When he saw the suitcase I had just dragged out, he didn’t pause for even a moment. Seeing it as something that bothered him, he kicked it into the corner.
After breakfast, he pushed me to go to the dry cleaners to pick up his clothes.
I had barely returned and hadn’t even taken a sip of water when he sent me to Aurelia’s company to bring back some papers.
“My assistant had something come up and those documents are really important. I don’t really trust anyone else.”
Aurelia said this lightly, not showing the slightest sign of being sorry, as if it were completely normal for me to go for her.
I didn’t want to go.
But before I could speak, Aiden coldly pushed, “What are you standing there for? Go already!”
“Aurelia’s injury is your fault. You should be glad they didn’t call the police and drag you away. Now, asking you to help is only fair, isn’t it?”
I forced back the words “I don’t want to go.”
It took an hour and a half to drive from home to Aurelia’s company.
By the time I returned home, the sky was already fully dark.
As soon as I stepped inside, I heard Aiden on speakerphone, picking up a call from the kindergarten teacher.
“Hello, Mr. Turner, the kindergarten will have a parent-child activity tomorrow. We hope you and your child’s mother can come. This activity is mainly to help build parent-child closeness.”
“Okay, no problem, I’ll definitely be there tomorrow.”
Aiden answered with ease.
Isaiah suddenly brightened. “Daddy, can we go with Aunt Aurelia? Aunt Aurelia is great at paper cutting and she knows a lot of superheroes. My friends will for sure be jealous of me!”
I stood in the entryway, feeling strangely foolish for a moment.
My voice came out on its own, carrying a small tone of putting myself down.
“What about me?”
Isaiah lowered his head, choosing not to answer.
He still seemed upset about Aurelia’s burn yesterday.
The three of us, who had been so lively just minutes earlier, went quiet at the same time.
Aiden soon broke the quiet, his tone cold and plain.
“Haven’t you already gone to so many parent talks for Isaiah? Don’t go this time.”
He looked at me, his brow pulling together a little.
“The house hasn’t been cleaned the whole day; it’s a total mess. You’ll stay tomorrow and clean it well.”
With a few simple words, he pushed me aside again.
As if it were the most normal thing in the world.
After he said that, he stood, stretched and his voice suddenly softened.
“I’ll cook tonight. Aurelia, what do you want to eat? Isaiah, what do you want to eat?”
In his world, there had never been a place saved for me.
“I remember you used to make braised prawns,” Aurelia said gently. “I haven’t eaten them in a long time and I suddenly want some.”
“Dad, I want prawns too!”
“Okay.” Aiden smiled. “I’ll make them for you right away.”
Isaiah happily followed him into the kitchen to help Aiden.
I handed the papers I had brought back from the company to Aurelia.
“Thank you for going out for this.” She took the papers and gave me a small, polite smile.
Then, as if something came to mind, she asked directly, “I’ll go to Isaiah’s parent-child event for you tomorrow. You won’t be upset, will you?”
In the past, this kind of question would have made me think about it seriously for a long while.
If it were before, if someone had tried to step into my marriage, tried to take my husband and child, I would have used all my strength to hold onto them.
But now it was different.
These last two days, the thought of leaving had become more and more clear.
Aurelia’s small moves, in my eyes now, were nothing.
My heart had been hurt too many times; it had already grown numb.
It no longer hurt and it no longer loved.
