The Stupid Wife’s Last Stand Chapter 08

The Stupid Wife’s Last Stand Chapter 08

Sydney was bright with sunshine, the kind of golden afternoon that blurred the sharp edges of

reality.

I curled up in a chair in the garden, my mother’s old cat tucked against my side, both of us basked in

the heat.

My mother came up behind me quietly.

Even after all those years apart, our reunion felt as natural as breathing.

She had her reasons.

A society girl had fallen in love with her bodyguard. T

heir runaway marriage had disintegrated into a nightmare.

My father had taken her money, spent his nights with other women, and left bruises on her body.

That day, she had tried to leave with me.

But my father had thrown me, still only a baby, hard onto the floor.

When my mother woke up in the hospital, her own father told her I was dead.

She did not learn the truth until my father was on his deathbed.

She had begged me many times to come back to her.

I had refused every time.

I was happy with Dante. I thought we would be happy forever,

Now, when I thought of him, my chest still ached faintly.

But the agonizing twist of the blade had faded into a dull, manageable thrum.

I buried my face in Mimi’s fur.

“Sweetheart,” Mom said gently, “come to the studio. Let’s paint together.”

I stood and smiled. “Okay.”

Once I knew I was loved, truly and deeply loved, the shadows began to fade.

Besides, Dante was probably busy playing house with his new paramour.

I refused to stay trapped in the past.

I really did not expect to see him again so soon.

Less than a week later, he stepped in front of our car and blocked the road.

“Autumn.”

His voice was hoarse.

He looked like a ghost of himself, with dark circles under his eyes and stubble covering his jaw.

Mom immediately slammed the car door shut and shouted for the driver to go, but Dante rushed

forward.

“You can’t do this. I’m her husband.”

Mom’s face hardened. “That depends entirely on what Autumn wants.”

I shook my head.

“You’re not my husband anymore,” I said. “Even I’m not stupid enough to believe that. No real husband has a baby with another woman.”

Dante’s expression tightened.

“Baby, I fixed it. I handled Mia. Everything can go back to normal.”

Mom let out a cold laugh. “Men always say that. They don’t value what they have until the void

swallows them.”

Dante’s chest rose and fell sharply.

“And where were you?” he demanded. “Where were you when she was being abused?”

The words were a low blow.

I rarely raised my voice, but the fury bubbled over.

“Dante.”

I felt my mother’s hand trembling on my arm.

I understood her pain. I had loved Dante with my whole heart once, but he did not get to use my

wounds to hurt my mother.

“You think because I forgave my mom, I’ll give in to you that easily?” I looked straight at him.

“You think I’m fool enough to let you lie to me twice?”

He stood there, speechless, choking on a half-formed excuse.

I shut the car door before he could finish.

The car sped away.

He tried to chase after us and was clipped by the bumper, but even then, he did not stop.

He limped after the car, following us until he became nothing more than a small dark dot in the

distance.

For the next three months, he followed me like a ghost.

He was always at the coffee shop across from my art class. Every morning, bouquets were

delivered.

I stopped Mom from having him trespassed.

“Let him stay,” I told her. “It’s exposure therapy.”

The more often he appeared, the more ordinary he became.

He was not my savior.

He was not my hero.

He was only a man who had broken my heart.

At last, I walked into the coffee shop.

He looked up, and a flash of hope lit his bloodshot eyes.

“Dante.”

His hands tightened around his coffee cup until his knuckles turned white.

“I know you’re smart,” I said calmly. “Smarter than I am. So you understand what ‘irreconcilable differences’ means.”

His face fell.

The hope drained away.

It was really over.

“I’m never going back,” I said.

He nodded slowly, as if the weight of the whole world had settled on his shoulders.

At last, he understood.