Without anyone else but me around, the room fell silent. I stood frozen, then a bitter laugh escaped my throat, and tears blurred my vision.
So that was it. It wasn’t that Charlton refused to divorce me. He had only been stalling because he feared for his career.
I had been telling myself to be patient, that one week was nothing. I could wait.
After that, I would divorce him and see both him and Mariam pay for what they had done!
I curled slowly onto the small, already-ruined bed where my son had once slept.
My tears soaked the pillow little by little until exhaustion pulled me under.
When I opened my eyes the next morning, a small blanket had been draped over me.
I pushed it aside with a sneer. What game was Charlton playing now?
He already had a child with another woman and planned to divorce me. Why still pretend to be considerate?
I had barely opened the door when Charlton appeared, waiting outside. He thrust a suit into my arms and said in a coaxing tone, “Today’s Mariam’s birthday. You upset her yesterday, so you must apologize personally.”
Coldness swept across my eyes. “I’m not going.”
He stepped closer, lowering his voice. “Almost everyone from the hospital will be there tonight. They already know you’re out of prison. If you don’t show up, the rumors will only grow worse, and more people will be disgraced than just you.”
My throat tightened. Memories of my old colleagues rose before me—people I had trusted, who had sat in silence at my trial, heads bowed, as if I truly had been the killer of my own child.
“Arizona,” Charlton said, taking my hand. “It hasn’t been easy getting to where we are. If we can just get through this one time, we can start over. Once I’m promoted, I’ll apply for a deputy director position abroad. Then, we can be together, won’t we?”
First the threat, then the sweetness. His hand in mine pulled me back to memories of the countless nights we had leaned on each other in our tiny rented room.
My fingers clenched around the suit until my knuckles turned white. My voice was hoarse when I whispered, “I understand.”
I didn’t care about his promises. I only thought that maybe tonight I would find a clue—some piece of the truth buried five years ago.
Soon, night fell.
I stepped into the party hall, glittering with crystal lights. Before I even reached the table, whispers began to cut at my ears.