Marvin froze for a moment, and a flicker of guilt crossed his eyes.
Nora caught that look, and jealousy spread across her face.
She cradled her belly and moaned in pain. "Marv, I'm fine. It's just that Charlene seems to have frightened the baby."
Marvin snapped back to himself at once, his expression complicated as he looked at me. "Come here. Apologize."
He spoke as if coaxing me, and as if threatening me. "Nora is carrying a child. She needs to stay in a good mood. Charlene, stop bullying her all the time. She's pitiful enough already, and now she has to be tormented and abused by a bitter, resentful woman like you. She owes you nothing."
Seeing that I didn't react, he went on. "Don't forget, I'm the one who arranged for your parents to be buried together. If you don't want them to have no peace even in death..."
I smiled bitterly, laughing at myself for how wrongly I'd given my love. I lifted my still-bleeding hand and, while Marvin stared in shock, struck it across my own face.
The sting spread through my cheek, and blood welled at the corner of my mouth.
"Enough!" Marvin roared.
"How is this enough?" I gave a soft laugh. "Still not satisfied? There's a fruit knife on the table. You could stab me a few times, let your Nora have her revenge."
"Lunatic. You're completely insane." He threw the words down, gathered Nora up, and stormed out the door.
I burst out laughing, and as I laughed, my eyes blurred with tears.
What an absurd world. He was the one who cheated first, yet in the end I was the one who'd turned into the madwoman.
Maybe to punish me for hurting Nora, Marvin shoved the door open with a bang as he left.
The doorway was full of patients coming and going, all of them curious and contemptuous.
I knew what Marvin meant by it. He knew I was afraid of those stares. He wanted me to suffer that fear and humiliation and then come crawling back to admit I was wrong.
But he didn't know. The person I loved most had already left me broken beyond repair.
I no longer cared what these strangers thought.
I got my phone back and called an old friend, one who was now a prosecutor.
There'd been a time when I was so ashamed of the hurt I was carrying that I'd cut off all contact with her.
But now, after she heard everything I told her, her voice came sobbing down the line. "None of it was your fault. I'll make every person who hurt you pay."
Tears spilled over. I hung up, and she immediately sent me a plane ticket and a divorce agreement.
"It's a flight tonight. Get away from those monsters."
I put on a face mask and made a trip to the morgue, to collect the last gift I would give Marvin.
Once everything was ready, I carried the elegant gift box home.
I printed out the divorce agreement, signed it, and set it in the living room together with my gift box.
I told the housekeeper softly, while she bustled around the kitchen, "This is my gift for Marvin. You have to make sure he opens it himself."
Seeing that I was about to leave, the housekeeper looked surprised. "Ma'am, today is your birthday. You're not coming back tonight?"
I went blank for a moment, then suddenly laughed, and as I laughed I began to cry, tears falling on the gift box.
"I'd forgotten it was even my birthday. After everything, this gift ends up being given on this day after all."
I wiped my tears and said coldly, "I'm not coming back."
From now on, I would never come back.
This place that had devoured all the happiness of my life, I would never set foot in it again.
I'd just reached the door when the executive assistant stopped me.
Discreetly, I pushed the passport deeper into my pocket.
"Mr. Finch has prepared a birthday surprise for you. Please come with me, Miss Henson."
His eyes carried mockery and disdain.
I knew he'd already been bought off by Nora. I didn't want to provoke her and Marvin at this critical moment. If they decided to torment me again, I'd miss tonight's flight.
"Let's go." I got into the car.
The car took me into a huge launch event.
I looked warily at the people filling the hall, unsure of what Marvin was really planning.
Marvin stroked my wrist tenderly. "How did you get so thin? It took me so much effort to build you back up."
I pulled my hand back coldly. "What do you actually want?"
"Still angry with me?" He touched my cheek, helpless and doting. "You were too rash that day. All I asked was for you to say sorry, and instead you disregarded your own body and insisted on slapping yourself. You scared me half to death. I had to hurry Nora away."
I pressed my lips tight and said nothing. Let him say whatever he wanted.
"Such a temper?" He tried to kiss my forehead, but I pushed him off.
A flash of impatience and irritation crossed his eyes. "That's enough now. Sulking gets boring after too many times."
"Last time you frightened Nora, and Nora doesn't even hold it against you. She's the one who offered to give you proper treatment for your psychological trauma."
"I don't need it." I looked up at the LED screen on the stage, at Nora's glamorous photos and the words Confront-Your-Shadow Method Launch — Goddess Therapist Nora Galloway Consulting Live.
Beside it ran a line of thanks: With heartfelt gratitude to Mr. Marvin Harding for his generous support of Nora's practice.
Something uneasy stirred in me, and I turned at once to leave.
"I appreciate her kindness, but I don't need it. I wish you both a happy joint launch."
"Charlene!" Marvin gripped my wrist. "What joint launch with her? This is your birthday gift from me."
"Let Nora cure your psychological trauma, and afterward you'll be just like a normal person. Isn't that good?" He grabbed my shoulders and forced me to look at him.
"Be good. Nora is the best therapist there is. She'll definitely cure you." There was actually a longing shining in his eyes. "After your father died, didn't you always want a family again? Once you're better, we'll have another child. The three of us together, isn't that the family you wanted?"
"I don't want that!" I fought against him without stopping, but his bodyguards hauled me up onto the stage.
