【Since you clearly don't care about yourself, I don't see why I should worry about you either.】
【Go move your things out of the master bedroom.】
【Lydia's staying with me for the time being. Once she's had the baby, you can move back in.】
Lydia's eyes gleamed with the unmistakable thrill of victory.
But she insisted on playing the innocent lamb.
【Lewis, isn't that a bit much?】
【Stella designed and decorated the master bedroom herself. It's supposed to be your bridal suite.】
【If I move in, wouldn't that make me a cuckoo stealing the nest?】
【Stella would never agree to that.】
Lewis lit a cigarette and spoke without looking up：【So what?】
【The bet was her idea. She lost, so she does what she's told.】
【Worst case, I'll buy her a new place for the wedding later.】
I wrapped a towel around my injured hand and felt nothing. Not a ripple.
【Fine. A bet's a bet.】
【I'll go pack now.】
The master bedroom was filled with memories of Lewis and me.
I had built a large glass wall cabinet and lined it with photographs of the two of us.
The Sydney Opera House. An overwater villa in Fiji. The Northern Lights in Iceland.
Only then did I realize that every place Lewis had taken Lydia was somewhere he and I had already been.
In the upper-left corner of the cabinet, one spot sat empty. I had saved it after Lewis promised to take me to Antarctica to see the penguins.
That photograph would never be filled in now.
While I stood there staring, the rustle of clothes drifted up from downstairs, followed by Lydia's breathy moans.
The sounds hit me like a bucket of cold water and snapped me awake.
I lit the photographs one by one and flushed them down the toilet.
Lewis smelled the burning and rushed upstairs. When he saw the empty cabinet, something uneasy flickered behind his eyes.
But he still believed I was throwing a tantrum, and sneered：【Go ahead and burn them. You're the only one who'll regret it.】
This time, he was wrong.
After letting go of everything, I didn't feel that terrible anymore.
What I felt, more than anything, was release.
All those years by Lewis's side, all those years of misery, and I had never once felt as light as I did now.
That night, I slept soundly.
No more lying awake over Lewis.
In my dreams, it wasn't just him anymore.
I went back to childhood.
Mom and Dad were still alive, and Tessa Matthews hadn't gotten sick yet. The four of us sat around the table, eating the dinner Mom had cooked.
Dad ruffled my hair and Tessa's, saying things that were too big for us to understand back then.
【Stella, Tessa, when you grow up, find a man who loves you with his whole heart.】
【The way Daddy loves Mommy.】
【Never settle for someone who'll waste your love.】
I left the house before dawn.
I took nothing with me except the bank card with twenty million dollars on it.
I was afraid I might die on the operating table, so I gave the card to Dr. Warren and told him to hand it to Tessa once she woke up.
That way she'd be taken care of for the rest of her life.
Then I walked into the operating room.
【Dr. Warren, let's begin.】
【Lewis will be bringing Lydia in for her checkup soon.】
【The sooner I close my eyes, the sooner I won't have to see him again.】
