Chapter 4
Their whispers were loud enough for me to hear.
"Poor Mr. Jefferson! He spoils his wife too much."
"He must be cursed, or he wouldn't have such a wife, or he would have divorced her long ago."
"Trouble stems from indulgence. Mr. Jefferson shouldn't always let her have her way."
"At the sight of pink, she lost her head. I can't help but suspect that she did it on purpose..."
I pretended that I had heard nothing.
I took the divorce agreement to Tom and threw it at his face.
Tom tore the agreement into pieces and dumped it into the trash can without sparing it one glance.
He wrapped his arm around my waist as if nothing had happened. Smiling, he said, "Come, let me take you home."
Sometimes, I felt as if I were a cat that he wrapped round his fingers.
Tom coaxed me when he was happy, and he tortured me when he was mad.
I didn't want to waste my energy or time on him anymore. To get rid of him, divorce was unavoidable.
I left the divorce agreement with my signature on the desk. Then, I bought a ticket and flew to the prairies thousands of kilometers away.
There, I saw hawks soaring high and white clouds floating beneath the blue sky. Everything was so impressive and healing.
However, Tom soon found me.
He pulled me into his arms. Before the crowd, he pretended to be a loving husband.
He leaned over and whispered a threat into my ear. "Michelle, don't push me, or I don't know what I will do to you."
The place which had once been my sweet home became my cage.
Tom hired two bodyguards and forbade me from leaving my cage.
I once called the police for help.
The cops came and concluded that it was nothing but a fight that most couples had. They tried to smooth things over, so they gave me no help.
Tom had a lot on his plate. Every day, he locked himself in the study after he came home. He kept me company whenever he could spare a few minutes. When he had time, he could just sit there with me and do nothing for a few hours in a row. How scary!
One day, Tom left his phone on the nightstand.
I knew that the password for his phone was my birthday.
The password for his social media accounts was our wedding date.
Tom was prudent.
He always outsmarted me.
I couldn't find whatever he tried to hide from me.
Even so, I hated missing my shot.
I unlocked his phone and flipped through all his chat history.
I tried to find out his interactions with Jenny, but my effort was futile.
Suddenly, I found a video.
It was about a wedding, which was fancy with tons of lilies.
Jenny looked like a princess in her gorgeous pink wedding dress, which contained a train of 33 feet.
She happily threw herself into Tom's arms.
Grinning from ear to ear, Tom picked her up.
Right in front of their friends and relatives, they embraced and kissed each other.
There were many guests, including my classmates, friends, and even bestie.
These guests laughed, clapped their hands, and gave their blessings to Tom and Jenny.
With affection, Tom held Jenny's hand and said, "For richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part."
My hands started shaking, and tears kept rolling down my cheeks.
It turned out Jenny wasn't the other woman in this love triangle.
Tom had held a grand wedding for her.
Apart from me, the whole world knew that Tom and Jenny had gotten married.
My marriage was nothing but a joke.
Tom came for his lost phone and found me watching the video of his wedding with Jenny.
I deliberately paused the video when he kissed Jenny at the wedding.
I showed him the scene while handing the phone back to him.
Tom flashed me a smile and gave me no explanation. He then slipped his phone back into the pocket of his suit. He stretched his hands to embrace me.
By instinct, I moved backward.
His hands froze in the air. After a moment of silence, I heard him sigh, "Michelle, time to sleep."
Unhappy, I shot him one glare.
It seemed Tom already got used to playing tough. He seemed a bit excited about it.
He enjoyed the process of taming me, perhaps because I had been too humble and obedient to him.
The faint fragrance of his body wash attacked my nostrils, and a wave of sadness suddenly washed over me.
"Tom, why do you torment me?" I asked.