I Spent Six Christmas Eves Waiting For Nothing Chapter 08

I Spent Six Christmas Eves Waiting For Nothing Chapter 08

Staring at the message, I froze for several long seconds.

Six years.

In six whole years, this was the very first time Garrett had ever said he was coming to pick me up.

Whenever we fought in the past, he would always just wait for me to calm down and wait for me to take the initiative to come home. He never bowed his head, he never backed down, and he certainly never came looking for me.

And now, he was saying he wanted to come get me.

Aside from a profound sense of irony, all I felt was a deep, aching sorrow. It took things reaching a completely irreversible point for him to finally taste regret.

Only now did he realize just how utterly horrific he had been to me.

[Don’t bother,] I replied. [Just sign the papers so we can part on good terms.]

His reply was instantaneous:

[Garrett: Elena, can you please stop throwing a tantrum?]

[Garrett: Just because I didn’t spend Christmas Eve with you? Just because I brought Chloe back to the house? You’re really going to divorce me over that?]

[Garrett: What exactly do you want from me?]

My fingers hovered over the screen, freezing for a long time.

I wanted to tell him that it wasn’t about the Christmas dinner, and it wasn’t about Chloe.

It was about every single disappointment over the last six years, every single time I was abandoned, and every single time I was ranked dead last in his heart.

It was because I was exhausted.

It was because I didn’t want to wait around anymore.

But in the end, I only typed out a single line:

[What I want, you can’t give me. Just sign the papers.]

His side fell completely silent.

Half an hour later, two texts popped up in a row.

[Garrett: I’m not signing them. Get that out of your head.]

[Garrett: If you want to stay out there, go ahead. When you’ve had enough, come back home.]

Always the same.

He was forever making decisions on my behalf.

Deciding whether I had a right to be angry, deciding exactly when I should get over it, and deciding when I should return.

I tossed the phone onto the other side of the sofa and leaned my head back, staring at the ceiling.

I let out a soft sigh.

Over the next few days, Garrett didn’t reach out again.

Chloe, however, made sure to send several messages every single day.

Sometimes it was a photo, sometimes a voice note.

She’d send snaps of herself eating snacks in our living room, cooking in our kitchen, or watering the plants out on our balcony.

Every single picture felt like a smug declaration of ownership.

[Chloe: Elena, I helped you water all your flowers, so don’t worry!]

[Chloe: I made BBQ ribs today. Garrett said they actually taste way better than yours, haha.]

Eventually, I got entirely sick of it and blocked her number without another thought.

It wasn’t long before Garrett texted me again:

[Garrett: Mom is asking when you’re coming back to the estate for the Epiphany family dinner.]

I shot back: [I’m not. Have you mailed the signed divorce papers?]

[Garrett: Can you stop bringing up divorce every time you open your mouth?]

[Garrett: Let’s talk about something else.]

[We have nothing else to talk about.]

I was merely waiting for Garrett to mail over those papers so I could finally block his number too. Just seeing his profile picture sitting in my contact list made me sick to my stomach.

The chat window fell dead silent once more.

I set my phone face down and focused entirely on my work.

Life on an overseas assignment was far more fulfilling than I had ever imagined.

I worked a regular nine-to-five, went out for dinners and shopping with my coworkers after hours, and spent my weekends exploring the surrounding European cities.

For the first time in a long time, I could finally just be Elena.

Not Garrett’s invisible wife, not a daughter-in-law to the Henderson family, and not the pathetic fool who spent her life waiting around for a man who was never coming home.

I was just myself.