Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Knowing that my ticket home was secured, the suffocating gloom that had weighed on me for five years instantly vanished. I no longer cared about Jesse's endless devotion to Nola.

The system had granted me a five-day window to wrap up my presence in this timeline.

I had nothing of personal value to pack, but I still needed to settle a few remaining loose ends.

To be completely honest, even though wooing Jesse had started as an assigned mission, five years of shared sweat and tears had forged real affection on my end. I had genuinely treated his father and grandmother as my own flesh and blood.

Ever since I married into the household, the two elders had treated me with genuine warmth, always saving the best portions of their meager meals for me.

Before I left forever, I wanted to leave them with enough provisions to survive.

I walked over to the farm commissioner's cottage to find Jesse. When I arrived, he was meticulously peeling a hard-boiled egg for Nola. In our rural settlement, eggs were precious commodities; families could barely afford feed for a hen or two, guarding every egg like gold.

Even Grandma rarely tasted more than a couple of eggs a month, yet Nola enjoyed one fresh every single morning, personally prepared by Jesse.

Watching the intimate scene, a bitter chuckle escaped my lips.

"Oh, Sierra! Please don't get the wrong idea," Nola said, jumping to her feet with a delicate smile. "Jesse only boiled this for me because he was worried I wasn't getting enough protein for my studies. I really didn't want to take it."

Her words sounded polite on the surface, but her eyes glittered with smug triumph.

"If you'd like one, Sierra, I can ask Jesse to boil an egg for you too."

She was boldly flaunting her conquest in my face, looking for all the world like the rightful mistress while casting me as the bitter intruder trying to break them apart.

Before I could even open my mouth, Jesse lunged forward, shielding Nola behind his back like a protective guardian.

"Sierra, don't you dare start a scene here!" Jesse snapped defensively. "Can you even compare yourself to Nola? The national college exams are being reinstated, and Nola is going to be a university student soon! What are you compared to her?"

"I chose to boil this egg for her. You don't get a single bite!"

Watching him guard her like a vicious dog, a faint ache pinched my chest, but it faded almost instantly into numbness.

Had he forgotten that I was his lawful wife? That I was the woman who had dragged his family through five years of grinding poverty?

He was acting as if I were some venomous monster out to hurt his precious little dove.

"It's just an egg," I said calmly. "If she ate it, she ate it. If one isn't enough, you're welcome to boil the rest from the pantry."

Jesse stared at me in disbelief, utterly shocked that the woman who used to count every penny was suddenly waving away such a luxury without a fight.

I simply offered a quiet smile.

I was leaving this entire existence in a matter of days; why would I waste my breath arguing over an egg?

Jesse was the archetypal tragic second male lead in every romance novel, willing to sacrifice his very marrow for the female protagonist.

And in his eyes, I had only ever been the annoying stumbling block in his pursuit of true love.

"When you have some free time, go home and check on your family," I added evenly. "Grandma and your father are both waiting for you."

Without waiting for his response, I turned on my heel and walked away. Whatever happened between them was no longer my burden to carry.

Sure enough, Jesse returned to our cottage later that evening.

I was sitting in the yard weaving a willow basket when his shadow fell over me. I lifted my chin to meet his gaze.

"Nola's labor credits fell short this month," he said stiffly. "Since our household can scrape by for now, I want to transfer half of our work log points to her name. She's studying around the clock for the exam and can't handle working under the blazing sun."

"Sure. Go ahead and transfer them."

My instant agreement caught him completely off guard.

Since the household ledger was kept under my care, he had expected a fierce fight, but my indifference made him hesitate.

"Sierra, you've become much more sensible lately," he muttered, his tone softening slightly. "It's good that you're finally learning not to make a fuss over every little thing. If you keep behaving like this, maybe we can finally think about having a child together."

In the five years since our wedding, we had never once shared a bed; he had insisted on sleeping on separate cots from night one.

In the past, I had foolishly believed that having a baby would anchor his heart to our home, but looking back, that hope was utterly pathetic.

As he reached for the credit ledger, a wave of hollow pity washed over me.

His eyes had never truly looked at me. He had no idea how many blisters I had popped to earn half of those labor credits in the fields.

He worried that the summer sun would tan Nola's delicate skin, completely blind to the fact that my own hands had grown coarse and calloused beneath that exact same sun.

That was the brutal difference between being loved and being tolerated.

When Jesse walked out with the ledger, I pulled out a stack of food ration vouchers from my apron and handed them over.

"Take these as well," I said softly. "You're right. Nola is going to be an educated scholar, so she needs proper nourishment. She must be exhausted from all that studying, so she'll appreciate the extra meal tickets."

Jesse's eyes lit up with genuine delight.

He grabbed the vouchers eagerly.

"See? Wouldn't things have been easier if you'd been this understanding from the start? I know I've neglected you recently. Didn't you say you wanted to visit the county co-op? I'll take you there tomorrow morning."

I didn't bother answering him. I knew his promises meant less than dirt, and by sunrise, his mind would be occupied elsewhere.

As soon as Jesse hurried off into the dark to deliver the vouchers to Nola, I slipped out and headed straight for the town commissioner's office.

I requested an official application for divorce.

The commissioner stared at me in utter bewilderment, his expression practically asking if I had lost my mind.

I understood his shock.

When I first arrived in this county, I had pursued Jesse relentlessly, shedding all modesty just to stand by his side, practically begging him into our marriage.

Jesse had never loved me. His family was destitute, and no other local girl was foolish enough to take on his burdens.

He had accepted my hand with reluctance, treating my devotion like an unavoidable chore.

But now that I was returning to my real life, I had no intention of suffering a single moment longer.

Everything from those five years would turn to dust the moment I walked away.