Chapter 19
Kayla had been eating happily, but the moment she heard what Jonah said, she stopped eating.
She set her cutlery down, dabbed her lips with a napkin, and looked at him seriously.
“Jonah, there’s no point in talking about who was right or wrong anymore. The day I left Jolsa, I made up my mind. I never planned to look back. You should move on, too.”
“I don’t want to move on, Kayla.”
Jonah suddenly grabbed her hand, his emotions rising fast.
“We were together for eight years. I love you. You can’t just walk away because I made a mistake. I know I messed up, but I swear on everything that I never cheated or stopped loving you. Why can’t we go back?”
His voice cracked, and his eyes reddened as if he was about to cry.
If it had been before–before everything that happened, before all the hurt and the nights she was left alone–Kayla might have felt sorry for him.
But not now. Not after all that pain. Not after being ignored, neglected, and pushed aside again and again.
And worst of all, Jonah still didn’t understand what he had done wrong. He thought that he deserved forgiveness just because he hadn’t cheated or fallen for someone else.
Kayla yanked her hand back and stood up, picking up her purse.
“Bring the divorce papers to the courthouse at 8:00 am tomorrow. If you don’t show up, I’ll take those pictures of you and Lily’s wedding ceremony and file for another case.”
She didn’t wait for a reply. She just turned and walked away.
Jonah didn’t move. He sat there frozen, like a boulder had just been dropped onto his chest. He couldn’t breathe.
That night, Jonah: drank himself sick at a bar. When the hired driver dropped him off at his bare, half–renovated apartment, he stumbled inside and started throwing up until his stomach was empty and his eyes were bloodshot from the strain.
He collapsed beside the toilet bowl, exhausted and hollow.
He remembered how Kayla used to take care of him when he drank too much. She’d make him hangover tea, bring him antacids, wipe his face, help him out of his clothes–and if he woke up thirsty in the middle of the night, she’d be up in a heartbeat to get him warm water.
How the hell did he screw it up so badly and lose a woman like her?
The tears came hard this time. Jonah buried his face in his hands and sobbed.
Just then, a warm towel touched his cheek.
“Honey, here, wipe your face.”
Jonah looked up with a joit. Through blurry eyes, he saw Kayla standing beside him, smiling gently.
“Darling,” he choked, his voice breaking as he threw his arms around her.
She hugged him back, and the two of them fell onto the mattress in the bedroom, kissing passionately.
At first, Jonah felt like he was dreaming, and his heart raced.
Kayla was here. She had come back for him. But the longer it went on, the stranger it felt. Kayla was always a little shy. Even after two years of marriage, she’d still blush when they were intimate.
This wasn’t right. This wasn’t her.
Jonah pushed the woman beside him away and stumbled to turn on the light.
The moment the blinding overhead light flicked on, a cold chill washed over him.
The dishelved woman in his bed wasn’t Kayla.
“Lily? What the hell are you doing?”
Jonah’s fury exploded. His voice was hoarse, eyes wide in disbelief as he stared at her. Every trace of warmth in him vanished.
“Jonah, don’t you get it yet? Kayla doesn’t want you anymore. I’m all you’ve got left now.” Lily didn’t bother pretending anymore. She stood up and walked slowly toward Jonah, one step at a time, her eyes filled with resentment.
“Jonah, we grew up together. I know you liked me back then. But I was gone for just eight years–eight years and you went and fell for someone else? You even married her? Do you think that’s fair to me? Or my mom?”
Her questions came like bullets, but Jonah didn’t respond.
Yes, he’d once had a childish crush on her. But that wasn’t love. And after all these years, who really would wait around for a dream that shattered long
Chapter 19
ago?
“I don’t love you,” he said coldly. “I love Kayla.”
Lily laughed bitterly, almost manically. “You love her? If you really loved her, why were you so quick to believe everything I said about her?”
