly, no one cared. But that part of me–the part they tried to kill–was still alive.
Night fell. The manor was swallowed in darkness. At exactly six–thirty, my phone buzzed again.
We’re almost there,” Albert said.
I nodded to myself and turned back toward the house. I had one last thing to do.N
When I pushed open the door, I didn’t even make it past the threshold before a revolting sound stopped me cold.N
A man’s voice, husky with desire, echoed from the shadows upstairs.N
“Sara, don’t… Elise is still home. And what if Ollie comes back?“N
Then came the woman’s voice–silken, low and sticky sweet. So sweet it curdled in my ears.N
“Francis, my Francis… I missed you. I really missed you. These past ten years, not a single day went by that I didn’t think of you…“N “Please, I’m begging you, don’t leave me again. I’ll give you anything you want–just stay…“N
didn’t listen to the rest. I placed the signed divorce papers on the living room coffee table, turned around and walked out the door without a backward glance.
By the time the sun rose, I was already at the airport with Albert and the rest of the team, waiting for our flight. The terminal buzzed with voices and announcements, but I barely heard them–until my phone rang.
“Oliver! You really didn’t come home all night–where did you go? What happened before is in the past. We’re not blaming you anymore, just come back quickly!”
I said nothing. On my end, there was only silence.N
Maybe she could feel how cold it was, because Sara’s tone softened, almost pleading.
“Okay, I know a lot has happened these past few days… and I’m not blameless either. Can we both just take a step back?“N
She paused, then continued more gently, “Come home, okay? Tonight, I’ll take you out to eat. I booked your favorite restaurant. I even cleared my schedule… isn’t that enough?“”
I couldn’t bear to hear another word.
I cut her off sharply. “The divorce papers are on the coffee table. And just so you know–whether it was ten years ago or ten years later–l was never the one in the wrong. It was all of you.“N
Then I ended the call.
For a long time, I just sat there, phone in hand, staring at nothing. My reflection in the airport window looked almost unfamiliar. Sara’s last words still echoed in my mind.”
“I made time to have dinner with you… isn’t that enough?“N
But just last night, in the guest room filled with low moans and broken promises, that same woman had clung to Francis and whispered, “I’ll give you anything you want.”
Anything
She’d offer the world to him. And for me? A dinner reservation was her idea of
grand gesture.N
How laughable.
The phone buzzed again.”
At that exact moment, the boarding announcement came over the intercom. I pulled out the SIM card, snapped it in half and turned off the phone.
That was the end of it.
From now on, I would be only Oliver. Not someone’s husband. Not someone’s father. Just me.
Three hours later, I boarded the plane bound for Verdana, completely unaware that the Rogers household had already started to fracture. Back at the house, Sara sat motionless on the couch, the divorce papers trembling in her hand. Her fingertips had gone pale from gripping the edges too tightly. The bold ink of Oliver’s signature looked like it had been carved into the page–so deep the pen had nearly tom through the paper
Beside her, Francis had tears in his eyes.!!
“Why is Ollie still the same as ten years ago? The moment something doesn’t go his way, it’s like the whole world has to walk on eggshells around him,” he muttered, voice hoarse and pitiful. “I just came back yesterday and today he’s already run away again. Can’t he even tolerate me at all?”
He sniffled and rubbed at his eyes. “But Sara, don’t worry too much. I know olli you, you know? Using this
10:54 AM S
eggshells around him,” he muttered, voice hoarse and pitiful. “I just came back yesterday and today he’s already run away again. Can’t he even tolerate me at all?“}]
He sniffled and rubbed at his eyes. “But Sara, don’t worry too much. I know Ollie–he wouldn’t actually divorce you. He’s just trying to scare you, you know? Using this as leverage to make you come running. Don’t fall for it.”
But Sara didn’t respond. Her eyes never left the papers in her hand.
Ten years of marriage. Ten years of sharing the same roof, the same meals, the same bed. She knew Oliver better than anyone. She knew exactly how stubborn he could be
The silence between them now felt colder than any fight they’d ever had.
A memory surged up without warning.”
The day Elise had first learned to walk, Oliver had scooped her up, beaming. His eyes sparkled like a child seeing fireworks for the first time. He had pointed, excited beyond words, shouting, “Sara, look! Elise can walk!“}
That smile–it had been so bright it almost hurt to look at. In that moment, she had seemed to forget the shadow that Francis’s absence had cast over their lives. For once, her world was light again.
She had thrown her arms around him that day, breathless and teary and whispered that she’d stay with him forever. She would raise Elise by his side. Be his partner in everything.
And Oliver had looked at her–really looked–and nodded,
It had seemed so simple then. So certain.§
But now… now he was gone.}
most solemnly. “Okay.“}
Her eyes dropped to the final line on the divorce papers, rereading it over and over again like it might suddenly change.
“And just so you know–whether it was ten years ago or ten years later–I was never the one in the wrong. It was all of you.“} Oliver’s last words over the phone echoed.
Her fingers clenched tighter. But she said nothing.
