Chapter 2 A Thunderclap
1052 Words
When I woke up, I found myself surrounded by people. Everyone's eyes were filled with concern, but all I felt was exhaustion. Beneath that concern, they were all subtly watching Jack and Harper, their glances flicking between the three of us, as if they were waiting for a spectacle to unfold.
I propped myself up and forced a smile. "Don't worry about me, everyone."
One by one, they began to leave, from dawn to dusk. Eventually, only Jack and I remained.
He furrowed his brow as he stared at Layla's photo in the center, his gaze cold, devoid of any remorse. I waved him off, shooing him away, and knelt there alone.
The stars had quietly multiplied, their faint yellow glow twinkling in the night sky.
A few days later, Jack's friend, Aidan Green, came to find me.
He looked at me as though he wanted to say something, his lips moving but only a few mumbled words escaped. "Jack... he..."
I angrily slammed the cup in my hand onto the floor, and it rolled to Aidan's feet. "Jack! Jack! Why does it always have to be about Jack?"
It felt as if everyone was reminding me of my past obsession with him, but those memories had already been trampled into the mud, turning into nothing more than a joke.
I knew Aidan was taken aback by my outburst.
The old me used to care about how I looked, always wearing a different dress every day, but now I couldn't even be bothered to fix my hair. The old me used to be spoiled, but I never used to lash out like this. Now, I couldn't stop myself.
I sneered, my lips curling in derision. "What, now you're playing the mediator?"
He froze, unsure of how to respond. Then, he awkwardly muttered, "I didn't think your marriage would turn out like this."
'Yeah, even an outsider can see that I'm unhappy. So why did I waste all these years on someone who didn't even love me?' I thought bitterly.
I met Aidan's gaze. He continued, "Jack did mess up. I'm not here to mediate, though."
Aidan looked at me with a sincerity I'd never seen in Jack's eyes.
I tried to calm myself down and ended up saying more than I intended. "Thank you. I will get a divorce. It took me all these years to realize that some things just can't be forced."
It was Layla's death that finally opened my eyes to how absurd my feelings for Jack were. Maybe it should've ended a long time ago.
Love was such a tormenting thing—especially for me. It had taken me this long to wake up.
I sent the electronic version of the divorce agreement to Jack, and almost immediately, my phone rang.
This was the first time he had responded to me so quickly, but even then, my heart felt as cold as ever.
Jack's voice was still as indifferent as ever, revealing no sign of how this matter was affecting him. "You want a divorce? You think just because you used benefits to force a marriage, you can just end it with a contract?"
He sounded so businesslike, just as he always did.
I scoffed. "Do you really think I married you for the benefits? I couldn't care less about that. I forced the marriage back then just because I liked you. But now... heh..."
Jack went silent. I didn't think he understood yet—love could fade away, little by little.
Layla's death had struck me hard, and I could no longer deceive myself. Before I hung up, I told him to sign the agreement quickly, so we could finally end this twisted relationship.
'From now on, we'll each go our separate ways,' I thought.
Afterward, I went to our pre-marriage apartment, the place where Layla and I had lived for a while. It was clean and tidy, just as I remembered it. But Layla should have already moved back home by now!
Something flashed through my mind. I hurried into the study, as if running away from my thoughts. Sure enough, on the desk, there was a notebook. The cover was adorned with beautiful handwriting: Class 2-3, Layla.
So she had been living here after I left!
Tears welled up in my eyes, and I struggled to control the wrenching in my chest. Turning around, I bumped into the bookshelf, and a blue notebook fell to the ground.
I remembered buying this.
On the inside cover, in neat handwriting, it read: To Amelia. The letters were written with such force as if they might stay imprinted forever.
I choked back my tears and slowly began to turn the pages: I miss you so much, Amelia.
I froze for a moment, then quickly flipped through a few more pages—there was only that one sentence. At the very bottom of the last page, someone had added a note, written at some point: Amelia doesn't seem to be happy. Jack is bad. He can die.
In that instant, all the grievances and pain I had kept buried finally erupted. Tears streamed down uncontrollably.
I collapsed against the bookshelf, sliding down to the floor, as if every ounce of strength had left me. All that remained was my heart, hanging on the edge of a cliff, ready to fall.
"Layla, Layla..." I could only whisper her name over and over.
I was wrong. I knew I was wrong. If I had known the price of awakening would be this high, would I have still followed Jack without hesitation?
My eyelids grew heavier. Thud! When I regained consciousness, the strong smell of disinfectant rushed into my nose. I looked up and saw Aidan.
His expression was filled with concern—a look I had never seen on anyone's face, except for Layla's.
I managed a weak smile, but even that smile felt fragile.
His brow furrowed, yet the lines remained deep as if he had something difficult to say. And then I knew what was coming. "Amelia, do you know that you're pregnant?"
'Pregnant?!' The words hit me like a thunderclap, splitting through the air.
"Pregnant..." I repeated the word, my gaze blank. Then, it shifted into resentment.
'Why?! Why now of all times...?' I thought in a daze.
- Writer
