Chapter 2
"I don't love you anymore." I gave him the simplest answer, which was also the cruelest.
The atmosphere around us froze. Janosch also froze.
The rage in his eyes slowly faded and was replaced by a kind of inexplicable horror.
"What… did you say?" he finally uttered.
"I said, I don't love you anymore, Janosch," I repeated with great deliberation. Then I added without missing a beat, "So, I want a divorce."
"No… that's impossible! You love me! You promised you'd love me forever!" Janosch yelled in denial.
"People change," I replied faintly.
"I don't believe you!" he roared again.
He suddenly pushed himself away from me and began pacing agitatedly in the living room.
"Did you find out something? Did my mom come to you again? Did she say something nasty to you?" he demanded.
"No, no, and no," I replied faintly.
"Then it must be Irma! Did she upset you? I'll go and settle the score with her!" he fumed.
With that, he turned around and marched towards the entrance.
"Janosch!" I called out to him.
He stopped and turned to me with a hopeful look.
"This has nothing to do with them. The problem is me. I'm fed up, and I'm very tired. I don't want to waste any more time with you," I answered decisively, shattering whatever delusions he still harbored.
"Waste?" That word clearly hit him hard.
He gave a bitter laugh, but his eyes became ablaze with rage once more.
"We've only been married a year, yet you are already viewing it as a waste of your time?" he spat out in a derisive tone.
I didn't respond to him. To me, once my mission was accomplished, this marriage would also end.
But Janosch seemed to think it was meant to last a lifetime.
When I stayed silent, the light in his eyes vanished completely. It was now replaced by that familiar, chilling obsessiveness that sent shivers down my spine.
That was the look he had before he lost himself to darkness.
"I will never divorce you, Corinna. Whether you're alive or dead, you belong to me. Don't even think about leaving me for the rest of your life," he growled menacingly.
With that, he turned and stormed upstairs. Soon, the sound of him smashing furniture reverberated through the whole house.
A few minutes later, he came down, clutching my passport and driver's license.
Right in front of me, he tossed my belongings into the fireplace.
Whoosh! The flames shot up instantly, engulfing all the identification documents that proved my identity.
"Let's see you try to leave now," he sneered.
He stood before the fireplace with a maniacal, triumphant smile.
I simply watched him with a deep sense of weariness and resignation. There was no anger.
Once a lunatic, always a lunatic. My attempt to save him was nothing but a joke, from start to finish.
*****
The next day, I found myself under house arrest.
The passcode on the villa's door lock had been changed, all the windows had been reinforced with grilles, and my phone was confiscated.
A few burly security guards stood guard at the entrance, working in shifts 24 hours a day.
Before heading to work, Janosch grabbed my chin and warned me in a threatening tone, "Stay home and do as you're told. Don't go anywhere. Otherwise, you will regret disobeying me."
I met his gaze indifferently and nodded. "Sure."
He seemed very pleased with my compliant stance. After giving me a peck on the forehead, he left the house.
No sooner had he walked out the door than an unwelcome guest arrived. It was Janosch's mother, Liesl.
She had always looked down on me. She felt that I was not good enough for her precious son since I came from a lowly background.
Now, she marched in with Irma in tow and her nose in the air, looking at me as if I were trash.
"Corinna, you still have the nerve to stay here?" Liesl spat out at me in that familiar acerbic and contemptuous tone.
Irma stood behind her meekly, playing the role of a vulnerable, innocent third party. However, her gleeful eyes were clearly gloating at me.
"Liesl, please don't say that about Corinna. She…" That woman pretended to defend me.
"You keep quiet!" Liesl gave her a reproachful glare but immediately switched to a kind smile after that. "You're pregnant now, you mustn't get upset. Come, sit down."
She guided Irma to the middle of the sofa, as if Irma were the mistress of the house.
Meanwhile, I stood to the side, like an outsider.
"Corinna, I'm not going to waste my breath on you." Liesl took a check from her Hermes bag and threw it on the coffee table. "One million. Take the money, divorce Janosch at once, and get your ass out of this house."
I only stared at the check without moving.