Just as I finally caught my breath, Eulalie started cheating once more.
I stayed busy catching her red-handed, busy dealing with the man around her.
Back and forth, it kept going on until today.
At the very start, Eulalie knelt beside my hospital bed and spoke to me, “Valerian, I see everything you have done for me.”
“From now on, let me carry the burden you have been carrying and repay all the pain you went through.”
Later, Eulalie took over my work. She held one arm around her lover and looked at me.
“Valerian, I know everything you have done for me, but that belongs to the past.”
“I promise no man will ever take your place, and I can even give all the family assets to our child.”
“But you also need to be more reasonable and stop stepping into my personal matters.”
Now, I looked at the two figures hugging each other outside the window.
I gave a dry smile and shook my head.
“Prescribe me some lighter abortion pills.”
“I am going back to Vermont soon. Bringing a baby with me is not convenient.”
“Besides, Eulalie smokes, drinks, and lives a messy private life.”
“In this case, how could a child born from this ever be healthy?”
My dad also built his wealth by depending on my mom.
After he was successful, mistresses one, two, three, four, and five showed up one after another, along with many children born outside marriage.
Exactly because of this, I wanted a sincere relationship.
But the first time she was caught in bed with someone else, Eulalie showed no guilt at all.
Instead, she spoke to me as if she were completely right, “Valerian, why are you acting mad?”
“Your dad has more than one woman. What is wrong with me having fun outside once in a while?”
“Think about how your mom dealt with it.”
“You grew up seeing and hearing all of this. How is it that you still have not learned how to be a kept husband in a rich family?”
She took my deepest pain and turned it into a tool to hurt me.
In that instant, I understood.
Our love had already come to an end.
But because of that agreement that lasted ten years, I could not leave Eulalie.
I could only watch helplessly as she openly crushed my pride and stepped on my feelings.
The wedding I risked my life to secure turned into a cage that trapped me.
The love that once felt carved into my body became Eulalie’s tool to wound me.
I had suffered enough from family and love.
Instead of letting this child live the same fate, I decided it was better to finish this broken marriage myself.
I swallowed the prescribed medication and dialed Eulalie’s number.
Even if we could not separate peacefully, we should at least leave one last bit of respect for each other.
The call connected.
But what came through, however, were their two intimate sounds.
My chest hurt for no reason.
I lifted my head and watched the city slowly fade into the dark, and I suddenly wondered. How did Eulalie and I end up this way?
Was it because of Percy? Or was it because of… that incident?
It no longer mattered.
No matter why it happened, cheating and hurting me were clear truths.
I hailed a taxi, wanting to head back and pack my bags.
While I waited for the car, I spotted Eulalie at the crossing.
She and Percy were walking hand in hand along the busy road.
That sweet, flirty look made them seem like a couple deeply in love.
Percy softly touched Eulalie’s lower belly, his face full of affection.
“Sister Elijah, we’re going to have a baby soon. When will you divorce that old guy?”
“I don’t want my son calling someone else Dad!”
Eulalie smiled.
She leaned into Percy’s arms and smiled in a gentle way.
