- 3.
The Airbnb had terrible soundproofing. The woman’s voice was almost a taunt in my ear:
“I missed you so much too… Just thinking about you and Harper on your honeymoon here, my depression acts up…”
“I’m so sad, boo hoo hoo. I keep dreaming about going into the woods with those men…”
I recognized it instantly. It was Scarlett Zhao’s voice.
I never thought Blake valued her so much that he’d even bring her to our “honeymoon” and arrange for her to stay in the room next door.
Blake’s voice was husky, filled with endless tenderness and heartache:
“Scarlett, I’m so sorry for what I put you through.”
“Don’t be afraid. The top psychology team from abroad is already on their way. Just get some good sleep, and by tomorrow, the doctors will be here, okay?”
After I got together with Blake, I’d had several episodes. Each time, he claimed he couldn’t afford the expensive treatment.
I was sensible too, daring not to spend an extra dime. I’d just lock myself in the room, refusing to eat or drink, enduring it until it passed. One time, I almost died. At the last moment, a surge of survival instinct made me dial for emergency help.
The doctor said if I’d been a few minutes slower, I would have been gone.
Afterward, Blake even blamed me for spending the rent money. I just listened in silence, went and sold blood once, and paid the rent.
It turned out that when he loved someone, he could spend a fortune to fly in foreign experts overnight, instead of scolding her for wasting money by going to the hospital.
Scarlett Zhao’s voice stretched out, whining, “Blake, seeing Harper have an episode, aren’t you feeling bad for her?”
In the long, yet fleeting darkness, I heard Blake softly scoff, “How could I? In this whole world, the only person I truly care for is you.”
Scarlett Zhao, with a hint of petulance, giggled and asked him, “You’ve been sleeping here with me every night, listening to other men play with Harper. Don’t tell me you have some kind of kink, you like other people using your wife? If that’s the case, I won’t have anything to do with you.”
He said in a low voice, “Scarlett, you know I’m doing all of this to get revenge for you. As for Harper… I won’t marry her. After being used by so many men, she’s not worthy of being the Blake family’s young mistress.”
Soon, unspeakable sounds came from next door.
My phone lit up with two notifications.
One was “3rd Anniversary with Blake,” and the other was “Happy 25th Birthday to me.”
The man I had given my entire youth and everything to, the man I loved, was spending my 25th birthday, on our three–year anniversary, while I was suffering terribly from a bipolar episode, indulging in a night of debauchery with another woman in the room next door.
My heart shattered completely. I sent a text to my step–brother, Sawyer Hayes:
“Sawyer Hayes, can you come pick me up? I don’t want to be with Blake anymore.”
<
He said in a low voice, “Scarlett, you know I’m doing all of this to get revenge for you. As for Harper. I won’t marry her. After being used by so many men, she’s not worthy of being the Blake family’s young mistress.”
Soon, unspeakable sounds came from next door.
My phone lit up with two notifications.
One was “3rd Anniversary with Blake,” and the other was “Happy 25th Birthday to me”
The man I had given my entire youth and everything to, the man I loved, was spending my 25th birthday, on our three–year anniversary, white ! was suffering terribly from a bipolar episode, indulging in a night of debauchery with another woman in the room next door.
My heart shattered completely, I sent a text to my step–brother, Sawyer Hayes:
“Sawyer Hayes, can you come pick me up? I don’t want to be with Blake anymore”
He replied instantly:
“Okay, wait for me.”
A tidal wave of exhaustion washed over me, Amidst overwhelming self–loathing, I slowly drifted to sleep,
But I forgot to ask Sawyer how he knew where I was,
