One Phone Call Talked Me Out of My Own Marriage Chapter 02

One Phone Call Talked Me Out of My Own Marriage Chapter 02

The next morning, Landon was already making breakfast when I stepped out of the guest room.

He behaved as though nothing had happened.

“You’re up. Come eat.”

I glanced at the food on the table.

“I’m allergic to eggs,” I said wearily.

His hand froze halfway through spreading mayonnaise on the toast.

A second later, he picked up the plate in front of me and dumped the toast into the trash.

“I forgot. You can eat somewhere else.”

“Okay.”

I had just turned to leave when he spoke behind me.

“Don’t you think this is strange?”

I stopped.

“Serena, we live like strangers.”

I met his unfocused gaze and gave a humorless laugh.

“No. Strangers are at least civil to each other. We’re worse than strangers.”

My voice hardened.

“But whose fault is that? Mine?”

The room fell silent.

We stood there facing each other, neither of us willing to back down or admit defeat.

Eventually, his phone rang and broke the standoff.

“Yes, Grandpa,” he said without expression. “Serena and I will be there on time.”

After ending the call, he pinched the bridge of his nose and looked at me, exhaustion written across his face.

“Let’s leave the past in the past.”

“Tomorrow is Grandpa’s eightieth birthday dinner. We’ll go together. Don’t let him notice anything is wrong.”

I sighed quietly.

“All right.”

Then I left for the café downstairs, the video call still connected.

The younger Serena had not spoken for a long time, so I finally broke the silence.

“What are you thinking about?”

She looked lost.

“I just never imagined that you and Landon could reach a point where you had nothing left to say to each other.”

“There’s nothing left to share, no love expressed between you, only blame and resentment.”

I paused but didn’t respond.

The previous night’s storm had ripped maple leaves from the trees and scattered them across the neighborhood, where they rustled beneath my feet.

The sound reminded me of the days when Landon used to carry me through streets covered in fallen leaves while I was recovering.

The sound was the same.

Everything else had changed.

The owner of the café greeted me as soon as I entered.

“Ms. Caldwell, good to see you again. The usual? Cinnamon oatmeal and a toasted bagel, with no eggs anywhere near it?”

I smiled faintly.

“Yes, please.”

Even the owner of a neighborhood café remembered my egg allergy.

Landon had forgotten.

The following day, he came to take me to the Prescott family estate.

I sat in the passenger seat, silently watching the city slide past outside the window.

Without warning, Landon spoke.

“You know Elise once saved Grandpa’s life, right?”

I turned toward him.

“What are you trying to say?”

His lips tightened.

“She’ll be at the birthday dinner. Grandpa invited her, not me.”

I didn’t know how to react, mostly because I wasn’t surprised.

I forced down the crushing tightness in my chest.

“All right,” I said hoarsely. “I don’t have a problem with it.”

There were only two days left.

In two days, the younger Serena would change our history, and Landon and I would no longer have a future together.

My answer seemed to catch him off guard.

His grip tightened around the steering wheel. After a long silence, he finally said,

“Good.”

I could hear the younger Serena crying through my earbud.

I had grown accustomed to the cold way Landon and I treated each other and accepted that our marriage was beyond repair.

But I knew how cruel it must have felt to her.

It was like being thrown from heaven straight into hell.

“How could he treat you like this…?”

I had no way to comfort her, so I remained silent.

Before long, we arrived at the Prescott estate.

The moment we stepped out of the car, a petite figure came running toward us.

“Landon…”

Elise’s voice trembled.

“I thought I would never see you again.”

She burst into tears, but unlike me, she had Landon there to comfort her.

Ignoring everyone around them, he gently wiped the tears from her face.

“Don’t cry. Now that you’re back, I won’t let anyone send you away again.”

The scene struck me as bitterly ironic.

“Do whatever you want. I won’t stand in your way.”

“Just stop making me sound like some monster determined to tear apart a pair of star-crossed lovers.”

Elise pursed her lips, unable to hide a flicker of contempt.

Landon frowned, clearly unable to understand my reaction.

I knew exactly what confused him: he couldn’t understand why I was suddenly being so generous.

There was nothing complicated about it.

I had simply stopped caring.