The Rose Wilted, The Marriage Followed Chapter 09

The Rose Wilted, The Marriage Followed Chapter 09

Arthur came to Southbridge anyway.

When I saw him outside the rehab facility, he’d lost weight. Enough that I noticed.

He had a black coat draped over one arm and a thermal bag in the other.

Julian had just walked me out of the hospital pharmacy.

Arthur’s eyes dropped to the space between Julian and me. Or what little there was of it. His jaw tightened.

“Eleanor.”

I handed the pharmacy bag to the caregiver.

“Why are you here?”

“The lawyers finalized the paperwork today.”

His voice barely carried over the wind.

“I want to talk to you one more time.”

Julian looked at me.

I nodded.

“I’ll be upstairs.”

After Julian left, Arthur finally spoke.

“I know you don’t want another apology. But I need to say it. The project. The surgery. Our anniversary. Everything I didn’t see.
Everything I let pile up. That’s on me.”

I looked at him.

“Is that all?”

The color left his face.

“I brought soup. The kind you used to love.”

He handed the thermal bag over.

“You’ve always had a bad stomach. You forget to eat when you get busy.”

I didn’t take it.

“My stomach hasn’t been bothering me.”

He froze.

“What?”

“Since I left you, I’ve been eating fine. Sleeping fine. The pain just… stopped.”

Arthur’s hand hung there, holding the bag no one would take.

I watched the realization land. Some illnesses aren’t physical.

They’re caused by the person I was living with.

A car pulled up at the curb.

The Head of Research from North Crest stepped out, followed by Clara. She was pale as paper.

The second she saw Arthur, she ran to him, already crying.

“Arthur, you have to help me. They’re calling it research misconduct. Now they want to look into the foundation funds, too. I didn’t do it on purpose. The paperwork was confusing, and I put the wrong name down by accident.”

Arthur didn’t move.

The Head of Research handed me a folder.

“Mrs. Sterling, thank you for the documentation. Your name has been restored to the project, and we’ll send Southbridge a formal confirmation letter.”

I took it.

“Thank you for coming all the way out here.”

Clara rounded on me.

“You reported me?”

I opened the folder without looking up.

“I’m taking back what was mine.”

Her sobs grew louder.

“Eleanor, I was just scared of losing everything. Arthur promised my husband he’d look after me. Forever.”

Arthur finally spoke.

“I promised to help you build a life. Not to let you hollow out my wife’s life just to fill yours.”

Clara looked at him in disbelief.

“You’re throwing me away now too? For her?”

“I never wanted you.”

Clara went completely still.

The Head of Research gestured to a colleague, who escorted Clara back to the car.

Even as they led her away, she kept turning back, calling his name.

Arthur didn’t even look at her.

He only looked at me.

“Eleanor, it’s over. All of it.”

I closed the folder.

“Arthur, you keep thinking that if you cut her off, you can rewind time.”

Something flickered behind his eyes.

“Can’t I?”

“No.”

I slipped the folder into my bag.

“The woman I was back then is gone, too.”

His fingers tightened around the straps of the bag until the fabric creased.

“So is it Julian, then?”

I looked at him. The question was so far from the point that it barely deserved an answer.

“I like who I am now.”

Arthur’s eyes reddened.

My phone buzzed.

A notification from the family court.

[Your divorce settlement has been approved. Both parties must appear to sign the final decree within thirty days.]

I turned the screen for him to see.

“Tomorrow morning at nine, I’ll be back in North Crest.”

Arthur stared at the screen the way someone stares at a verdict.

A gust of wind caught the top of the thermal bag. White floral paper peeked out.

There was no soup inside.

It was a bouquet of white roses.