Chapter 8 · Loving You, My Regret

Chapter 8

Andrew's phone suddenly rang.As soon as that special ringtone started playing, he quickly answered.Olivia's weak voice came through the phone. "Andrew, where did you go? I'm all alone in the hospital room, and I'm so scared."Andrew walked out, reassuring her as he went. "I'll be right back."Emily raised her hand and furiously rubbed the spot on her face where his hand had been moments ago.Tears kept streaming down, and her face was left red and puffy from her rough scrubbing.'You're free to do whatever you want now. But you're out of my life for good,' Emily thought.Not long after Andrew left, Olivia's coy, pampered voice floated over.Emily covered her ears, desperate to block it out. But that voice was like a sharp blade, relentlessly piercing into her ears.She drifted in and out of sleep, each dream filled with the way Andrew used to love her.It made her current solitude seem even more ridiculous and pathetic.When Emily woke up again, her phone suddenly lit up with a notification.She tapped it open and saw that Olivia had posted something new from her alt account.Olivia had posted a few photos.The first photo was of their hands intertwined.The second photo showed Andrew's face, soft and focused, as he peeled an apple for her.The third was of her nestled in Andrew's arms, reaching up for a kiss.The fourth...The caption read: [True love never backs down. I'm a hopeless gambler, and I finally got back the most precious thing in my life. You belong to me now!]Right below, Andrew replied almost instantly from his alt account: [Yep, I'm yours.]Emily fixed her gaze on Andrew's reply, and a surprising sense of closure washed over her as if a weight had finally been lifted from her heart.Back when Andrew came back to their home, they tried to act like everything was fine, desperate to pretend things could go back to the way they were.But Emily started calling him dozens of times a day, obsessively checking his dashcam recordings more than ten times every day.She'd sneak a whiff of his clothes while he was in the shower, trying to catch any unfamiliar perfume.She'd peek at his phone, looking for any secret messages to Olivia.Every time he called her name on the bed, she couldn't help but wonder if he was secretly missing another woman in his mind.Now, she could finally let herself go.With a few taps, Emily unfollowed and blocked both Andrew's and Olivia's secret accounts.She also deleted all the tracking and dashcam apps she'd used to monitor Andrew's whereabouts.Four months into Andrew's return to the family, Emily finally broke free from him.Early the next morning, Emily packed up her things and went to check out of the hospital.As she was about to leave with her things, Andrew suddenly rushed over.His eyes were bloodshot as he grabbed her wrist, squeezing so hard that it felt like he might snap it.Emily cried out, struggling to yank her wrist free from his grip. "Andrew, let go of me. It hurts!"But Andrew was totally losing it, not hearing a word Emily said. "Where did you take Olivia? What have you done to her?"

Chapter 8