At eighteen, Caleb Thorne shielded me in his arms. He took a brutal beating from a gang, leaving him bloodied and barely clinging to life. As he lay on the gurney, someone asked if he regretted it. Barely conscious, he let out a reckless, wild laugh: "Regret? Hell no. What are two broken legs compared to this?" "I’ve got myself a wife for life now!" At twenty-eight, I slipped off my wedding ring. Along with a pink hair tie I’d found in his pocket, I handed it all back to him. He took the hair tie—the one his little college mistress had used to provoke me. He leaned against the wall, watching me with a half-smile that didn't reach his eyes: "Honey, you don't actually think this little stunt is going to make me have a change of heart, do you?" 1 I didn’t answer. I just kept packing my things. The hair tie was a soft baby pink, the kind that looks cute and playful on a college girl. Caleb slid it over his wrist, let out a dry chuckle. His gaze lingered on the pink band as if he were seeing someone else through it, and the curve of his mouth softened into something sweet. If this were the old me, I would have been triggered. I would have screamed, cried, and hysterically demanded to know if he was thinking about that brat. But now, I just pushed the wedding ring closer to him across the table. "Let's get a divorce, Caleb. I'm serious." Caleb didn't respond. He maintained that same casual, indifferent posture, though his smile gained a sharp edge of mockery. I knew he didn't believe me. Because "divorce" was a word I had thrown around a hundred times over the last few years. The first few times, he actually panicked. He’d get bloodshot eyes, making promises, swearing oaths. He’d do anything and everything to beg me to stay. Until that one time. His little side-piece caught a high fever. I was on the verge of a breakdown. I told him if he dared to go to her, we were done. That day was my birthday. Caleb never came home. When the girl sent me a voice clip of her moaning his name, I actually considered ending it all. I stood by the open window, the night wind chilling my skin to the bone. In the end, I didn't jump. I just slumped onto the floor and sobbed like a broken animal. When Caleb finally came home, he knelt in front of me and laughed mockingly: "Wifey, weren't we getting a divorce?" "Why are you still guarding the house like a loyal dog, hm?" 2 "Caleb, this time is for real." I finished packing the last of my things and took a deep breath. Caleb was starting to look impatient. But then, a specific ringtone—one reserved for her—chimed through the room. Caleb stood up straight, and as he answered the phone, his features softened instantly. He let out a low chuckle, flirting as if I wasn't even in the room: "What is it now, my little troublemaker?" "Oh, you're asking me? It's Valentine's Day!" "Every other girl has her boyfriend with her, and my boyfriend is stuck at home with an old woman." The girl's voice was young, vibrant, and undeniably sweet. Caleb couldn't resist her pouting. He surrendered immediately: "Alright, alright. I'm coming to find you right now." He hung up, the doting look still in his eyes. But when he turned back to me, his voice was cold as ice. "Honey, you aren't hitting menopause early, are you?" "Why all the drama today?" I watched his retreating back and sighed softly. I had loved him too desperately, too pathetically. So much so that when I finally meant it, no one believed me. 3 After Caleb left, my phone buzzed. It was a notification from a contact saved as "Lily." [Hey Auntie, want to bet Caleb still spends Valentine's with me?] [Hehe, looks like I won.] The girl's provocations were childish but effective. Usually, they were enough to send me into a spiral. But I knew exactly where she got her confidence from. When Caleb first started cheating, he wasn't this blatant. Back then, he hid Lily's texts. He coaxed me, begged me, told me he’d cut it off. My heart was ripped open. I couldn't believe the man who loved me so fiercely in our teens could stab me like this. Like every other betrayed wife, I went to his office. I screamed about his betrayal in front of everyone. I tried to drag out the woman who was destroying my home. But Caleb protected Lily perfectly. He kept her hidden. Until the day Lily lost her patience and came to me herself to brag. I didn't even have room to fight back. She slammed down photo after photo of them in bed together. "Auntie, Caleb told me it was love at first sight, but he wouldn't touch me until I graduated college." "So, the moment I finished school, he took me. He even cleared his schedule to take me on a trip abroad." "Oh, right. That was while you were back in your hometown for your father's funeral." "See? That's how much he loves me." Lily stood there with her high ponytail, gloating about Caleb’s devotion. I lost my mind. I grabbed a glass and smashed it against her. Then, in a fit of rage, I used a shard of glass to slice her face. Caleb arrived in a panic and pulled a sobbing Lily into his arms. He looked at me, his voice freezing. "I’ve spoiled you too much over the years, Winona." "I’ve let you think you actually have the right to touch what’s mine." 4 After that incident, Caleb stopped hiding her. He took Lily to every gala, every event, acting intimate in front of everyone. He turned me into a complete laughingstock. No matter how much I raged or cried, he remained a cold observer, like an outsider watching a play. During that time, I lived like a zombie. My nerves were stretched to the breaking point. I was a madwoman. When did I finally decide to give up on him? Maybe it was when my mother was hospitalized for a major surgery. I was exhausted, falling ill myself. Caleb, meanwhile, had the audacity to bring Lily to our house for a party with his friends. I dragged my sick body downstairs and overheard his friends talking about our past. "Caleb really used to love Winona, didn't he?" "Yeah, man. Caleb was a star athlete. He had scouts from the pro leagues looking at him. His future was set." "No one expected him to throw it all away to protect her. Getting both his legs smashed by those thugs. He’s carried those scars for life." Lily, clearly annoyed, pressed for more details. She didn't want to believe he had ever been that devoted to me. Since she was unhappy, Caleb’s expression soured too. One guy laughed, sounding crude: "It was simple. Those thugs had their eyes on Winona." "They were trying to drag her into a bar to take turns on her. When Caleb got there, they’d already stripped her. They’d touched her everywhere." "She was a total mess, crying like a baby." Lily covered her mouth, let out a giggle. She leaned into Caleb’s chest and spoke with pure malice. "If I were her, being stripped and touched by all those men, I’d just die." "And you know what they say—flies don't swarm an egg unless there’s a crack. Who knows if she was the one who lured them in?" "She deserved it." The moment those words left her mouth, Caleb told her to shut up with a cold face. Lily looked shocked, then her eyes turned red. She started a scene, demanding to go home. "I only said it because I feel bad that you lost your career for her! How could you be so mean to me?!" Caleb couldn't stand her crying. He started coaxing her. Lily was stubborn, wiping her tears, refusing to give in. She grabbed Caleb’s tie, pouting. "Tell me you regret it then. Tell me if you could go back, you wouldn't save that old woman. You’d let her rot!" Caleb sighed, raising his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright. I wouldn't save her. I wouldn't." In that moment, my sick, broken body felt like it finally dissipated. My heart felt a suffocation and despair I’d never known. It was also in that moment that I woke up from the dream. I finally realized. Caleb was no longer the boy who loved me. I needed to let him go. And I needed to let myself go. I gave myself one week to process it all. Today was the last day.
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