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Danielle, dressed in her work uniform, was being yelled at by a portly man. The next second, the man raised his hand to hit her.
But before his hand could land on
Danielle’s face, it was stopped. “Try laying a hand on her, I dare you!” Javier shouted at the man.
Javier’s eyes were fierce as he pulled Danielle into his arms, protecting her. It was yet another scene of the hero rescuing the damsel in distress.
Javier led Danielle away, while I continued cutting my steak and lowered my head.
The taste was still the same as it had always been, but the person sitting across from me had long since changed. I paid the bill, left the divorce papers on the table and walked out.
The sea breeze brushed against my face. and my phone rang repeatedly. I ignored
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every call and eventually turned my phone off.
After an hour of standing by the sea, Javier found me. He sat down beside me, drenched in sweat, his shirt in disarray, “Mandy, please don’t disappear on me like that again, okay?” There was a hint of a sob in his voice.
I didn’t respond, instead speaking calmly, “Javier, what do our fifteen years together mean to you?”
He loosened his tie and spoke, confusion evident in his tone, “I don’t know. Before, my goal was just to marry you, but after I did, I felt this emptiness inside me. It was like something was missing, something I desperately needed to fill.”
“So, you sought out Danielle?” I asked lightly.
His tone shifted, revealing deeper emotions. “Mandy, do you know? She’s nothing like you. I know she’s
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manipulative, that she’s not pure of heart, but I can’t let her go. My eyes are always drawn to her.”
He continued, “She makes me feel alive, like I’m experiencing every second of reality. Mandy, you’re too detached from the world. You’re always so serene, as if nothing matters to you.”
“Being with you feels like I’m floating and I hate that weightless feeling.” Javier’s words drifted away with the sea breeze.
My heart clenched uncontrollably, my body trembling as a surge of indescribable emotion flooded my mind.
I stood up and said, “So, wouldn’t it be better to divorce me and be with her?”
Javier remained silent for a long time, until I turned to leave.
He finally spoke, “Mandy, give me some time to think…”
I chuckled softly and nodded. “Alright. In
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the meantime, I’ll stay with my parents.”
I hailed a cab and headed in the opposite. direction. In the cab, I couldn’t hold back anymore. Tears streamed down my face. Javier said I was detached, as if I had no
desires.
What he didn’t know was that I had spent an entire summer burning the midnight oil just to keep up with him, so I could be placed in the same class and sit beside him. The five years I spent waiting for him felt like an eternity.
I once suffered from depression. There was even a time I attempted suicide by cutting my wrists. When my parents found out, they finally relented and allowed me to be with Javier.
My parents had helped him a lot to get his company listed. After we got married, I knew Javier loved children.
To give him a child of his own, I secretly. went to the hospital for tests and
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treatments. I took fertility injections. They were painful, so painful that my entire body went numb, but I endured it because I loved Javier.
How laughable it was that, in his eyes, I was nothing more than a saint with no desires, someone who was out of touch with reality. It was his fault that he couldn’t touch reality.
When I returned home, my parents didn’t ask any questions. They simply cleaned up my room while said, “Mandy, don’t be afraid or sad. Your mom and dad will always be by your side.” My mother stroked my forehead, soothing me to sleep.
But my sleep was anything but peaceful. The next morning, as I came downstairs. after a shower, I saw Javier.
“Mom, Dad, it’s all my fault. I failed Mandy. I’m willing to make it up to her, no matter what she wants,” he said.
It seemed Javier had made up his mind
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about the divorce.
“We’ll settle things according to the terms in the divorce agreement. Our family has never been short of money. I don’t need to take advantage of you.” After I finished speaking, I looked at him, the man I had loved for fifteen years.
“Javier, this is goodbye. Remember, it was you who forgot our vows and our love. You’re the one who became unfaithful,” I said calmly.
Javier’s eyes were bloodshot as he looked at me, reaching out as if to grab me.
But my father blocked him and shouted angrily, “If you’re getting divorced, then leave now! You’re not welcome here.
anymore!”
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