Warned My Past Self on a Livestream, Canceling My 5-Year Marriage Before It Began Chapter 04

Warned My Past Self on a Livestream, Canceling My 5-Year Marriage Before It Began Chapter 04

Two years ago, the relentless emotional abuse finally broke me.

I fell into severe depression and survived only on heavy doses of medication.

Then one day, I collapsed and was rushed to the hospital.

That was when I discovered I had been pregnant.

But because of the medication I’d been taking for so long, the baby had already stopped developing.

I underwent a D&C procedure.

There were complications.

I hemorrhaged so badly that the doctors nearly lost me. At one point, my family was even handed a critical condition notice.

When I finally woke up after surgery, the first thing I did was call Caleb.

What answered me wasn’t his voice.

It was the unmistakable sound of him with another woman.

Later, he learned about the baby.

For once, he seemed genuinely devastated.

His eyes turned red as he held me and cried, apologizing over and over again.

Back then, I thought that was the last shred of humanity he had left.

But even that tiny bit of guilt didn’t survive a month.

Before long, he was back to being the same cold, heartless man, drifting from one woman to the next.

The pain of losing our child had become nothing more than a closed chapter to him.

I was the only one left rotting inside it.

My phone buzzed.

A message from the version of me who existed five years in the past.

She was asking why I hadn’t replied all day.

Standing across from the obstetrics waiting area, I stared at the electronic display board where Lexi Cassidy’s name was lit up.

I took a picture and sent it to her.

Then I locked my phone and walked out of the hospital, dragging my numb body behind me.

What I didn’t know was that my father, who should have been resting in his hospital room, had made it into the hallway.

Leaning against the wall for support, he stood there with trembling hands and tear-filled eyes.

He had seen everything.

When I returned to the villa, all of my belongings had been moved out of the master bedroom and dumped into the hallway.

The housekeeper approached me apologetically.

“Mr. Harrington said Miss Cassidy is moving in.”

I simply nodded.

Then I carried my things into the storage room.

Late that night, while lying on the narrow cot inside that cramped room, I received a call from the hospital.

The nurse’s voice shook.

“Ms. Rhodes… your father…”

My heart stopped.

“He removed his own ventilator tube while the night nurse was making rounds. We did everything we could, but… he passed away.”

A deafening buzz exploded inside my head.

I didn’t even stop to put on shoes.

I bolted out of the villa barefoot and ran down the road toward the hospital.

Sharp gravel tore into the soles of my feet until they bled.

Eventually, I managed to flag down a taxi.

Only then did I notice the final voice message my father had sent me.

I pressed play.

[Vivian… I don’t want to be the chain keeping you trapped anymore. You’ve suffered enough because of me. My little girl… don’t look back. You’re free now.]

By the time I reached the hospital, the room was silent.

A white sheet had already been pulled over my father’s face.

Holding his cold hand, I finally broke.

Completely.

…

By the time all the paperwork and procedures were finished, it was four in the morning.

I sat alone on the steps outside the hospital morgue.

My phone screen remained lit.

On the other side of a video call, the version of me from five years ago sat with swollen, red-rimmed eyes.

She stayed with me all night.

Without her, I never would have survived it.

When I returned to the villa, daylight had already flooded the sky.

Caleb was sitting on the living room sofa.

The moment he heard me enter, his cold gaze snapped toward me.

“The housekeeper said you ran out in the middle of the night. What the hell is wrong with you?”

His voice hardened.

“You ignored my calls. You didn’t answer a single text.”

I didn’t respond to his accusations.

My voice was flat.

Empty.

“We need a divorce.”

Caleb froze for a second.

Then he laughed.

A mocking, contemptuous laugh.

“Fine.”

He leaned back casually.

“Go ahead and try.”

“If you file for divorce, your father’s treatment gets cut off immediately.”

His eyes narrowed.

“Think very carefully before you start another one of your little tantrums, Vivian.”

With that, he stood and headed upstairs without another glance.

I watched his retreating figure.

There was nothing left inside me.

Only barren silence.

He had always known exactly how to control me.

As long as my father needed the medical resources Caleb provided, I could never leave.

No matter how badly he humiliated me.

No matter how cruelly he treated me.

I stayed.

Because I had no choice.

What he didn’t know was that only a few hours earlier, the last thing tying me to him had disappeared forever.

I stood up and walked into the bathroom.

After splashing cold water on my face, I picked up my phone one final time.

I found the contact labeled “Me, Five Years Ago.”

Then I started a video call.

The screen connected almost immediately.

Her eyes were still swollen from crying.

She looked at me and asked carefully,

“Tell me what I need to do.”

Every word was deliberate.

Certain.

I stared at her for a long moment.

Then I gave her only one answer.

“Leave him.”

“Leave him and never look back.”

She closed her eyes.

When she opened them again, all hesitation was gone.

Only resolve remained.

“Okay,” she said.

“I promise.”

The call ended.

I turned and took one last look at the house.

At the five absurd years I had wasted inside it.

But at least it was over.

Without looking back, I walked out the front door.