Chapter6
I forced a smile and replied softly, “No, I won’t do it anymore. They’re better off without me.”
Late into the night, Theodore still hadn’t returned. Instead, he called me and said, “Amber, I’m sorry for yelling earlier. I shouldn’t have lost my temper. Camelia hasn’t been feeling well because of her period. She had just scolded me moments ago.”
“I’ve spoken to Mom and my sister. They won’t say such things to you again. I know how much you wanted a child. I’m heartbroken too about what happened to ours. How about we visit an orphanage and adopt? I’ve shortlisted a few. I’m off tomorrow. Let me take you there, okay?”
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Theodore tried to coax me.
I closed my eyes and said quietly, “Okay”
The next morning, Theodore still hadn’t returned home. He called to tell me that the packhouse had an urgent assignment requiring overtime.
I turned on the TV. The local news was broadcasting a live event. At the city’s most prestigious kindergarten, a parent–child sports day was in full swing.
I saw Theodore carrying Camelia in his arms like a princess. They were racing against other parents. With her hands wrapped around his neck, Camelia let out a shy smile.
Their charming family trio had earned them the title of “Most Attractive Couple” on the news ticker. Behind them, Eva cheered
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loudly, “Go, Mommy and Daddy!!”
I turned off the TV and placed the signedd divorce papers and the copy of the dannnning recording on the coffee table. After takingg one last look at the home I had built andd lived in for five years, I grabbed my suitcasse and headed to the airport.
Just as I was about to board the plane, Theodore called me. “Amber, I’ll be home inn the next twenty minutes. Pack up and waitt for me downstairs, okay?”
“Theodore, let’s get a divorce,” I said calmly.
“What? Amber, I can’t hear you clearly. Say that again?” he asked.
The background noise on his end was deafening. Camelia’s laughter could be heard clearly. The event wasn’t over yet.
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I hung up without another word andtturned off my phone as I stepped onto the plane.
After the line disconnected, Theodore called again and again, only to hear the automatted message that my phone was powered offf.
Amber’s last words… Did she say…?
A vague sense of panic began to creep into his chest. He both wanted to know and was afraid to find out. The truth would mark the irreversible loss of something precious.
Hand in hand with Eva, Camelia skipped toward him. She slipped her hand onto his arm and asked, “Were you unable to reach Amber? She was so inconsiderate of you. You stood up for her last night and got scolded by Auntie for it, yet she doesn’t even appreciate you. She’s so immature.”
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Then she complained, “As a daughter–in–law, doesn’t she understand that it’s normal to make sacrifices? Mom just wants a grandchild. Isn’t that natural?”
“Don’t worry, Amber is getting older and she can’t even have kids. Who else would want her? She’ll come around eventually. Oh, by the way, she ruined the dress you bought me yesterday. Let’s go pick out a new one, shall we?”
Theodore just nodded absentmindedly.
At the mall, Theodore kept trying to call, but my phone was still off. He had never lost contact with Amber, ever. The reason was that Amber had once read about a plane crash where a daughter tried to make one last call to her mother, but the call couldn’t get through. In the end, she never had the
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chance to say goodbye.
Amber had cried that day. She vowed never to let herself be unreachable, especially to him. “I’ll always be there when you turn around,” she had promised.
At that time, without realizing it, Theodore turned around. All he saw were Camelia, who was trying on clothes and admiring herself in front of the mirror, and Eva, who was praising her.
An overwhelming sense of dread surged within him. He looked up abruptly and said, “I can’t reach Amber. I’m worried. I need to go home and check on her.”
Camelia bristled. “Theodore, trust me, as a woman, I know about this thing. This is just her trick to play hard to get. If you go back now, she’ll think you’re weak and will use this
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to control you in the future. Don’t fall for it!”
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