Chapter 2

The party lasted three hours.

After seeing off the last guest, I made sure Edward had taken his medication and asked the housekeeper to bring him some remedy upstairs to help with the alcohol.

By the time I finished, it was already 11.

William was waiting for me in the living room. Grace had already left.

He checked the time, impatience tightening his expression. "Can we talk now?"

"Yes," I replied.

I placed everything I had prepared on the coffee table: a dark blue hardcover binder, three sets of keys, a sheet filled with phone numbers, and my wedding ring.

The ring landed softly against the glass.

William stared at everything, his face gradually darkening. "What is all this?"

I opened the binder. "Dad's medication and follow-up records.

"The first page lists his daily medication schedule. Anything marked in red can't be taken with his blood pressure medication. Yellow labels are for backup medication.

"Starting on page 37, you'll find his test results from the past three years. The paper copies are in the second cabinet in the study, and I already emailed you the digital files.

"The numbers for his family physician, cardiologist, and the home health aide agency we usually use are all on this sheet."

I pushed the keys toward him one by one. "This one is for the medicine cabinet, this is the spare key to the safe, and the last one opens the storage room at the Hill Residence."

William didn't touch them. "Evelyn, what are you doing?"

"Handing things over," I replied.

"Handing what over?"

I met his eyes. "Mrs. Hill's responsibilities."

His expression turned cold. "I asked for a divorce. I never told you to stop taking care of Dad."

"He's your father."

"But you've been the one looking after him all these years."

"So?"

"He's used to you."

William lowered his voice. "Evelyn, whatever went wrong between us has nothing to do with Dad. You don't have to take this so far."

I waited until he finished before answering. "You want a divorce so you can marry your secretary. I agreed. You want me to leave quietly, without crying or making a scene. I can do that too.

"But you can't give someone else the position of Mrs. Hill while expecting me to keep doing everything Mrs. Hill used to do."

William pressed his lips together. "Taking care of Dad isn't a job."

"Of course it isn't." I nodded. "Which is why his son can take care of him from now on."

The only sound in the room was the steady ticking of the clock.

William stared at me as if he were seeing me for the first time.

After a long moment, he gave a cold laugh. "You think using Dad against me will make me change my mind?"

I froze for a second be fore understanding what he meant. "You think I'm trying to pressure you?"

"Aren't you?" William asked.

He leaned back against the couch, his usual composure returning. "You know Dad can't manage without you, so you're threatening me with this. Evelyn, we're not children. Games like this are pointless."

I thought, 'So that's what he believes. In his mind, I can't really leave. Handing over the keys is a tactic, and taking off my wedding ring is an attempt to make him come crawling back.

'Even refusing to keep taking care of his father has become a strategy to save our marriage.'

I couldn't be bothered to explain.

I turned and picked up the suitcase beside the entryway.

William's expression finally changed. "Where are you going?"

"Moving out," I replied.

"Now?"

"Yes."

He strode over and grabbed the suitcase handle. "When did you pack?"

"A while ago."

"Evelyn." His voice dropped lower. "I only asked for a divorce today."

I looked at his hand gripping the handle. "I know."

"Then why were you already packed?" he asked.

I didn't answer. I simply peeled his fingers away, one at a time.

There wasn't much luggage. Two suitcases and one old cardboard box.

I had lived in this house for ten years, yet everything that truly belonged to me could fit into a single car.

William followed me to the door. "What are you going to tell Dad when he wakes up tomorrow, and you're gone?"

"Aren't you planning to marry the new Mrs. Hill?" I asked.

I opened the door. "Let her explain then."

Just before the door closed, I saw William standing beneath the light, his face darker than I had ever seen it.

Only then did he realize I wasn't making a scene.

I truly didn't want him anymore.