Called a Mistress, I Left Him

Chapter 3

Whether Robert would ever regret it? I didn't care anymore. Not even a little.

After I'd finally given up on treatment, the nerves I'd been holding taut for so long finally slackened, just a little.

Once I walked out of the Smith estate, I headed straight to find Robert to get my passport and ID back.

For years, all my documents have been kept with him.

I'd just stepped around the street corner when a searing, blinding pain exploded across my forehead.

Scalding blood came gushing out of the wound, warm and sticky, running down my face in thick rivulets.

The world spun wildly under my feet.

I hadn't even figured out what hit me before a group of hands grabbed me, yanking me this way and that, fists and kicks raining down on my body nonstop.

"It's her! This is the homewrecker!"

"Mr. Smith and Zara are the real couple, she just had to force her way in as a homewrecker!"

"What a disgrace to the entire legal profession! She makes her living handling divorces for other people, and can't even sort out her own messy love life!"

The shouting drew a crowd of onlookers in seconds.

None of them stepped in to help. Instead, they pulled out their phones and held them up, snapping photos and recording me nonstop.

I'd lost too much blood already. My body went limp, I didn't have an ounce of strength left to fight back.

When the crowd saw I couldn't even lift a hand to defend myself, they drifted away disgruntled.

Even as they left, some spat on me.

"We'll beat you up every single time we see you from now on!"

My vision was swimming, turning everything blurry at the edges, but I still spotted Robert across the street.

He was walking hand in hand with Zara, fingers laced tight, and a soft, sweet smile on his face.

They looked genuinely happy together.

When our eyes locked across the distance, Robert's face froze. His feet carried him toward me on pure instinct.

"You, what happened to you?"

Blood kept pouring out, soaking through my clothes, turning the light fabric deep crimson.

Robert's mind seemed completely blank. Panic rolled over him. His hands shook as he fumbled his phone out of his pocket, ready to dial for an ambulance.

But Zara yanked his arm back before he could hit the call.

"Just leave her alone. This is probably all an act she put on herself, just to trick you into feeling sorry for her. It just looks scarier than it is. She's fine. Didn't you promise to take me to pick out my birthday present today?" Zara tugged at Robert's arm and dragged him away.

After a moment of hesitation, he powered off his phone. He never looked back at me again.

I pressed my back against the wall, gasping for breath, as warm blood gushed out of my wound non-stop.

In the end, I was the one who fumbled to dial 911 with my shaking hand. But before the ambulance could even arrive, everything went black, and I lost consciousness completely.

When I finally woke up again, a whole week had passed.

The doctor told me that if I'd arrived even a few minutes later, I would have bled out and died.

When Robert's mom heard what had happened, she came all the way to the hospital to see me. She even paid for all my medical bills out of her own pocket.

"Jane, this whole thing was just those crazy people overreacting. I've already taken care of everything for you," she said. "Robert, he... he just forgot that you have a blood clotting disorder."

She'd been about to say more to convince me, but one look at my deathly pale face, and the words died on her tongue before she could speak them.

I just gave her a faint, empty smile. "Auntie, Robert and I are divorced. I'm not going to stay in Atlanta anymore. I'll never come back."

When Robert's mom noticed the change in how I addressed her, her eyes immediately flooded with tears.

In the end, she only nodded slowly and said, "Jane, whatever you want to do, I'll help you."