Chapter 2
Ipant full month in the hospital.
I’d been trapped for so long that I suffer inhalation ineries and had to be intubated to clear my lungs
The pain from the burn was a new kind of torture every time they changed the dressings
A month felt like an entire year
But during all that time, neither Victor nor Theo had come to see me once
I tried not to care, but it mung who I other fammibes reunited.
The day I was discharged, the man hit me, and for a moment, I felt dizay..
I thought back to when Victor and I first met.
The weather that day was just like today — perfect.
Chapter 2
We were eat up by friends of our parents.
He was a firefighter, and I was a teacher.
He was an only child, and so was I.
He liked peace and quien, enjoyed reading, while I was happy staying home watching moves and tending to my garden.
We had endless conversations, found so much in common, and naturally, we ended up together,
But on our wedding day, I saw a message on Victor’s phone from someone
rone named “Ca
2/4
Ces tested: (Congrats. You got what you wanted.]
Victor stared at it for a long time.
At the time, I thought nothing of it. I assumed she was just a close friend who couldn’t make it the wedding. That was why Victor looked so distracted.
Chapter 2
3/4
But it wasn’t until this year, when she came back from studying abroad and Victor was crying out her name after meeting her at a school reunion, that I realized how naive I’d been.
I went into a frenzy, digging into their past.
Celeste was Victor’s first love.
Their relationship had been passionate, and intense.
He was quiet, and studious, while she was spoiled and rebellious.
In school, Celeste had barely scraped by.
Victor came from a poor family.
Their hobbies were worlds apart.
But somehow, against all odds, they made it through high school and university together.
Until Celeste went abroad for grad school and broke up with him. After two years, Victor met me.
The message Celeste sent–about him getting what he
wanted–was her response to their breakup.
Victor had told her that he wouldn’t wait for her, and that he’d marry someone more suitable for him.
And I was that someone.
When I found out all of this, it felt like my heart was being slowly sliced apart.
If this had happened before, I probably would’ve gotten a divorce, unable to deal with such a tainted love.
But looking at my son, still in elementary school, I stayed silent.
I let the weight of all this emotional dust settle deep inside
- me.
