Chapter 7
As the smoke closed in around me, a strange sense of dread gripped my heart.
Not far away, a pair of eyes were fixated on me, their gaze piercing right through.
*****
The day after William left home, Sophie opened her eyes, hoping to see the familiar bustle in the kitchen.
But instead, it was eerily quiet. There was no one there.
The whole house felt cold and deserted.
'So William really wasn't joking about wanting a divorce,' I thought.
As that truth sank in, a crushing sense of loss washed over her, followed by a tidal wave of anxiety.
I wondered, 'What am I supposed to do now?
'I can't lose William.
'After everything, after finally having a home again, am I really about to lose it all over again?
'Even though the therapy was finally working, and I'd finally found the courage to confess my feelings to William.
'Why?'
My hands were trembling uncontrollably, and I was drowning in anxiety about losing everything.
It wasn't until a frantic knock at the door that I finally snapped out of it.
But when I opened the door, it wasn't William standing there.
It was Benjamin, the man I loathed most.
Benjamin could see Sophie wasn't doing well. The swelling on her face seemed to flare up again with pain.
Benjamin looked uneasy.
"Sophie, my dad he wants to invite you and William out for dinner," Benjamin said.
Sophie's eyes were still swollen, but she just stared at Benjamin, her gaze cold and unwavering.
Benjamin felt uneasy under her stare, but then he remembered all the messed-up things he'd done before, and his father's warning.
"If you don't properly apologize to Sophie and William, you can stay overseas for good. And don't expect any more allowance from me. Figure it out yourself."
With no other choice, Benjamin braced himself and kept talking.
"Sophie, I know I screwed up with you and William in the past, but it's been ages. You two are married now, and you slapped me yesterday, so isn't it time to let it go?" Benjamin said.
All Sophie could think about was how to win William back.
But when Benjamin mentioned William, she couldn't help but think of their phone call yesterday.
"So you're really going to bring up how I went behind my husband's back to meet my ex on our anniversary?" Sophie replied.
She slapped Benjamin hard across the face.
"William's divorcing me now. Is that what you wanted?" Sophie shot back.
As the slap landed, Benjamin suddenly remembered what his father had said.
'Damn, this woman really is crazy,' Benjamin thought.
But what really hit him harder than the slap ever could was what Sophie said next.
Benjamin blurted out, "Divorce? No way. William would never leave you.
"Wait, is this all because of yesterday? Did William misunderstand?"