My Husband Made Me Carry Coffins Five Years for a Pointless Test

Chapter 5

Joel stiffened, and his frown deepened into a scowl.

"Sylvia, go cool off in the rain for all I care," he said.

The car he drove today was a rare global limited edition, and he no longer bothered to hide it from me. Maybe he assumed that trash like me would not recognize luxury. Or worse, he was done playing pretend with someone like me.

I lunged for the car window and gripped the edge with my fingers. "Please," I begged. "Just one minute with Lucian."

Joel did not budge.

"I swear, just a few words," I added. "After I pay tomorrow, I am gone."

He hurled an umbrella at me. "Keep him dry," he said. "You have scared him enough today."

I crouched down to meet Lucian's eyes and whispered, "Listen to your dad. Even if you are boiling mad, never grab scissors again."

His gaze dropped to my hands. His lips twitched, but no words came out.

My fingers instinctively reached for his hair, and then I froze. Right, he hated my touch. I forced a smile and pulled back.

"Go on," I said.

There would be no more disgusting mother in his life. He must have been over the moon.

The car peeled out with a loud screech, and its tires slung filthy water that drenched me completely. Now I was a soggy, grime-coated mess.

Slowly, I crumpled to the pavement. Blood seeped through my sleeves and turned the black fabric slick and dark. There was nothing left but exhaustion, heavy and relentless.

Back in the days when Joel and I were scraping by, we would count bus stops to save coins and then walk the last mile. On that final stretch, he always carried me.

"Sylvia, let us go home," he would murmur.

Now it was time to return to where I belonged. I ripped out the SIM card and chucked it into the nearest bin.

The guys were already drunk by the time Joel showed up to the party, which earned him three penalty shots.

Trent Vaughn slammed his glass down and beamed. "Mark your calendars," he announced. "My cousin is back next month. We are having a bash at my place!"

His excitement was palpable. The guy never let anyone meet his precious baby sister. The Vaughn family were Javilia's enigmatic mystics, and they commanded respect from every elite circle.

The guys needled Joel and grinned. "We bet your lady would hit it off with her," they said.

Everyone knew that he had been mooching off his sugar mama for ages. Only later did they discover that the girl worked as a pallbearer, a profession that would never pass muster with Joel's high society family.

Everyone had assumed that he was just slumming around for kicks, and they had even placed bets on when the couple would break up. Who could have guessed that six or seven years would fly by and that they would even have a kid together? He had even been making the grueling trip back and forth between Javilia and Yorwick.

"When are you going to bring her out to meet us?" one of the guys jeered, his voice laced with mockery.

Joel's gaze turned arctic, and his voice was sharp as a blade. "Drop it," he said. "She does not belong in places like this."

The air grew thick with awkwardness when Trent suddenly stood up. "Put it on my tab," he said.

"Yo, where is he rushing off to?" someone asked.

"Someone just caught a glimpse on his phone of a gruesomely torn-up arm," another replied.

"No way," a third guy said. "He has a side piece now too?"

What was supposed to be a relaxed hangout suddenly felt suffocating for Joel. Had Sylvia even gotten back to Mount Raven?

The Yorwick Hospital director sent a text message. "Ms. Reed still has not settled the bill," it read. "Should I send another reminder? Her line has been dead too."

For no reason he could name, Joel's pulse spiked, and a sinking feeling clawed at his chest. He forced himself to shrug it off, thinking that maybe she had just dozed off. But even his own calls went straight to voicemail.