Chapter 6
My hands kept trembling every time I tried to sketch, so I finally gave up and grabbed a sheet of paper to write my last letter.
As dusk was falling, Edward sent me a voice note.
He sounded pretty anxious. "When are you coming back?"
I didn't reply. Less than ten minutes later, he sent another voice message. "Should I come get you?"
When I still didn't answer, he called me.
I didn't want to go back. I knew he was going to bring up the divorce.
So I texted him: [It's Samuel's birthday today, and he asked me to come over.
[I might not be home until really late, or maybe not until tomorrow.]
He shot back a message. [Are you staying over at his place?]
His calls wouldn't stop, so I turned off my phone and threw it in my bag.
The truth was that Samuel was out of the country on business.
Before he left, he handed me a key and said he had some meds at his place.
He told me that if I needed anything and couldn't get in touch with him, I could swing by and help myself.
I drove over to his place and grabbed a few bottles of painkillers.
Then I took every last bottle of sleeping pills he had left.
The pain was so intense, and there was no way I could make it back home.
I curled up on his living room couch and endured the whole night, barely getting any sleep.
The next day, I felt a bit better and drove back home. To my surprise, Edward was sitting on the living room couch again.
I couldn't help but ask, "Is work that slow for you lately?"
He shot me a cold look. "Looks like you've got more free time than I do."
I happened to glance at his computer screen and saw his WhatsApp chat with Emily open.
She had sent him a cute animated sticker with a little "Okay" underneath.
Remembering how she had rushed me about the wedding dress yesterday, I couldn't help but smile.
"Emily's suddenly in such a hurry for a wedding dress. Don't tell me she's planning to marry you," I said.
Edward shot me another cold look. "What's it to you?"
Now that I thought about it, it was really none of my business.
And he wouldn't care anyway, though I already knew he was having an affair while we were still married.
Even if the court awarded me all the marital assets, I knew it didn't matter to him.
I wasn't about to let him have the upper hand in this argument, so I smiled.
"Come on, we haven't finalized the divorce yet. You're that eager to move on?" I said.
He looked completely calm, like none of this bothered him at all. "It's signing some papers, that's all.
"Does it really matter to you whether we're divorced or not?"
I managed a smile, but it felt like a knife twisting in my heart. This time, I was at a loss for words.
Then, his phone rang, and he put it on speaker.
Emily's voice came through. "Edward, there are a few details about the wedding dress I want to check with you."
Edward replied, "Sure," grabbed his phone, and got up to leave.
I stood there, spaced out, not sure how long I'd been frozen like that.
He was right. It was only signing some papers and going through the motions.
No matter how much I dragged my feet, it wouldn't change the fact that he was set on marrying Emily.
He didn't come back until well past midnight.
His scent was all mixed with Emily's perfume.
When he lay down beside me, I pretended to be asleep, not moving a muscle.
Half-asleep, I thought I heard him let out a quiet sigh.
He muttered, "Sarah, what exactly are you sulking about?"