Learning Love From Goodbye

"I've thought about it. Please draft up a divorce agreement for me, Mr. Chastain," Carina Sherwood says to her divorce attorney, Leo Chastain.

It's her fifth wedding anniversary with Aster Ducant, but Carina spends it at the lawyer's office instead because Aster is busy having fun with his secretary, Stella Winters, at home.

Carina is his wife, but she ends up being the one chased out of the house.

They have been married for five years, but Aster hasn't announced their marriage to the people at the company. At first, Carina thinks of bringing it up to him.

However, it just takes a few sentences from Aster for her to know that there's no need for that anymore.

"Stella's home alone, and the electricity at her place just went out. She has nowhere else to go. I'm asking her to come over for dinner. You're fine with that, aren't you?"

The best way Carina can think of to end the last five years of their relationship is through divorce.

"Can you have the divorce draft ready by today, Mr. Chastain?" Carina Sherwood asked her divorce attorney, Leo Chastain.

She was unable to put up with the sounds of Aster Ducant and Stella Winters happily chatting with each other in the mansion anymore.

The night breeze was very cold that night, but it couldn't even compare to the loneliness in Carina's heart.

This was her home too, and today was supposed to be her fifth wedding anniversary with Aster. And yet, her own husband had chased her out of the mansion so that Stella, his secretary, wouldn't feel awkward about being there.

There was a sigh on the other end of the line. "Ms. Sherwood, let's talk in person instead."

…

An hour ago, Carina had just reached home, feeling thoroughly exhausted, as she sat down at the dinner table. She looked at the colorful dishes on the table—a full 12-course meal—and sighed quietly.

"Aster, you know that I can't eat spicy food…"

Carina wasn't picky with her food, but there wasn't much she could eat on the table at all. She didn't want to put her life at risk just because she wasn't a picky eater.

Aster knew that she was deathly allergic to peppers. That had been the reason why all of the food she'd prepared in the past was seasoned without anything spicy at all.

And yet, the entire 12-course meal laid out before her was mostly spicy or made with peppers.

Aster pushed the only dish that didn't have peppers in them toward Carina. It was a simple cheese omelette.

"You know that I'm very busy at work and never have the time to pay attention to all these little details," he said, sounding displeased.

"Everyone at the company is depending on me for their livelihood. I've already made the time and effort to meet you for dinner today, so stop making such a huge fuss over a problem that doesn't even exist. Isn't the cheese omelette good enough? It doesn't have any peppers in it."

Although Carina knew that Aster couldn't care less about her anymore—or maybe he never cared about her in the first place—she still didn't think that he would think nothing of the past five years she'd spent with him, or that he would be so merciless about it.

It was supposed to be their wedding anniversary celebration tonight. They had a 12-course meal spread out before them, but she was only allowed to eat one.

She was just about to say something when Aster's phone suddenly rang.

He answered the call, now with a smile on his face. He spoke warmly into the phone and then went into the kitchen to grab a new set of plates and cutlery before setting them down next to his seat.

When he finally hung up, he turned to Carina and said, "Stella is home alone, and the electricity at her place just got cut. I told her to come over for dinner. You're fine with that, aren't you?"

It looked like he was making a request, but Aster asked the question so matter-of-factly that it might as well be an order.

Carina smiled bitterly.

Aster had already put it that way, and he'd also already set out the extra set of plates and utensils on the table. Did it really matter whether she agreed to his request or not?

"By the way, Carina, what did you want to say earlier?"

Aster suddenly recalled that Carina seemed to have wanted to tell him something before he got distracted by the phone call. So, he thought he'd ask her about it.

It was their fifth wedding anniversary today.

Carina wanted to cherish the very rare time she got to enjoy dinner at home with Aster. Naturally, she didn't want anybody else to disrupt them.

Even though she knew that saying it out loud would anger Aster, she still had to get it off her chest.

"It's our fifth wedding anniversary today, Aster. I just wanted us to be alone, maybe chat a little, and enjoy dinner—"

Before she could even finish her sentence, however, Aster had already interrupted her. He frowned, his face scrunching up in annoyance as he slammed his fork down on the table.

"I know that it's our fifth wedding anniversary today! You don't have to keep reminding me about it like an annoying fly buzzing in my ears all day!

"There's plenty of food to go around, and it's not like you can finish them all anyway. Stella had been working so hard at the company that she's on the verge of getting gastritis, so the extra food might as well be shared with her too!"

Carina lowered her head when she heard Aster's firm tone. She didn't say another word and just started eating the cheese omelette in front of her.

Her eyes gradually turned red. Tears dripped silently onto the egg, but she just chewed and swallowed everything anyway.

There was indeed plenty of food to go around. She couldn't possibly finish everything by herself, even if she died trying to.

Carina finished the omelette within a few bites. When she looked up again, her expression had gone back to normal.

Her eyes were just slightly puffy and red. Aster would immediately be able to tell that something wasn't right if he'd just looked at her closely enough.

"Maybe we should just divorce then, Aster Ducant."

Aster continued scrolling on his phone as he sat across from her. He seemed completely absorbed, the corners of his lips lifting in a smile.

"Huh?"

He didn't seem to have heard Carina's words and just responded without even looking up at her.

Carina's face was emotionless. However, the bitterness surged in her heart. She took a deep breath and tried to suppress the sadness threatening to overwhelm her.

She was just about to repeat herself when Aster interrupted her once again. "Stella is coming. Save your words for later tonight."

Carina had just opened her mouth to speak. But Aster didn't even give her a chance to say anything before he quickly disappeared out of the mansion.

She watched as Aster hurried out. Drawing her lips in a line, she lowered her head to type out a text message on her phone and sent it.

"I'm going to your office in a while."

From today onward, Aster no longer had to worry about Carina walking in on his dates with other women.

The five years were up. The dying wish that Aster's mother, Selena Montgomery, made couldn't be fulfilled because Carina couldn't wait any longer.