Share

Chapter 5

Author: Washing Wheat
The truth was, that was not how I usually reacted.

Every time before this, I would stay angry for days. I would refuse to answer Raymond's calls, refuse to speak to him and refuse to forgive him until he made some effort to make things right.

Offering to apologize?

That was completely out of character for me, especially because this time should have hurt the most.

The first three times Raymond stood me up, only three people knew what had happened.

Lilian.

Raymond.

Me.

No one else had witnessed the disappointment, no one else had seen me sitting alone, waiting for someone who never came.

However, our anniversary banquet had been different. That humiliation happened in front of an entire ballroom.

I had been abandoned publicly, embarrassed publicly, then mocked publicly by millions of strangers online.

By all rights, I should have been furious. I should have been making his life difficult, not calmly offering to apologize.

Raymond stared at me for a long moment, his eyes searched my face carefully.

As though trying to figure out what game I was playing.

A slight frown appeared between his brows. "If you really know you were wrong," he said at last, "then stop causing trouble for Lilian."

"Okay." I nodded immediately. "I promise I won't bother Lilian again."

Then I asked calmly, "Do you have any other requests?"

My cooperation seemed to catch him completely off guard.

For a moment, he simply looked at me.

With nothing left to criticize, he finally appeared to remember something.

His gaze dropped toward my stomach.

"You haven't been having morning sickness today, have you?"

As he reached out, I instinctively stepped back.

His hand stopped in midair.

"No." My voice remained calm.

Then I added, "Can I go upstairs and rest for a while? I'm tired."

"I'll help you." He reached for me again.

Once again, I stepped away. "I'm not that fragile."

For a brief second, neither of us moved. Because this had never happened before. Not once in five years.

I had never rejected Raymond's touch, no matter how distant he was and no matter how cold he became.

I had always welcomed even the smallest sign of affection from him.

This was the first time I had stepped away.

The first time I had chosen not to reach back.

Raymond rubbed his forehead. The frustration on his face softened slightly.

"About last night... Annie..."

For the first time all evening, he sounded almost guilty. "I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you next time."

I gave a quiet nod and walked upstairs without looking back.

After hearing the same promise four times, I had finally learned my lesson.

I would not believe him again.

……

Over the next half month, I focused entirely on recovering.

My world became surprisingly simple.

Other than visiting my father at the nursing home, I spent most of my days at home.

For the first time in years, Raymond was no longer the center of my life.

It felt... peaceful.

Meanwhile, Lilian kept sending updates, flooding my phone with photos, videos, and carefully chosen glimpses of her life with Raymond.

Several times a day.

At first, I opened them out of habit. Eventually, I stopped caring.

Whether Raymond was accompanying Lilian, comforting her, or spending every night at her side was no longer any of my concern. The day I ended my pregnancy, I severed the last tie between us and closed the door on any future we might have shared.

There was no going back.

Even so, Raymond continued coming home every night. We simply stopped crossing paths. By the time he returned, I was already asleep, and when he left the next morning, I had not yet gotten out of bed.

Sixteen peaceful days slipped by like that.

Then one morning, something unexpected happened.

When I came downstairs, Raymond was still home.

For once, he had not left early.

Breakfast had already been cleared away. He sat in the living room watching the morning news.

When he heard my footsteps, he looked up. "I have time today. I'll go with you to your prenatal checkup."

For a moment, I almost laughed.

The baby had been gone for over half a month.

Only then had he remembered the appointment.

The irony was almost impressive.

A faint smile touched my lips.

"There’s no need."

Something in my expression seemed to irritate him immediately.

His brows drew together.

"Annie." His voice hardened. "It's been half a month. Even if you're angry, there should be a limit."

"I'm not angry." I sat down across from him and picked up the nutritional smoothie my dietitian had prepared.

The calmer I appeared, the more irritated Raymond seemed to become.

"If you're not angry, then why haven't you waited up for me even once. Do you realize you haven't called me a single time in half a month?

"And you haven't made soup for me once."

He continued before I could answer.

"Even my clothes have been prepared by Mandy."

The frustration he had been suppressing finally surfaced. "Annie. You're my wife. Have you forgotten your responsibilities?"

For a second, I simply stared at him.

"A wife's responsibilities?"

I repeated softly. "Waiting up for you every night? Calling you first? Making soup for you? Preparing your clothes?"

The smile on my lips widened slightly.

"Raymond. What you're describing isn't a wife. It's a servant, or maybe a personal assistant."

I continued calmly, "A marriage is supposed to be equal. When a wife chooses to do those things for her husband, it's because she loves him. It's not because she's obligated to. And if one person keeps giving while the other only keeps taking..."

I met his eyes.

"That's not a marriage. It's employment."

The vein at his temple twitched visibly.

"So, you're still angry."

"No." I shook my head. "I'm simply stating facts."

Then, very clearly, I said, "I'm not your servant. From now on, I won't be doing those things anymore. Consider yourself informed."

Raymond stared at me.

For five years, I had always been the one to compromise first, the one to apologize, and the one who eventually gave in. That had become the pattern between us.

This time, however, something had changed.

For the first time in years, Raymond was the one who backed down.

