“Humiliating her? She brought this on herself! She went after someone else’s husband. If that’s not
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being a homewrecker, I don’t know what is!”
Carl’s face hardened. He was very angry. “Hailey, show some respect.
11
“Fine. I’ll respect you.” I shot back, turning on my heel and leaving with my friend.
“When are you finally going to divorce me?” he shouted after me.
I hesitated for a second, then said, “In a month.”
My friend asked why I wanted to wait that long.
There were two reasons. First, I still didn’t have enough proof of his affair for a legal battle. Second, our anniversary had just passed.
I grew up as an orphan. I left my hometown young to try and make it in the city. Then I met Carl. He admired my independence and strength and eventually fell for me.
He once told me, “I’ve never met anyone as strong as you, Hailey. You deserve the best of everything.”
I used to believe that, too.
Carl kept his word. Whether we were dating or after we got married, he always took care of me, paying attention to the smallest details.
He was like a light in my life, pulling me out of the
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darkness–only to push me right back into a deeper
hole.
Carl chased after me as I was leaving. He looked me up and down. “I knew something was off. Where’s the necklace you always wear?”
I reached up and felt my neck–the necklace wasn’t
there.
The necklace was the first gift Carl ever gave me. It meant so much to me that I wore it all the time. It even fell off once, so I swapped the chain for a stronger one.
And somehow, I’d lost it again. Maybe it was a sign.
“It must’ve just fallen off somewhere. Not like it matters anymore.”
Carl raised his voice. “Not like it matters anymore?”
The look on his face said it all—he wasn’t happy. But why should he be upset? He was the one who
walked out on me.
“I’ll take you to get a new one another day.”
“No, it’s fine.”
“Come on, don’t make this hard, Hailey.”
I was about to turn him down again when Wendy’s
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voice came behind us. Carl stepped back a little, creating some space between us.
Wendy hurried over, flustered, grabbing Carl’s arm like she was staking her claim. “Carl, I’m really scared. Will you come with me to the checkup, please?”
What was there to be scared of at a routine checkup? It was probably just an excuse.
Carl playfully tapped her nose, leading her inside and gently soothing her. Then, he paused at the door and looked back at me.
“I’ll get another necklace made for you,” he said.
I wanted to tell him not to bother. After all, it was
already gone.
