Chapter 4

Alden's anger flared.

"Zara, I've been putting up with you for long enough, and now you insist on pretending you're not mad while making snarky comments with every single thing you say?"

Suddenly I realized now that I wasn't throwing a fit or breaking down in tears, he just assumed I was sulking and giving him attitude.

It didn't matter what I did. Alden was never happy.

Forget it then. I wasn't in the mood to fight, so I just headed back to my room and hung out with Minnie.

I had no idea where Minnie had gotten herself so dirty, so I grabbed her carrier and got ready to take her to the pet center for a bath.

As soon as I stepped out, Alden spotted me with the cat carrier, frowning as he walked over.

"Zara, how about I take Minnie for a bath some other day when I have time? I can get her dewormed while we're at it," he suggested.

As he tried to take the carrier from me, I instinctively stepped back.

"You said 'some other day' last time too. When is that ever going to be? I'll just take Minnie myself today," I said.

He avoided my gaze. "Zara, I know I've been neglecting you lately because I've been busy looking after Clarissa.

"She just gave birth and really can't do without me right now. Besides, think about it. Taking care of her now means I'll have experience for when it's your turn." He tried to justify himself.

The way he tried to sound so justified was honestly hilarious to me.

"Thanks then. I'll be going now," I said.

He was about to walk me out, but the moment Clarissa called out that she was hungry, Alden changed his mind and stayed behind.

"You just hang out with Minnie. I'll come pick you guys up later," Alden said.

I didn't even hesitate to shut him down. "No need."

My constant pushback was starting to annoy him. "What do you want from me?" Alden asked.

"First, I offered to take Minnie for a bath and you weren't happy. Now I'm saying I'll come pick you up, and you still don't want that," he complained.

So in Alden's mind, I was just being ungrateful for his supposed generosity?

I said, "You said you'd pick us up before, but we waited until the pet center closed and you didn't show up. You even said it was a hassle.

"And before that, you took Minnie for a bath and forgot her there for an entire day and night. She almost escaped and got lost."

Alden locked his gaze on me, speechless, fury written all over his face.

Back then, whenever I tried to use Minnie as a reason to get him to spend more time with me, he'd always complain that I was already a handful, and the cat was just one more headache for him.

When had he ever taken care of me?

Now that neither Minnie nor I needed him anymore, he was the one throwing a fit.

He looked at me, almost testing the waters. "Clarissa's going to be staying with us for a while longer."

I couldn't care less. I was leaving soon anyway.

The day I was packing up for the dance troupe's tour, Alden walked in and caught me.

He totally lost it, kicking my suitcase aside like a madman.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Are you moving out or just running away from home? Is this all just for attention?" he snapped.

I didn't even want to respond, going back to packing my suitcase.

"I'm the lead dancer for the troupe's tour, so I have to go," I said.

His eyes widened in disbelief.

"Didn't we agree you'd stop being the lead dancer and quit touring? What's going to happen to Clarissa?

"And you're pregnant. How can you just head out alone?" Alden protested.

Before I could even get a word out, he gave in first.

He was right. But when I had been pregnant, he'd already dumped me at the hospital before, and didn't even care where I was until he found out I'd gone back to my parents' place.

I'd gotten used to him leaving me behind.

Back when Alden and I first started dating, my very first show as the lead dancer was scheduled right on Valentine's Day. He bailed on me at the last minute.

Instead, he went to be with Clarissa, who didn't get the part, and spent the night cheering her up.

After we got married, right in the middle of our wedding ceremony, just as we were about to exchange rings, Alden got a phone call and just left the ceremony.

It was Clarissa. She had a stomachache and needed to go to the hospital. So there I was, newly wedded, spending a whole week alone in our empty home.

After I got pregnant, there was this one day when I was heading home from work in the middle of a typhoon and pouring rain. Alden didn't care how dangerous it was. He just jumped in his car and drove through the storm to pick up Clarissa from her office.

I nearly lost the baby on my way home, ended up stuck at home recovering for two weeks, and Alden didn't even bother to check on me once.

Now it hit me that Alden had left me behind more times than I can count.

I kept sugarcoating everything with a few happy memories, pretending the rest didn't matter.

"Alden, I've always been fine on my own," I said calmly.

Alden seemed to get what I was saying, even though I didn't spell it out.

His voice was heavy with regret. "Zara, I swear I'll do better from now on. I won't let you be alone anymore—" Alden said.

Before Alden could finish, Clarissa was suddenly there in the doorway, crying, clutching her chest, and dropping to her knees.

"Alden, I can't dance anymore. I'm just not cut out to be a dancer. And now the baby's burning up. I'm a terrible mom. Why do I mess up everything?" Clarissa choked out.

Alden didn't even think twice. He picked Clarissa up and tried to calm her down, hurried over to check on the baby, and then took them both straight to the hospital.

And just like that, I was left behind again.