Her voice trembled with grievance, her face downcast as she sniffled. She pulled out her phone and began tapping on it while sobbing pitifully.
I could see the sympathy welling up in Stanley’s eyes, ready to overflow.
Soon, she shoved the screen in front of me. “See? Here’s the page.”
“I don’t need you to book it,” I said coldly, trying to push the phone away.
But her hand slipped, the screen flickered to another tab, and in that brief instant, I caught sight of a close, intimate selfie of her and Stanley.
My hand shot out and grabbed hers. Startled, she let go, causing the phone to clatter to the floor and shatter into pieces.
The entire office turned to look, but no one dared say a word, except Darlene.
She burst into louder sobs, crying out dramatically, “Mr. Haynes! My mom’s last voice messages are in there. Those were the only things she left for me before she died. What do I do now? What do I do? My phone’s broken!”
Stanley’s expression softened immediately. He pulled her into his arms, his voice gentle as he tried to comfort her.
My fists clenched tight as that picture was already burned into my mind.
He hated cameras, so we didn't have a single photo together. He’d refused even to take wedding portraits, yet with another woman, he had a whole collection of intimate selfies.
I swallowed down the fire in my chest and turned, ready to walk away.
But Stanley blocked me. “You think you can just break her phone and leave? Didn’t you hear what she said? Those were her last memories of her mother.”
“Avery, even if you don’t mean it, at least pretend to apologize.”
Avery's POV
The tenderness in Stanley’s eyes was gone. All that was left was disgust.
“Apologize? To her?” I sneered. “You really think she deserves it?”
I lifted my chin stubbornly, but inside, my heart was shattering into pieces.
His expression grew darker as his words turned colder than ice. “If you don’t apologize today, then forget about the marriage.”
The office collectively gasped. Heads poked out from behind cubicle walls, everyone eager to witness the drama.
It wasn’t the first time Stanley had said something like this. He always said it for Darlene’s sake. And every time, I gave in.
We’d been together for ten years. Stanley was the one I’d chosen since childhood. I’d spent half my life dreaming about marrying him.
But now that dream was in pieces, and I couldn’t ignore it any longer.