After I Left, He Begged on His Knees to Bring Me Home Chapter 02

After I Left, He Begged on His Knees to Bring Me Home Chapter 02

I stayed in the guest room for seven days.

One evening, I got off work early. When I arrived home, the entryway lights were still off.

As I bent down to change my shoes, I noticed a pair I had never seen before inside the shoe cabinet.

Nude pink. Brand new. Not a speck of dirt on the soles.

My dark blue slippers had been shoved all the way to the bottom, one stacked on top of the other.

I took them out and placed them on the top shelf.

The next night, when I came home, the blue slippers were back at the bottom.

The pink pair rested comfortably on the first shelf, lined up neatly with the toes facing outward.

In the kitchen cabinet, the coaster embroidered with “Vivian’s Exclusive Set” was still there.

I pulled it out and left it on the coffee table in the living room.

The front door opened.

Griffin walked in carrying his briefcase, his tie hanging loose around his neck.

When he spotted the coaster, he paused.

“She made that herself.”

“A coaster that says ‘Vivian’s Exclusive Set’ is sitting in our place.”

He set down his briefcase and loosened his tie.

“That’s just how she is. Don’t take it so seriously.”

“She’s twenty-seven.”

That night, I passed by the study.

The door wasn’t fully closed.

Inside, Griffin was on the phone, speaking in a low voice.

“Vivian, don’t cry. Delaney just talks tough. She’s not really going to kick you out. This is my home, and what I say goes. Come by whenever you want.”

He was inside the room.

I was outside the door.

He said he was the one in charge.

I stood in the hallway for a long time, gripping my water glass, but I never pushed the door open.

The next day, there was an envelope on the coffee table.

White envelope. Golden lettering. The logo of the corporate headquarters printed on the corner.

The front read: [For Griffin Mercer Only]

The handwriting belonged to Theodore Mercer, Griffin’s grandfather.

Inside was an invitation to a family dinner scheduled for six o’clock the following Saturday evening.

Under Guests Invited, two names were printed: Griffin Mercer, Vivian Hayes.

My name wasn’t there.

I laid the invitation in front of Griffin and tapped the line with my finger.

“Grandpa probably forgot yours.”

“He remembered to include Vivian Hayes but forgot his granddaughter-in-law?”

“Grandpa’s always treated her like family. You know that.”

“What about me?”

His lips parted, then he looked away.

I picked up my phone and called Theodore.

“Theodore, it’s me. When’s the family dinner again? Griffin mentioned it, but I don’t want to get the date wrong.”

A chuckle came through the receiver.

“Griffin told me you’d be out of town on business that day. Vivian happened to be free, so she’d accompany him instead. Your trip won’t be affected, right?”

The living room fell silent.

I could hear Theodore breathing on the other end and the faint sound of a news broadcast in the background.

“I’m not going on a business trip.”

There was a brief pause.

“Then I must’ve remembered wrong. Come with Griffin. The more, the merrier.”

After the call ended, Griffin’s expression darkened.

“Did you really have to make that call? What do you think Grandpa’s going to think now?”

“Are you worried he’ll find out you lied, or are you worried about Vivian’s reputation?”

He didn’t answer.

I folded the invitation and slipped it back into the envelope.

“Take her with you. I’m not going.”

“That seat was always meant for her anyway.”

As always, at exactly eleven o’clock, the ringtone echoed through the living room.

I put on my headphones and turned the volume all the way up.

Music filled my ears.

But one thought kept repeating in my head—He had erased me from a family gathering and handed my place to another woman.

My phone lit up.

Another message from Theodore.

[Delaney, I asked the kitchen to plan next Saturday’s menu around Vivian’s favorite dishes. If there’s anything you can’t eat, let me know ahead of time.]

I didn’t reply.

The next morning, Griffin had already left for work.

A message from him waited on my phone.

[Delaney, I explained the family dinner situation to Grandpa. Vivian lost her parents when she was young. They’ve always wanted me to look after her. Can’t you try to be understanding for everything she’s been through?]

I tightened my grip around my coffee mug. The heat burned my fingertips.

She was pitiful, so my place had to be given to her.

She was pitiful, so my name had to disappear from the invitation.

She was pitiful, so my husband had to spend every night at eleven o’clock soothing her to sleep.

What about me?

Wasn’t I the pitiful one in this marriage?