Chapter 3

3、

“I am just having a little fun with an older woman,” Noah said with a careless shrug. “It is not like I would ever actually settle down with her.”

He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his jacket pocket and casually flicked a lighter. “I know you are crazy about her.”

“Here is the deal. I will keep playing with her for another six months, and then I will walk away. By then, she will feel so guilty that she will come crawling back to be your perfect little wife.”

Noah took a slow drag of his cigarette and tapped the pack, offering me one.

I instinctively wanted to knock it out of his hand because Fiona used to despise the smell of tobacco.

“Your sudden divorce threat threw a wrench in my plans,” Noah continued, blowing a cloud of smoke right into my face. “It makes it pretty hard for me to extract the rest of the cash before I dump her.”

“So how about this trade? You drop the divorce, and I get six more months of fun. I promise I will break her in nicely for you, handing back an obedient, submissive pet.”

He leaned in closer, his twisted smile making my stomach churn.

I stared at him with cold detachment and took another step toward the door.

Noah’s face dropped into an irritated scowl.

“Don't be so stubborn! Name your terms!”

He sneered, “Tell you what, I will train her to do whatever dirty little tricks you want in bed. You have probably never seen her wild side, right? Once I am done with her, you can play with her however you like.”

He flashed a sickening, conspiratorial wink.

The sheer revulsion made me want to vomit. I pushed past him toward the hallway.

Noah grabbed my shoulder aggressively, his temper flaring.

“Don't act all high and mighty with me, Mercer!”

He snapped, “You can't even get a woman pregnant anyway. I am doing you a massive favor by keeping her satisfied. It will only make your marriage stronger in the long run!”

Before he could finish his vile sentence, the bedroom door flew open.

“Noah? What is going on out here?”

A flash of mock panic crossed Noah’s face, quickly shifting into a calculated, sinister smirk.

I instantly knew what he was about to pull.

A split second later, Noah violently threw himself backward, crashing loudly onto the hardwood floor.

Hearing the loud thud, Fiona stumbled out of the bedroom, her eyes wide with frantic worry.

The moment she saw Noah sprawled on the floor, her expression twisted into pure rage.

“Colin Mercer! What the hell is wrong with you?!”

Fiona rushed to Noah’s side, dropping to her knees to cradle his head in her lap.

I was completely numb to the scene. Ever since Noah entered our lives, no matter how clumsy or obvious his lies were, Fiona believed him unconditionally and directed all her venom toward me.

“Fiona, I am fine... really,” Noah whispered weakly, squeezing out fake tears. “It is just... the luxury watch you bought me earlier, I think the sapphire crystal shattered when he shoved me.”

He lifted his wrist to show a limited-edition mechanical watch.

It was a ten-year-old classic model. The exact watch I had dreamed of owning for a decade.

Something deep inside my chest cracked into fine dust.

While I was staring in shock, Fiona sprang to her feet and swung her hand with all her might.

A resounding slap cracked across my left cheek.

“Colin, have I been too patient with you?”

Fiona screamed, her chest heaving violently. “Is that why you think you can lay your hands on Noah again and again?”

She pointed a trembling finger at the floor. “Get down on your knees and apologize to him right now.”

She glared at me with cold fury. “Do it, or this marriage is officially dead.”

The burning sting on my cheek felt ice-cold. The hysterical woman standing before me bore no resemblance to the bright-eyed girl who had proudly gifted me a cheap watch years ago.

Behind Fiona’s back, Noah looked up at me from the floor, mouthing the words: “Ungrateful bastard.”

I let out a soft, hollow laugh.

Until this very second, a pathetic sliver of my heart had still held on to our shared past.

Now, that final thread snapped clean.

“My attorney will contact you first thing in the morning to finalize the divorce,” I said, my voice completely dead.

I looked directly into her eyes. “Also, your mother is waiting for life-saving surgery at the hospital. You had better handle it.”

My tone was completely devoid of emotion, lacking even a trace of anger.

Perhaps hearing me speak like a complete stranger startled her. Fiona blinked, the drunken haze clearing slightly, and a flicker of panic darted across her eyes.

Her lips parted as if she wanted to say something.

Before she could speak, Noah scrambled up from the floor, clutching his arm with a dramatic sob.

“Fiona, Colin, please don't fight because of me! It is all my fault. I will just pack up and leave right now so you two can be happy.”

His manipulative tears instantly stripped Fiona of the last shred of her sanity.

“The only person who needs to get the hell out is him!”

She glared at me with pure, unadulterated hatred, as if I were her worst enemy.

Without another word, I grabbed my suitcase, opened the door, and walked out into the cool night air.

I drove straight to the airport and bought a one-way ticket back to my small rural hometown in the Midwest.

Just before the flight attendants instructed everyone to switch their phones to airplane mode, my messaging app pinged.

It was an audio note from Noah.

“You stubborn, pathetic cuckold. Since you don't know what is good for you, I am going to run your beloved wife completely ragged tonight.”

His slimy voice chuckled. “I have got to admit, an older woman like her really knows how to scream.”

Directly beneath the audio message was an explicit video thumbnail.

I did not click it. I simply forwarded the entire chat log directly to my attorney’s email.

The jet engines roared to life, lifting the plane into the dark clouds.

I was finally leaving the city where I had spent ten agonizing years trying to be everything for a woman who despised me.

Early the next morning, Fiona was awakened by the aggressive ringing of her smartphone.

She groaned in annoyance and swiped the screen. “Who is calling this early?”

“Mrs. Shaw, this is St. Jude Memorial Hospital,” a crisp, professional voice answered. “Your mother is scheduled for emergency cancer surgery. We need you to settle the outstanding balance immediately so we can proceed.”

Fiona rubbed her throbbing temples, her head pounding from the hangover.

“Why are you calling me? Call my husband, Colin Mercer.”

The nurse on the other end seemed completely prepared for her response.

“Mrs. Shaw, the patient waiting on the gurney is your biological mother, Martha Shaw. Mr. Mercer informed our administration last night that he has initiated divorce proceedings and is no longer responsible for her care. All medical decisions and financial liabilities now fall strictly on you.”

The word “divorce” hit Fiona like a bucket of ice water.

Her eyes shot open, darting nervously across the bedroom until they locked onto the nightstand.

Sitting right there under the morning sunlight was the old, battered watch with the worn leather strap.

A sudden, paralyzing terror seized her chest.

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