I bit my lip hard. The murderer who killed my child didn't deserve to know.
In the stalemate, Wanda hugged August's arm. "Maybe we misunderstood Dr. Yager. Let's not talk about this. I'm just panicking. Will you sleep with me tonight?"
"Of course," he replied, planting a kiss on her forehead before turning back to me, his voice cold. "Don't disturb us."
The first time he brought a woman home, I cried and asked him why he betrayed me.
In response, he threw the medical bill, which Julie had paid for my mother, right in my face. "You betrayed me first," he shouted.
After that, he only grew worse, even barging into the master bedroom in the middle of the night with other women and forcing me out. My initial pain and resentment slowly faded into numbness over time.
Only this time, I genuinely wanted to leave.
Late at night, the guest room door was suddenly pushed open. August stood in the shadows. "Wanda was terrified. Give her your warm jade."
The warm jade he mentioned was pressed against my chest.
Six years ago, after August's mother took her own life, he ran away from home and spent half a year in despair inside the tiny apartment I rented.
I shouldered all our expenses, including my mother's medical bills. Besides my internship at the hospital, I worked three other jobs, until one day I collapsed from exhaustion in the bathroom.
August held me and cried all night. The very next day, he took off the jade pendant he had never removed from his neck and gave it to me. He told me it was a protective talisman his mother had gotten for him.
That woman had jumped from a building because of her husband's endless betrayals. Now, he wanted it back for the woman he was cheating on me with.
I calmly took off the jade and handed it to him.
He didn't take it; instead, he went to my bedside. He swallowed slightly. "I'll give it back to you when Wanda sleeps better."
"It's yours. She should keep it," I said, pressing the jade into his hand before turning my back to him.
August was silent for a long moment, then placed a hand on my shoulder. "Eleanor, what's really wrong with you?"
Just then, a crisp cracking sound suddenly came from the nursery. This was immediately followed by Wanda's shriek, "Bella!"
August and I rushed over to find a mess of fragments scattered all over the floor. At that time, Wanda was holding 'Bella' and comforting her.
August quickly asked, "Wanda, why did you come down?"
"You were gone so long, I got scared," she said with a sob in her voice. "I'm so sorry … "
I bent down and picked up a fragment shaped like a wing.
After I fell ill back then, August had pulled himself together and gone out to find a job. With his first month's salary, he had personally made me a clay figurine of a little angel wearing a white coat.
"Look, it looks just like you," he had said, holding it next to my cheek, his eyes brimming with tenderness. "My angel in white."
But later, the only value this 'angel in white' had was to perform reconstruction surgeries for his mistress.
Last night, after much hesitation, I finally put this clay figurine deep inside a cabinet.
I looked at Wanda, not missing the unconcealed triumph in her eyes. I knew she had done this on purpose, but I didn't care anymore.
August walked over, his expression darkening instantly. "How did this get here?"
Wanda immediately put on a pitiful look. "Was it something important? It's all my fault for not watching Bella closely enough."
"How could it be your fault?" August quickly stepped forward and pulled her into his arms. "It's just a useless ornament. The important thing is that you and Bella are okay."
Yes, once the feelings are gone, what's left behind naturally becomes useless.
I then placed the wing-shaped fragment back on the floor. As soon as I stood up, I heard August command. "Clean this up."
I silently went to get a broom.
"Stop!" His voice suddenly rose sharply. "What do you think you're doing?"
I looked at him, bewildered. "Didn't you tell me to clean it up?"
Surprisingly, that man frowned. "How can you sweep it up like that if we're going to have it repaired?"
I shook my head. "It's shattered beyond repair. There's no point."
