Chapter 2
The car quickly arrived at Kathie Lane's apartment complex.
A drive that should have taken forty-five minutes was over in just twenty-six.
Inside the car, the air was thick with the sound of their uncontrollable kisses and hurried breaths. They just couldn't help themselves.
Again and again, they kept coming back for more. So urgent, so wild.
I just stood by the window, gazing at the solitary moon hanging in the sky.
All night, I couldn't escape the sounds of my lover making love with someone else.
Samuel and I were childhood friends. We grew up together.
He was five years older than me, and for as long as I could remember, he was always there by my side.
He was the one who held my hand when I learned to walk, bought candy with me, and carried me home on his back.
Whenever someone tried to bully me, he was always the first to jump in and protect me.
Whenever I faced tough times, he'd stay up all night with me, helping me sort things out.
When danger came, he was the one who shielded me, took the hit from a car, and nearly ended up paralyzed for it.
He was my friend, my husband, my flesh and blood, and my soulmate. He was everything to me, even the reason I kept going.
Yet Samuel, after all that, still fell for someone else. I really didn't know why.
It wasn't until dawn that I finally dragged my frozen, numb body over and fished out the divorce agreement I'd hidden at the bottom of the safe.
I made him sign it the day he came back to me.
If he ever cheated again, he'd walk away with nothing.
But no amount of punishment could keep someone whose heart had already moved on.
I carefully signed my name, stroke by stroke, then grabbed the divorce agreement and headed straight to the law firm.
After handing the agreement to the lawyer, he looked it over carefully before speaking to me.
"Ms. Summers, thirty days later, you'll be able to finalize your divorce," he said.
I nodded slightly.
"Thank you. I'll leave it to you," I said.
As I stepped out of the law firm, my phone suddenly rang.
I glanced at the screen and saw it was Samuel calling.
I hung up. Then I noticed the photo of Samuel and me on my phone's lock screen.
It was snapped when I was twenty.
In the photo, we were standing shoulder to shoulder under the tree in our backyard.
I was beaming at the camera, my smile bright and full of joy.
Samuel was right beside me, turning to gaze at me with such soft, devoted eyes, like I was his whole world.
My tears kept falling, hitting the screen right where my eyes curved in the photo.
My smile in that photo now looked downright silly, almost pathetic.
I swapped out the lock screen I'd clung to for eight years with trembling hands.
And with it, I ripped out the person I thought I could never let go of, carving him out of my heart for good.
His calls came in nonstop, one after another.
I hung up every single one, and then made my way home, my steps hollow and numb.
Samuel, who was inside, heard the sound and came rushing out.
When he saw me, he breathed a sigh of relief, but his tone was still tinged with lingering fear and a bit of blame.
"Where did you go? Why didn't you answer your phone?" he asked.
Seeing the worry on his face, my voice turned sarcastic.
"What, afraid I'd throw myself into the sea again?" I shot back.
Samuel's face darkened even more, impatience written all over his features.
"Cathy, stop threatening to kill yourself. Is that the only way you know how to hurt me?" he snapped.
I froze, staring at him blankly, completely numb.
When I saw Samuel cheat on me right in front of me back then, I just couldn't process it.
Every time that memory came back, I'd get so sick that I'd end up retching for ages.
In just seven days, I dropped more than ten pounds.
I spat out the nastiest words I could muster, kept slapping him over and over, and even cracked three of his ribs.
He pleaded with me again and again to forgive him, his voice desperate.
But I still couldn't let it go.
After more than ten nights without sleep, I totally lost my mind and ended up tumbling into the sea by accident.
I spent five days in the ICU, cheating death, before I finally clawed my way back to life.
From that moment on, Samuel never left my side. He took every slap and every harsh word without complaint, always tiptoeing around me, afraid to set me off.
So, in the end, did he really see all my pain as nothing more than me competing for his affection?
Samuel looked at my pale face, and for a moment, something flickered across his features.
He acted like nothing had happened, turning to grab the pastry box from the coffee table.
"Hey, I got your favorite cookies. Went out just to buy them for you. Have a taste," he said.
I looked at the box of cookies, and a wave of bitterness washed over me.
I'd already heard it all from the dashcam last night.
After he and Kathie were done, she snuggled up to him, acting all cute and whining that she was hungry.
Samuel drove off to buy her three boxes of pies.
The cookies were just a giveaway from the store's promo.
This kind of thing had been happening between us these days.
Whenever we touched a nerve, right at the moment when things were about to explode, he'd just pretend nothing happened and quickly change the topic.
And I'd play along, keeping up that shaky fantasy that everything was still fine.
But this time, I was done pretending for him.
Samuel watched me hesitate, not reaching for the box, his expression tight with barely concealed impatience.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
He probably hadn't bothered to check himself in the mirror before coming home.
Right now, there were still a few messy lipstick smudges on his collar.
And behind his ear, where he couldn't see, was a fresh hickey.
It was Kathie's silent provocation and show of triumph.
I shook my head, my voice sounding tired and worn out.
"I'm not into that anymore," I said.