Chapter 3

3.

It wasn't until that evening, as I was drifting in and out of sleep in my hospital bed, weak from the recent trauma, that I received his text.

"One of Ava's newborn kittens has an intestinal issue. We're taking it to a specialist in Connecticut. We'll be back in three days."

"Okay," I replied. "Then let's push the signing to three days from now. I'm available anytime."

He finally noticed the word "divorce" and replied, clearly annoyed.

"I said, that's enough, Eleanor! You never used to be this difficult."

"I'm willing to humor you this once, so quit while you're ahead. What's the point of always threatening me with 'divorce'?"

I had spoiled Nathaniel rotten.

In the past, whenever I couldn't take it anymore and wanted a divorce, I'd make up my mind a thousand times to leave him for good.

But I could never go through with it. At the last minute, on my way to the lawyer's, I'd always turn back, begging him to take me back with no dignity.

I kept lying to myself, telling myself that Nathaniel liked me, that he still had some feelings for me.

As long as I was Nathaniel's wife, one day he would come around and see my worth.

Little did I know, every chance I earned by trampling on my own self-respect was, in his eyes, just another one of my tantrums.

Even this time, he saw the divorce as just another bargaining chip to threaten him with.

Now, I was too tired to explain.

I just replied coldly, "Three days from now, ten in the morning, at the law office."

"By the way, Chloe and Caleb will be there with us. Don't be late, and don't you dare stand me up."

Nathaniel scoffed. "Is this how you bring shame to the Harrison family?"

Even now, he was trying to use the Harrison name to control me. "It's one thing for you to cause a scene, but did you have to drag Caleb and his family into it? Faking a pregnancy, pretending to lose it, and now convincing Chloe to divorce with you. You've really pulled out all the stops this time."

"What's your next move? Intentionally hurting yourself? Threatening suicide to force me to admit I'm wrong?"

He was talking about two months ago, at a yacht party in the Hamptons.

I didn't know he was bringing Ava as his date, so when I got the invitation, I went excitedly.

The result was predictable. Nathaniel spent the entire time glued to his college sweetheart, treating me like I was invisible and making me the laughingstock of the party.

I was upset and went to the deck to drink alone, away from the crowd.

I ended up getting pushed into the ocean.

I almost drowned that time, but Nathaniel insisted I was faking it.

He stood by my hospital bed, looking down at me with disgust. "You're a great actress, always playing the victim. You want everyone to think I didn't take care of you, that you had an 'accident' because of me, don't you?"

Back then, I had just found out I was pregnant and joyfully told him the news.

He threw my ultrasound report on the floor and said with contempt―

"Realized your little act was exposed, so now you're using 'pregnancy' to get my sympathy?"

"You're clever, I'll give you that. You knew I'd see through it, so you stole someone else's ultrasound. Too bad. The report might be real, but it's definitely not yours. Give it back when you're done with your performance. You're a woman full of lies. What kind of thing would a child born from you even be?"

As he wished, the child was never born, and we were getting a divorce.

I didn't scream, I didn't get hysterical. The pain had turned into a deep numbness, so much so that I couldn't even feel the hurt anymore.

I told him with an eerie calm, "Nathaniel, this time, I'm really letting you go."

"I hope you get everything you wanted. May you and your 'one that got away' live happily ever after. And don't ever look back."

Nathaniel arrived with Ava.

The moment they got out of the car, Ava looped her arm through Nathaniel's, a clear declaration of ownership.

She was his college classmate.

Rumor had it they were deeply in love and almost engaged.

But Ava's family background was unacceptable to the Harrisons. They threatened Nathaniel that if he insisted on marrying her, they would cut off his trust fund and make him sign an ironclad prenup.

So Nathaniel broke up with her.

For a long time, he was like a zombie. Then he met me.

My best friend Chloe was set for an arranged marriage with the younger Harrison son. She cried in my arms, lamenting, "Marrying into a family like this means freedom becomes a luxury." She was sad that we couldn't hang out and be crazy together like we used to, and wished we could marry into the same family.

At the time, I was instantly smitten with Nathaniel, so I waved my hand grandly and declared―