جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 10

Karen was up before I was the next morning. She threw open the curtains and called out excitedly, "Justin, look how blue the ocean is! Come take a picture of me."Still half asleep, Justin sat up. When he noticed me awake, he asked, "Did you sleep okay last night?"Before I could answer, Karen grabbed his camera and pulled him toward the window. "Hurry. This angle's perfect."Justin had fallen in love with photography back in college. During our first year together, he'd promised he'd take hundreds of photos for me.As the years went by, he bought tons of expensive cameras, and his collection of lenses kept growing. Yet somehow, he took fewer and fewer pictures of me.I'd thought this honeymoon would be different. I thought I'd be the only one he'd want to photograph. Instead, there was Karen. There was Justin. And somehow, I wasn't in a single picture.I changed into my white dress and waited off to the side.Justin glanced at me. "We'll take your pictures later. Let me get a f

My fever had finally broken by the next morning, though I still felt weak and lightheaded.Karen, on the other hand, was full of energy. She was on a video call."Hannah, the ocean here is gorgeous," she said. "We should've brought you with us."A laugh sounded from the other end of the call. "What are you talking about? Justin's married now."Karen chuckled. "So what if he's married? He'll always be your Justin."She turned the phone toward me. The woman on the screen wore flawless makeup."Hi, Zoe," she said.I gave her a small nod.Karen smiled and said, "You know, Hannah's always been such a sweetheart. When she was little, she'd run straight into Justin's arms every time she saw him."She always knew exactly where to stick the knife, then acted like she'd done nothing wrong.I got to my feet and started packing.Justin asked, "What are you doing?""I'm switching hotels.""Why?""This room isn't meant for three people."The smile on Karen's face froze. "Zoe, are you

The next day, I met with a divorce lawyer.After hearing me out, he explained that the marriage had been so short that dividing our assets would be fairly straightforward.The house belonged to Justin. He'd bought it before we got married. However, I'd paid 180,000 dollars toward the renovation. The honeymoon had cost me another 70,000 dollars.Most of the gifts from the wedding had ended up in Karen's hands. She said she was keeping it safe for us.I pulled out every receipt and bank statement, organizing them one by one. By the end of it, I couldn't help laughing.Getting married had been like taking on a pro bono project for the Hudson family. I drew up the plans. I fronted the money. I swallowed every grievance. And in the end, even our honeymoon had to revolve around Karen. Justin finally called from an unfamiliar number that afternoon.I answered.His voice was hoarse as he called my name, "Zoe."I didn't respond.After a long silence, he asked, "Did you cancel our h

After relocating to Sandston, I barely had a moment to breathe.The new project moved at breakneck speed. I was on-site by eight every morning and rarely made it back to my apartment before ten at night.In a way, the heavy workload was a blessing. By the time I crawled into bed each night, I was too exhausted to dwell on everything that had happened.After the divorce papers were served, Justin still refused to sign them. My lawyer said we'd try negotiating first. If that went nowhere, we'd file for divorce in court.Three months later, Karen showed up at my office.I was in a conference room making revisions to a proposal when the receptionist called to say someone was here to see me.When I stepped into the lobby, Karen was sitting on one of the couches. She was impeccably dressed, with a thermal food container resting in her lap."Zoe," she said with a smile. "I made your favorite soup."I glanced at the container before looking back at her. "How did you know I was here?"

Zayne pursued me for two years. There were no grand gestures. Just a hundred small ones.Whenever my stomach acted up, he'd show up outside my door with medicine and a bowl of chicken soup.If I didn't feel like seeing anyone, he'd leave everything hanging from my doorknob and quietly head home ten minutes later.If I texted him after working past midnight saying I wasn't in the mood for supper, he'd claim he'd only bought one portion for himself. Then he'd pull another container out from the bottom of the bag, saying, "I figured you might change your mind."That winter, Zayne and I officially started dating.He wasn't good with romantic words, but he remembered that I didn't drink milk, didn't eat mangoes, was allergic to seafood, and hated it when people made plans for me without asking.The first time he took me to meet his parents, he asked me three times, "If you don't want to go, we won't go. And if my mom says anything that makes you uncomfortable, I'll handle it."Over d