His Secret Wedding Photo, I Left Him

Chapter 2

I don't remember how I got home that day at all.

All I can recall is that once I walked through the door, my whole body was burning up. I collapsed, soaking wet, onto the couch and blacked out right then and there.

When I came to, I was already in clean clothes. Sean was sitting at the edge of the bed, clutching my hand tightly, his eyes swimming with worry.

"Lily, you're awake!" Sean's face broke into a relieved smile the second he saw me stir awake. "You slept for a full day and night, I was out of my mind with worry. Luckily, it's just a regular fever. The fever reducers have already kicked in, so you're gonna be fine. This was my bad. I was so wrapped up in work I didn't check my phone. But you shouldn't have joked about divorce. Look what I got you!"

Sean pulled two tickets from behind his back like he was doing a magic trick.

"You've been dying to go to the concert, right? I pulled some strings to get these tickets, and I have already taken time off work next week to go with you."

They were my favorite group, and tickets for their shows were basically impossible to get your hands on. And Sean? His free time was even rarer than those tickets.

But right then, I could not muster even a flicker of excitement. Not even a little.

I pushed the two tickets in Sean's hand, grabbed the pre-written divorce agreement from the nightstand, and held it out to him.

"When I said I wanted a divorce yesterday, I wasn't joking."

Sean froze for a few seconds, then slammed the tickets down hard on the table with a loud thud.

"Lily, is divorce some kind of game to you? Just because I got swamped with work and couldn't hang out with you, you're gonna throw away eight years of us and call it quits? Do you have any idea how much it hurts to hear those words come out of your mouth?"

I stared at his slightly red-rimmed eyes, and I could not spot a single hint that he was faking it.

I was just so tired. I did not have the energy to argue with him or dance around the truth anymore.

"Were you really working overtime at the company yesterday? Your boss knows you have a family, he never makes you come in on weekends. Sean, let's just be honest with each other for once. Where did you and Jessica go yesterday? Don't tell me it was a hotel?" I let out a bitter, dry laugh.

I had pulled the hotel thing totally out of thin air. The whole city had been hit by a torrential downpour yesterday, after all. There were not exactly a lot of other spots for a date.

But Sean's reaction confirmed my guess immediately.

"Did you send someone to follow me?"

He realized he had let the cat out of the bag almost as soon as the words left his mouth. He clenched his jaw, and decided to come clean.

"Lily, back when we were in school, I hated Jessica. I thought she was such a stubborn, one-track-minded pain, didn't act like a normal girl at all. Back in junior year, we were at an academic exchange event, and I realized she wasn't anything like the stereotypical image I'd had of her.

"She was stubborn, but weirdly cute. I'll be honest, that's when I started seeing her differently. We started talking more and hanging out behind the scenes after that. But the only wife I'll ever recognize is you, Lily! I'd never divorce you for her."

Sean thought this was some grand, heartfelt confession, but to me, every word cut like a shard of glass. Turns out his heart had been split between two people ever since junior year. I was the only i***t walking around thinking I was his one and only, all this time.

"I'll cut off all contact with Jessica, Lily. Just give our relationship another chance, okay? I'll fix this, I promise."

He spoke with what seemed like total sincerity when he said it, then got up and said he was heading to the kitchen to make me some soup.

I sat there silent the whole time. I was already sick as a dog, and his little speech just made my head throb so bad I thought it would split open. I did not have the energy to say a single word in response. Before I knew it, I had drifted off again, all groggy and out of it.

I don't know how long I was out, but an acrid, burnt smell jolted me awake. Through the half-open bedroom door, I could see thick, dark smoke billowing out of the kitchen.

"Sean! Sean, are you there?" I called out, my voice thin and wobbly. No one answered.

With no other choice, I dragged myself out of bed, forcing my heavy body to move so I could check what was going on in the kitchen.

But I had been lying down for so long my legs were completely numb. My feet gave out the second I stood up, and I crashed hard onto the floor with a dull thud.

I fumbled for my phone and called Sean.

But every time, the line only rang twice before it went straight to voicemail.