Chapter158
Antonio grabbed the speaker, about to fling it out the window, his face twisted with disgust, a stark contrast to the guilt he’d worn before. “This is getting on my nerves. I’m tossing it.”
As the speaker was about to go flying, I stopped him, letting out a sigh, “Don’t bother. I’m really not bothered by it.”
Antonio looked at me with a pleading look. “Honey…”
“Anyway, you two are going to be together, and she’ll be pissed if you do,” I said.
Antonio’s face drained of color at the words, and I shifted my gaze to the view outside the window.
Once we were back home, Antonio informed me that he’d booked us flights to Adaleth for November. “You’ve always wanted to see the snow there, haven’t you? Take this time to have a good rest, and we’ll head over in November. It’s all sorted.”
I used to fantasize about leaving it all behind and escaping to Adaleth with my partner, enjoying a couple of weeks soaking up the simple joys of life.
But throughout our five–year marriage, whenever I’d mention it, Antonio would dismiss my dreams as naive and impractical.
A year back, a buddy of mine kicked off a travel agency and invited
me on an Adaleth tour.
”
Antonio got wind of it, canceled my flight behind my back, and lashed out, “Lila, why do you always have to bother others? Don’t you realize your actions will interfere with his earnings?”
“And come on, is our country not vast enough for you? You’re acting like a sycophant, always fawning over foreign stuff!”
Actually, I knew clearly that Wendy called Antonio in tears that day.
She said that she looked up to me and envied the free life I led while she was stuck back home, watching me take off on all these
adventures.
Antonio, feeling sorry for her and trying to soothe her, decided to cancel my trip behind my back.
“Everything’s set, and I’ve got a buddy there who can arrange accommodation for us.” Antonio was all excited, laying out his grand plan.
“If the place my friend lined up isn’t your style, we can get someone else to fix us up,” he added.
“You’d better cancel the tickets,” I said, my lips pursed.
“Huh?”
I gave him a cold stare, my face a blank canvas. “Antonio, the thought of traveling with you just saps all the joy out of it.”
“You’re just bothering me. Your behavior will just upset me and interfere with my earnings.” I hurled his own words back at him.
Antonio’s face lost all color. He parted his lips but was lost for words.
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I stormed into the guest room and let the door shut behind me.
By the time I rolled out of bed the next morning, Antonio was already off to work.
I had my lawyer drop off the divorce papers.
Once I signed them, I left them on the coffee table and walked out the door with my bags packed.
While I was holed up in the hospital for three days, I was as busy as a bee, getting everything in order.
As the plane descended in the afternoon, I switched on my phone, which was immediately flooded with a bunch of missed calls from Antonio.
I didn’t call him back but just sent him two texts.
“Sign the divorce papers, and we can split amicably.”
“Ignore them, and my lawyer will handle it.”
I hit the ground running at the branch office, burying myself in work.
Two days later, Antonio touched down in Vortexburg.
He showed up with a huge bouquet of roses and had two guys hold up a banner that read, “Lila, forgive me.”
Despite the security guards‘ efforts to chase him off, Antonio remained stubbornly at the office’s door.
I’d given the team a heads–up before. If anyone let Antonio in, they
would be fired.
Thus, my staff steered clear of Antonio whenever they were entering or leaving the office.
Antonio just had to suck it up and wait for me downstairs, hanging out there all day long, even taking his meals right by the building.
On day three, a chill swept through Vortexburg, and Antonio, not built for such hardship, passed out cold.
The guards whisked him off to the hospital.
He woke up and called the cops to force me there.
With the divorce papers in hand, I kept my cool. “Sign these, and we can call it quits nicely.”
Antonio propped up in his hospital bed and shook his head. His voice was barely there. “I can’t sign, honey. I’m done with Wendy. I swear. She’s out of my life. Please, just forgive me…”
I wasn’t in the dark about their split.
Wendy had been blowing up my phone non–stop like crazy for the past five days.
“Lila, did you push Antonio to dump me? No surprise the universe turned on you, causing that miscarriage!”
“Women shouldn’t make things hard for other women. How can you be so cold–hearted?”
“You’re really crafty, playing it cool to reel Antonio back in. It seemed that I underestimated you.”
I read her wild messages and shot back a cool response.
“Truth is, I hope you two can be together forever. If you can get him to sign the divorce papers, I’ll be grateful to you?
A week later, Janessa rang me up.
She filled me in. After getting the boot, Wendy wouldn’t back off, hanging around Antonio’s place, bawling and raising a fuss to see
him.
Antonio dodged her, so Wendy lost it, banging on his door in the dead of night, causing such a commotion the neighbors called the cops, claiming a break–in and noise disturbance.
The cops showed up, and Wendy, hands on hips, declared the place was hers.
Cocky as she was, she denied the break–in.
And the noise? She was too thick–skinned to own up.
The neighbors, out of options, went back inside.
The next day, Antonio stepped out to find his door tagged with dog pee, a gift from the neighbors.
That night, he couldn’t take it anymore and moved out straight
away.
I said directly, “Antonio, I’m done with you. Being around you makes me sick.
“As for you and Wendy, it wouldn’t faze me if you two got it on in front of me. All I want is out of this marriage.”
Antonio gaped at me, a flicker of pain in his eyes.
“I don’t want a divorce, honey. What will it take to make you forgive me? Can I get down on my knees?” he begged.
Under the astonished gaze of the cops, Antonio heaved himself up from the hospital bed.
Dropping to his knees, he slapped his own face so hard it left a mark.
That slap left his face red and the corner of his lips was slightly bleeding.
Antonio pleaded, “Honey, I’m begging you. I can’t go on without
you.”
In that silent ward, Antonio’s begging sounded really pitiful.
Nurses walking by stopped dead in their tracks, staring at the affectionate scene.
I gazed at his tears, unmoved, as if they were fake, just crocodile
tears.
The night I discovered his affair with Wendy, I had pleaded with him just the same.
