Twenty Years of Marriage Reduced to One and Two Chapter 08

Twenty Years of Marriage Reduced to One and Two Chapter 08

Through the door, Alaric’s voice came in bursts, 

strained and urgent. 

“Maris, open the door. We need to talk.” 

“Maris, open up. Something’s happened. I need your 

cooperation.” 

Soon, another voice joined the noise outside. 

Professor Whitlock. 

“Mrs. Boone? Maris? Please open the door.” 

“This is serious. If you don’t come out, Alaric’s career will be destroyed.” 

I said nothing. I pulled the blanket over my head. 

The next second, the door was kicked open. 

Corinne walked in with a group of people, her face 

tense. 

The moment she saw the room full of witnesses, her expression shifted, the mask snapping back into place as she dropped to her knees with a thud, her voice trembling with guilt. 

“Maris, I’m sorry. This is all my fault.” 

“You can hate me, blame me, that’s fair. But don’t take 

it out on Alaric. He’s a core researcher. He’s critical to the institute. You can’t ruin him over a moment of 

anger…” 

Her head stayed lowered as she sobbed. 

Not a single word about what she had done. 

Only that I was the one destroying him. 

Even Professor Whitlock stood with her. 

He looked at me, voice heavy, persuasive. 

“Maris, we all saw how much you gave up for him back 

then.” 

“But Alaric is still human. People make mistakes. Give 

him another chance.” 

“Destroying his reputation over something like this 

isn’t fair.” 

At some point, my parents had come in too. 

They stood by the door, looking at my pale face, exchanging glances. 

Then my mother spoke carefully. 

“Maris… you’ve been with him for twenty years. Why 

let it end like this?” 

“Ruining him won’t benefit you either. Why don’t you 

talk to the reporters…” 

“Tell them you were injured. That you weren’t thinking clearly. That everything you said was a mistake. That 

the evidence was fabricated.” 

My hands clenched tight. 

My throat felt like it had been cut open. 

I was the one who got hurt. 

I was the one betrayed. 

And yet, one after another, they came in and blamed 

1. me. Even my own parents stood on his side. 

Silence stretched across the room. 

Heavy. 

Unbroken. 

Finally, Alaric cleared his throat. 

He walked forward, helped Corinne up from the floor, 

then guided my parents to sit down. 

Only then did he turn to me. 

His eyes were full of something that looked like love. 

“Maris, Corinne and I talked.” 

“The baby she’s carrying… we’ll give it to you.” 

“She’ll be transferred to another institute. I’ll cut all 

ties with her.” 

“You’ll still be Mrs. Boone.” 

Even now, he thought I still cared about that title. That I’d believe the affection he was trying to manufacture. 

It was almost laughable. 

I shifted slowly, propping myself up against the pillow. 

Then I looked at everyone in the room, including my 

parents. 

Maybe it was his status–top physicist, rising name- 

that blinded them. 

They knew I was done. They knew I had nothing left. And still, they told me to forgive him. 

Just like back then, when they fought us because he was an orphan–until he got into Argent National Research Institute, until he became someone important. 

Only then did they agree to the marriage. 

I went quiet for a moment. 

Then I asked, calm and steady, “What exactly do you 

want me to do?”