07
Not long after, Cody hurried out of the kitchen with a panicked look and said, “Brittany got into a car accident. I need to go check on her.”
Seven Years of Love Last, After the Stand–in Left He Went Mad
020
I stayed seated on the couch, peeling an orange and eating it casually. Without much emotion, I replied, “Go wherever you want. Do whatever you want. It’s your life. Just don’t bring her back here.” I didn’t want to spend my last few days being disgusted by their antics.
As he rushed out, he called back, “I’ll take her to the hospital and come right back to make dinner for you.”
I didn’t give his words a second thought. As soon as he left, I ordered takeout. After eating, I scrolled through my phone and, unsurprisingly, saw Brittany’s latest social media update: [No matter what danger I face, as long as he’s by my side, I feel completely safe.] Attached was a picture of Cody standing in line at the hospital, paying her bill.
I casually liked the post and left a comment: [Getting him to come over is no big deal. Keeping him there is the real challenge.]
I knew this would provoke Brittany into trying her hardest to keep Cody by her side. Ideally, she’d succeed and keep him occupied for four or five days, just long enough for me to leave the country without him bothering me. But to my surprise, at around 2 AM, Cody came home.
He appeared utterly exhausted, apologizing the moment he saw me, “Elise, sorry I’m late. I’ll cook something for you right now.”
I stopped him coldly, “No need. I’ve already eaten.”
His tone carried a hint of discontent, “I’ve been running around on an empty stomach, busy all night just so I could come back and have dinner with you. How could you eat without waiting for me?”
A mocking smile tugged at the corner of my lips as I looked at him, “Why would I wait for you? Does eating with you make the food taste better?”
There was a time when he was losing weight rapidly and I’d cook his favorite meals every night, waiting for him to come home so we could eat together. But he saw my gesture as a form of surveillance, a way to pressure him into coming back sooner.
When I explained that I simply wanted to share meals with him and make sure he ate enough, he snapped impatiently, “Why do I need you to eat with me? Does your presence make the food taste any better?”
That one sentence crushed my pride. From that day forward, I never waited for him to eat again.
And now, I finally had the chance to throw those words back at him.
Cody froze for a moment before lowering his head and apologizing, “Elise, I’m sorry. I’ll make time to come home and eat with you in the future.”
“Don’t trouble yourself. I don’t need that anymore,” I harshly said.
Over the next few days, Brittany found various excuses to call him away during the day, but no matter how late it
was, he always came home at night. Not that it mattered to me.
On the eve of the wedding, I used the tradition of the bride and groom not seeing each other the night before the holy matrimony as an excuse to move to a hotel.
Cody was thrilled, thinking I’d finally come around and was ready to marry him. He moved all my belongings to the hotel himself, holding my hand in excitement as he assured me he’d come to pick me up early the next morning.
I merely pulled my hand away and smiled faintly.
That night, I received a confrontational text message from Brittany. [Elise, the only reason Cody is marrying you is because he pities you for losing your child.]
[I will never give up. One day, he will realize that he’s always loved me!]
[By then, you’ll be nothing but a discarded woman that no one wants!]
