My Fiancé’s “Detox Sundays” Were For His First Love

Chapter 4

After dinner, we walked out of the estate into a bitterly cold night wind.

Selena shivered and pulled her wrap tighter. Leon immediately removed his coat and draped it around her shoulders.

He opened the front passenger door and ordered me in a tone that allowed no argument, "Claire, sit in the back. Selena has a cold, and the heater works better up front. We'll drop her off first."

I didn't argue. I walked toward the back seat, then said, "Don't bother taking me home. I'll get a cab."

I slammed the door, hailed a taxi at the curb, and climbed in.

On my phone, I opened a rental app.

An agent in London had sent me photos of several apartments by the Thames. I chose the studio with enormous floor-to-ceiling windows and paid the rent in full.

London agent: Claire, we look forward to seeing you begin your new life in London.

I replied with a smiley face.

When I returned to the penthouse apartment, Leon was still out.

After showering, I sat on the sofa and reviewed the final clauses in my transfer documents.

At 1 a.m., the lock turned.

Leon entered with the cold night air clinging to him. He came to the sofa and tossed a thick folder onto the coffee table.

"Look through these wedding designs and choose one you like. The ceremony is next month. Stop dragging your feet."

I opened the folder to the first page. An entire wall of pink unicorns covered the rendering. The check-in area featured an enormous arch made from multicolored macaron balloons. Even the wedding cake was topped by a little girl hugging a doll.

This was no wedding venue. It was an amusement park for Lily's 5th birthday party.

I flipped through the nauseating designs. "Let's use the pink unicorn theme."

I closed the folder, my voice flat.

Leon nodded in satisfaction.

He bent over me as if rewarding an obedient pet and brushed his lips against my cheek.

"Good. That's how a sensible woman should behave. Selena likes this design, too. Lily will be thrilled when she sees it."

I stood and went straight to the bathroom.

Turning on the faucet, I ground a bar of powerful antibacterial soap into the place his lips had touched and scrubbed hard.

I didn't turn off the water until the skin was raw and red, dotted with tiny beads of blood.

That night, Leon put on his expensive noise-canceling headphones as usual and fell asleep with his back to me.

He didn't notice that half the clothes in the closet were gone, or that every one of my skincare products had vanished from the nightstand.

At 3 a.m., the backup phone on the nightstand began vibrating violently. Selena was the only person who knew its number.

Leon tore off his headphones and snatched up the phone. "Selena? What's wrong?"

In the stillness of the night, her tearful voice came through the receiver. "Leon, Lily suddenly has a high fever and is convulsing. I don't know what to do. Please come help me."

This was the man who never stopped talking about his sleep rules, the man who forbade nighttime driving because he believed it impaired judgment.

In an instant, he threw back the covers and pulled on his trousers without even putting on socks.

He raced out. The door slammed so hard the walls shook.

Sitting in the dark, I found the irony almost unbearable. I opened my phone and went to Selena's social media account.

10 minutes later, she uploaded a video from the emergency room at Manhattan Children's Hospital.

Leon, like an enraged lion, had a fist twisted in the receptionist's collar as he roared, "I don't care how many people are waiting! Get her the best doctor immediately. If anything happens to Lily, I'll tear this damn hospital apart!"

Then he turned and pulled the sobbing Selena into his arms, stroking her hair again and again. "Don't be afraid, Selena. I'm here. I'll always be here."

I watched the man driven mad by love on my screen, tapped the heart, and gave the post a like.

Leon didn't come home that night. I lay in the vast double bed and slept better than I had in years.

The next morning, sunlight streamed through the blinds. I pulled the suitcase from beneath the bed and went to the coffee table.

I spread out the pink unicorn wedding design, removed the three-carat engagement ring from my finger, and set it firmly in the center of the page.

Then I took my suitcase and hailed a cab to JFK Airport.

In the departure lounge, I opened my email and selected Leon, Elizabeth, and every one of his relatives and friends as recipients.

Claire: Everyone, my engagement to Leon is officially over. I wish you all the best.

The enormous Boeing jet climbed into the clouds.

Watching New York shrink beyond the window, I knew the revolting relationship that had consumed five years of my life was finally over.