Chapter 3
Before Lauren showed up, even the tiniest scratch on my hand would make Samuel fuss over me as if I were the most precious thing in the world.
There was a time when I could truly feel how much he loved me.
Samuel brought a spoonful of mushroom barley soup right up to my mouth.
"I prepared this meticulously at home, and a certain little foodie couldn't stop saying how tasty it was," he teased.
Lauren stuck out her tongue and gave Sam a few playful punches.
"Sam, stop calling me a little foodie," she pouted.
"Come on, Evelyn, you've got to try it. Sam's cooking is awesome. He always makes whatever I want," she said, her eyes sparkling.
"Sam's always crazy busy, but he still spends forever thinking up tasty food just for me. Like last time, it took him five whole hours just to make one dish. Good thing Sam's super patient, because it turned out so freaking delicious." Lauren beamed.
"Make that for me again tomorrow, pretty please?" she begged, giving him her best puppy eyes.
Samuel just smiled, helpless and doting, and his affection for her practically spilled out of his eyes.
"And you still deny you're a little foodie?" he teased.
"I've got a night shift tomorrow. Girl, you really know how to put me to work," he said with a playful shake of his head.
But he didn't say no.
He didn't say he was too busy.
The excuses he always gave me? He never even tried those on Lauren.
Seriously, how ridiculous.
We'd been married for three years, and Samuel had never once cooked for me.
He was a cop, always swamped with work. Pulling all-nighters for days on end was just part of his routine.
I felt bad for him, so I took care of everything around the house.
And this one time he actually brought me soup? It was just what Lauren didn't want anymore.
Lauren walked over and quickly grabbed the spoon from Samuel.
"Sam, let me feed Evelyn. You just have to take care of me," Lauren teased, flashing him a cheeky smile.
When Lauren tried to feed me, I turned my head away from the spoon.
Her hand trembled, and she ended up spilling half the soup onto herself.
She looked up at Samuel, her eyes red and watery, a little lost and helpless.
"Sam, I just wanted to feed Evelyn. If she doesn't like me, she didn't have to make me spill all your hard-earned soup onto me," Lauren whimpered, sounding all pitiful.
Samuel's gentle smile vanished, replaced with a look of irritation.
"Evelyn, why are you making such a fuss? Lauren was only trying to help," he shot back.
I couldn't hold back a bitter laugh.
"Samuel, we'd dated for two whole years and have been married three more, and you seriously never realized I'm allergic to barley?" I said.
A suffocating silence filled the room.
Lauren's choked sobs finally shattered it.
"Evelyn, don't be mad at Sam, okay? He just made way too much soup. I felt so bad that you were stuck here in the hospital all alone, so I begged him to bring you some," Lauren said, her voice wavering as she tried to sound pitiful.
I had had enough of Lauren's manipulative act.
Samuel said, "You loved that soup, but left half of it for her. She just doesn't appreciate your kindness.
"Of course it's not your fault. She was being dramatic, refusing to have it."
I just watched their stupid little act with a blank face, feeling so freaking done with it all.
I had been spoiled and pampered since birth, so why was I wasting my life on a guy like him?
"Samuel, I'm done with our marriage. Let's get divorced," I said, my voice cold and flat.