After I Left, He Begged on His Knees to Bring Me Home Chapter 04

After I Left, He Begged on His Knees to Bring Me Home Chapter 04

After that, we stopped speaking to each other.

My business trip had originally been scheduled for six days, but I finished work ahead of schedule.

On the fifth day, I changed my ticket and took the earliest train home.

The moment I opened the front door, I saw a pair of high heels in the entryway.

They belonged to Vivian.

One of her magazines lay open on the coffee table.

A lace nightgown was tossed carelessly across the couch.

There was soup simmering on the stove, steam curling out from beneath the lid.

This time, I went straight to the master bedroom.

The bedding had been changed again.

The skincare products I’d carefully put back on the vanity were now crammed into a clear plastic storage bin sitting on the floor.

Bottles and jars were piled together in a mess.

Meanwhile, all of Vivian’s things were lined up neatly across the countertop, every bottle labeled.

The closet door stood half open.

My clothes had been pushed to one side. The empty space was filled with hers.

In the top drawer where I kept my lingerie, her lace underwear sat neatly folded.

There was also a bottle of sleeping pills on the nightstand.

A white prescription bottle.

The label read: [Vivian—One Tablet Before Bed]

Beside it sat a photograph.

The edges had yellowed with age.

In it, she leaned against Griffin’s shoulder, smiling so brightly her eyes curved into crescents.

On the back was a handwritten note: [Griffin and Vivian. Never apart. Summer 2011.]

Fifteen years ago.

Back then, I hadn’t even dated him yet.

I met Griffin in 2010 at a university orientation event.

I’d dropped a pen, and he picked it up for me.

When I looked up and thanked him, he smiled.

I’d always thought I was his first love.

Now I realized their story had started long before mine ever did.

I had simply come later.

I stood there staring at everything when the bathroom door opened.

Griffin walked out wrapped in a towel. His hair was wet, droplets sliding down his neck.

The second he saw me, he froze.

“You’re back? Weren’t you supposed to be gone six days?”

“I came back early.”

Before he could say anything else, a voice came from behind him.

“Griffin, where did you put my pajamas?”

Vivian poked her head out of the bathroom.

She was wearing a white bathrobe. Her hair was wet too.

The smile on her face stiffened for a second when she saw me, then instantly turned innocent.

“Delaney? You’re home? I didn’t know you were coming back today. Griffin told me you’d be away all week…”

“Leave.” Griffin spoke first.

Vivian bit her lip, then retreated into the bathroom and closed the door.

Light spilled through the crack beneath it.

I could hear her coughing softly inside.

“Delaney, listen to me…”

“Make her leave. Right now.”

“If she leaves, I’ll stay.”

His brows immediately drew together. The guilt in his eyes disappeared.

“Don’t do this. She’s sick, and it’s late. Where do you expect her to go?”

“This is our home.”

“Our bedroom.”

“Why can’t she leave?”

“She’s only staying for a few days. Is it really that serious?”

“Yes.”

His expression darkened.

“Can you stop your tantrum?”

“You know what condition she’s in. Do you really have to force me into this?”

A dull ache spread through my chest.

I looked at him numbly. “I’m forcing you?”

“She’s sharing your bathroom. Sleeping in your bedroom. And somehow I’m the one forcing you?”

He took a deep breath. His voice was edged with irritation.

“Can you be reasonable for once? She’s a patient. If she leaves and something goes wrong, can you handle that?”

“She saved your life, so she gets to sleep in this bed.”

“She gets to live here.”

“She gets to take my place.”

“What exactly am I?”

“Delaney, do you seriously think the whole world owes you something?”

“She’s emotionally unstable. The doctor said something could happen at any time.”

“Can’t you be a little more understanding?”

The bathroom door opened a crack as Vivian’s trembling voice drifted out.

“Griffin, maybe I should leave. I’ll get a hotel. Don’t make things harder for Delaney.”

“Don’t mind her.”

“Tomorrow morning, I’ll find somewhere else for her to stay. You—”

I gritted my teeth and swept Vivian’s belongings off the dresser.

Everything crashed onto the floor.

“She leaves now.”

Soft sobbing came from inside the bathroom.

“Please stop arguing. I’ll go. I’ll leave right now.”

The bathroom door swung open and Vivian stepped out in her white robe.

“Enough!”

Griffin rushed forward, grabbed her hand, and shoved me aside to shield her.

I stumbled backward, my lower back slamming into the edge of the dresser.

Pain shot through me.

“Delaney, do you have to do this?”

“Do you have to push her this far?”

“Can you use some common sense? She’s sick!”

He never even glanced at my pale face.

Holding Vivian’s hand, he led her out of the bedroom first.

After a while, I finally steadied myself.

Then I started packing.

As I passed the study on my way out, I could still hear him softly comforting Vivian.

The taxi pulled out through the neighborhood gates.

I looked back through the window toward the master bedroom on the second floor.

The pink curtains were still drifting gently behind the glass.

Then the car drove farther away.

I placed a hand over my stomach.

There was a secret I hadn’t gotten the chance to tell him.

I’d found out I was pregnant the day before leaving for my business trip.

I had planned to surprise him tonight.

Now there was no point.

…

By the time Griffin finally calmed Vivian down, it was well past midnight.

Only then did he realize the apartment had become strangely quiet.

For some reason, unease crept into his chest.

He turned and walked back toward the master bedroom.

The moment he pushed open the door, his footsteps stopped cold.

His pupils contracted sharply.