Page 3

She clutched herself with both hands over her tummy to protect herself. She thought she was out of tears, but then she recalled what Kellen had said about their kid. Was his love so feeble that a few pictures could make it go away? How could he say that his own child was a bastard? Was this the Kellen she loved? Was this Kellen the same person she married?
Lena sat up on the bed and wiped her tears away hard. Her crying had stopped, and she was now hiccupping.
No—no more in this house, she thought.
His desire would come true. She was determined, and her eyes hardened. Her shaking hand rested on her stomach, where her kid was.
He doesn’t have a child anymore. It’s exclusively hers.
Lena packed her things right away. Their bloodshot eyes went across the room, taking in the bed, the photographs of them on the wall, and the sofa next to the balcony doors. Every single item reminded them of her and him. She had to remain and make him believe in her since she loved him so much, but it wasn’t just her who was offended today. He also insulted her child in the worst way imaginable.
When Lena stepped out of the home with a bag in her hand, the huge, booming thunders made it sound like the sky was cracking apart. It was raining all the time, and it looked like the sky was sobbing with her.
She remembered that one-night last week when it was pouring precisely like this. She had always liked the rain. She enjoyed how those small drops of good luck fell from the sky and hit the ground. She loved getting wet in the rain, so that’s what she did that night. Kellen was so scared that she might get sick that he brought her inside and took care of her until she was almost crying. But suddenly, everything was different. Her spouse, the man she loved, had turned into a vengeful creature blinded by doubt.
Those pictures were definitely proof of someone’s evil plans and scheme. But this test of fate showed that his love and confidence in her were weak.
The gate to the home that was no longer hers was the final thing that stood in her way to endless agony. Lena pulled it open and stepped into that eternity without Kellen. The rain concealed her tears, but the sorrow in her eyes was clear as thunder rumbled in the sky.
Jason ran up and said, “Can I drop you?”
He looked unhappy, which meant he knew what was going on. Kellen didn’t lower his voice. She had a bag in her hand, and her face was red and puffy from crying. Of course, everyone could see the evidence of new damage.
“No need, Jason,” she answered gently, turning away. “I don’t think he would like that.”
Jason worked for Kellen, after all.
Jason regrettably stepped back.
She called a taxi and got in the back seat, clutching her handbag tightly. Inside were the pictures that would destroy her. There was one final thing to do.
When fate is against you, nothing will go right. Every second that goes by makes the task harder. At some point in life, dying feels more important than anything else. But even death won’t help when you need it the most. Being alive is the worst penalty, no matter what you did.
Ryan used to live next door to Lena before she married Kellen and moved in with her parents. They had been buddies since they were kids and grew up to be best friends. Ryan helped her get out of the deep hole of sadness when she lost her parents in a car accident. She didn’t know where she would have been if Ryan hadn’t been there for her through the stress, sadness, and melancholy of losing both of her parents at once.
Ryan was the one buddy who never gave up on her.
A lot of their other schoolmates thought they should take their friendship to the next level, but Ryan and Lena thought it was dumb. They were more like family than friends. It was strange that the same old, foolish concept of romanticism between them suddenly made her spouse lose trust and ruined her marriage.
Lena took the pictures and headed to Ryan’s house with a small glimmer of hope lingering in her heart. Lena thought Ryan would be there for her throughout this difficulty, just like he had been when her parents died.
It was possible that her relationship with Kellen would never be the same again. She might never be able to forgive him. But this dirty claim that she is an unfaithful wife could still be able to be taken back.
She thought she could establish that this wickedness and humiliation were not hers.
She didn’t realize that this cursed night still had more in store for her.
She slid her fingers through the little crevice between a flower pot and the wall outside the door and pulled out the extra key.
But a few minutes later, she was standing in the doorway to Ryan’s study room like a statue. She could see Ryan’s back. He had shoulder-length hair put up in a macho bun, an ear pierced, and was wearing a loose t-shirt and tattered jeans. As he chatted on the phone, she could hear his loud laughing. His voice and words seemed strange to her.
“Yes, Jude. Well done!” The trace of a grin in his tone raised. “I’m glad you did everything right. Lena must be in shock right now. And Kellen, he’s always been so jealous of me.”
Ryan laughed so hard that he threw his head back and said, “He must be burning right now, wondering how I could do all that, all that he had the right to.” He trailed off as the person on the other end probably said something, and Ryan paused for a second to nod, even though the person he was talking to couldn’t see him. “That’s true; I can do anything for her. Kellen, be damned, that guy always behaves like a possessive pest anyway. The photos were truly a brilliant idea!”
Lena fell back because of the smack of treachery. The cursed pictures fell from her hands as they loosened. It was funny that she was still standing because it seemed like she had no more strength left in her body.
How could she have never noticed this before?
What made Ryan sink to this level?
Was the person behind the mask she had been counting on for support and companionship the whole time an enemy?
She let out a nervous breath. Her shaky steps moved back.
After getting her bag from the front door where she had left it earlier, Lena staggered out onto the street. She had a headache from being confused and in discomfort. It was hard to believe how her wonderful, happy life had changed course and was now heading down a road of only disaster and suffering.
In the end, the people who were the most important to her smashed her to the ground and into a bed of nails. Lena thought the anguish would never stop. She didn’t know whether she would ever be able to get up again.
Ryan called Lena after chatting to Jude, a salesperson at Zeyracorp, Kellen’s firm, and Lena and her good buddy. The smile was still on his lips. The person was strange and humorous, yet he was useful for both big and small things.
Ryan swore and rolled his eyes when Lena’s voice told him to leave a message for the eleventh time.
He said under his breath, “Pick it up, Lena. There’s no way I’m going to let Kellen wish you a happy birthday before me. Jude and I have it all planned.”