Continue to read this book for free
Scan code to download App

Latest chapter

  • Unlearning You   Chapter 11

    Raymond mobilized every resource at his disposal.For two full months, search teams combed the coastline looking for me.Eventually, my car was recovered from the ocean. However, my body was not.Two months later, Raymond finally called off the search. Not long afterward, he received an anonymous phone call. The moment the call ended, he drove straight to the hospital where I had undergone the procedure.According to what I later learned, he tracked down both the doctor and the nurse who had been involved in my case.That was when he learned the truth.The abortion had been entirely my decision. The ultrasound showed that the baby had been healthy. There had been nothing wrong with the pregnancy.I simply did not want the child anymore.When Raymond walked out of that hospital, he was no longer the same man.Rumors spread quickly. People said the president of the Lowe Group had gone mad after losing his wife.What they did not know was that his madness had nothing to do with

  • Unlearning You   Chapter 10

    Because I had unrestricted access to Raymond's money, I used it to hire a private investigator to look into Lilian.What he uncovered shocked me.Lilian had never been pregnant.The fragile health, the pregnancy scare, the constant concern she demanded from everyone around her — it had all been an act. From the very beginning, the pregnancy had been nothing more than a lie designed to drive a wedge between Raymond and me.The most ridiculous part was that Raymond had believed every word without question.Lilian had manipulated him effortlessly and he had never once suspected a thing.The investigator uncovered something else as well.He managed to track down the cement truck driver responsible for my father's accident.I never learned exactly how he got the man to talk, but eventually the driver confessed.The accident had not been an accident at all.Someone had paid him a substantial amount of money to make it happen.Although he did not know who had hired him, he remember

  • Unlearning You   Chapter 9

    I stared at Lilian's messages over and over again, rereading every word.Lilian was not the type to say things without a reason.Did that mean there had been something suspicious about my father's accident all those years ago?The more I thought about it, the more pieces seemed to fall into place.At the time, my father had been running the Smith Group. My uncle had been forced to step aside despite his resentment because he simply could not compete with my father. The shareholders trusted my father and had little confidence in my uncle.Then, one day, while driving to a meeting, my father was hit by a cement truck.Even back then, I had struggled to believe it was an accident.However, my grandparents had insisted otherwise. There was no evidence, no witnesses and no way to prove foul play.As such, the matter was buried, and my father spent the next ten years on a hospital bed.After he fell into a vegetative state, control of the Smith Group passed directly to my uncle.I

  • Unlearning You   Chapter 8

    How ridiculous.So, Raymond actually remembered that we had a child together.For years, I had assumed the only baby he truly cared about was the one growing inside Lilian.The desperation in his eyes caught me completely off guard.For one brief moment, a question surfaced in my mind. Had he actually looked forward to our child? The thought disappeared almost as quickly as it came.Impossible.If he had cared even a little, he never would have treated me the way he did throughout my pregnancy. He never would have missed every appointment, never would have left me alone again and again, never would have spent more time worrying about Lilian's baby than his own.His fingers tightened around my throat, sending a sharp pain through my neck.Instinctively, I clawed at his hand, desperately trying to force him to let go as breathing became more and more difficult.For one terrifying moment, I genuinely thought Raymond might kill me.The irony was almost laughable.This was a chil

  • Unlearning You   Chapter 7

    So, in the end, I was the only person left in this world who remembered my father.At his funeral, I was probably the only mourner.I did not publish an obituary nor did I not notify distant relatives. I certainly did not tell Raymond that my father had passed away.There seemed to be no point in that.For years, my father had existed quietly on the edge of everyone's lives.Eventually, even his absence became invisible.I spent several peaceful hours at the funeral home.There was no crowd, no flowers sent by business associates, and no endless stream of condolences. There was only my father, myself, and the silence that had accompanied us for the past ten years.It was a simple farewell ceremony.A final goodbye.Then, I watched as his body disappeared behind the crematorium doors.Hours later, I carried his ashes to the cemetery myself.My mother had been waiting there for ten years, and now they could finally be together again.After placing his urn beside my mother's

  • Unlearning You   Chapter 6

    "I've neglected you lately. I told you I'd make it up to you. After your prenatal checkup today, let's take a vacation together.""No thanks."I cut him off before he could continue."You're busy. There's no need to waste your time on me."Then I added quietly, "And honestly, I have no interest in going on a vacation with you."For a moment, surprise flashed across Raymond's face, quickly followed by disbelief and then unmistakable embarrassment.I had never turned him down so directly before.Not once."What exactly is your problem, Annie? The doctor said you haven't gone to a single prenatal appointment. Aren't you worried about the baby?"I'm telling you right now. You're going for a checkup today and I'll go with you."We're leaving now."I looked at him for a long moment.Then nodded."Fine. If that'll make you happy."The truth could not remain hidden forever. Part of me wanted to see his reaction when he finally learned our child was gone.Since he insisted on com

More Chapters
Explore and read good novels for free
Free access to a vast number of good novels on GoodNovel app. Download the books you like and read anywhere & anytime.
Read books for free on the app
SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP
DMCA.com Protection Status