Chapter 3

3

Cillian left the house again.

I didn't need to guess where he was going.

Noelle had just called him, crying about how she was out drinking and felt sick.

My legal husband was so worried about her health that he rushed to her side.

She had this high-pitched, fake-sweet voice I could never imitate.

"Cillian, is Elara mad at me? It's all my fault. I shouldn't have interrupted your trip."

"Can you please ask her to forgive me?" she whimpered.

Cillian, already annoyed with me, took his anger out on me even more after that.

"What are you sorry for? I chose to go to you. It has nothing to do with you."

"Elara is just being ungrateful. She isn't worth your worry," he shouted.

He made sure to stay right outside my door while saying it, hoping I would hear.

But my heart was already shattered into too many pieces to care about his tantrums.

When I didn't react, he slammed the front door so hard the house shook.

I finally felt a sense of peace.

Living with a ticking time bomb like him was exhausting.

With him gone, I could pack in peace.

I called a moving company, fired the nanny, and loaded Rosie into a car to head to my parents' place.

My baby girl giggled in my arms.

It was as if she knew her mother was the only one who truly loved her.

I left the signed divorce papers on the coffee table.

I tried to send him a final text, but I realized he had blocked me.

It didn't matter. From today on, I was living for myself.

When I got to my parents, I told them everything.

They didn't lecture me; they just sighed in disappointment.

"It's okay, Elara. That boy didn't deserve a girl like you."

"That's right, sweetie. We have more than enough to take care of you and the baby."

Cillian and I had been together since college. My parents used to adore him.

He was smart, driven, and had built a successful company at a young age.

I thought I would be happy forever.

Then Noelle appeared.

I realized then that everything I had was just Noelle's leftovers.

Back when we were dating, Cillian used to say things that should have been red flags.

"You have a temper just like a little sister I used to know. You girls are so hard to please."

Noelle was his treasure, his goddess.

I was just a substitute for the girl he couldn't have in his youth.

I shook my head at my own past naivety.

I used to think that being there for him was the ultimate confession of love.

I thought if I stayed long enough, I would become the most important woman in his life.

I was dead wrong. You can never compete with a man's first love.

The day Noelle returned to the country, Cillian locked himself in his office.

He wouldn't eat, drink, or take my calls.

I waited outside his office crying, worried sick about him.

When he finally came out, he just looked at me coldly.

"Aren't you embarrassed? Go cry at home."

That was the moment I realized our fate was sealed.

The person meant for you would never abandon you over a little drama.

As if matching my mood, the sky opened up into a downpour.

The rain hammered against the windows, soaking the world outside.

As I stared out at the storm, a familiar car pulled up to the gates.

It was Cillian.

He stood outside the fence, frantically pressing the doorbell.

No one opened the gate for him.

He didn't give up. Even though the rain was blinding him, he stood there like a ghost.

I could faintly hear him screaming my name.

"Elara! Elara!"

What was the point now?

When I was freezing like a statue on 10th Avenue, what was he doing?

We had simply swapped places.

I called him, not because I felt bad for him, but because he was making a scene.

If he got sick on our property, he'd probably try to blame my family.

He picked up almost instantly. He sounded desperate... almost like he was begging.

"Elara, you finally called! The divorce is a lie, right? You're just jealous, right?"

He fired off questions until my head spun.

"I'm just calling to tell you to stop embarrassing yourself in front of my house," I said.

"If anything happens to you, my family isn't taking the blame. I've already called the police."

"Also... find some time to finish the paperwork at the courthouse."