“You’re really kind, Ms. Hereford,” she said gently. “Staying by his side all these years, taking care of him like that.”
Her eyes lingered on me, something unreadable passing through them.
“But some things…” she added quietly, “no matter how hard you try, they just don’t belong to you.”
I lowered my gaze to my hand, the IV needle still buried in my skin.
Yeah.
I think I finally understood that.
…
After I got discharged, I went home and packed everything quietly. Clothes. Jewelry. Things I barely touched. Things I once thought mattered. I didn’t take much. What was the point? I was just waiting. Waiting for the divorce to finalize. Waiting for it all to end.
During those days, Amber kept sending me messages. Not even hiding it. Videos. Photos. One after another. At first I didn’t open them. Then I did. I don’t even know why. Maybe I wanted to hurt myself properly. Maybe I just needed to see it with my own eyes.
Hudson stayed by her side the whole time. Not for a moment did he leave. In one video, he was sitting beside her hospital bed, carefully feeding her fruit, peeling everything clean like it was something precious. In another, he was adjusting her blanket, his movements slow, patient… gentle. Gentle. I stared at the screen for a long time. Was this the same man? The same man who never even looked at me twice?
Then another message came. A video.
“Look, Miss Hereford,” Amber said, her face filling the screen as she turned the camera.
Hudson was there, talking to a doctor, his expression serious, controlled. That same cold aura. That same power.
“He sent my mom abroad for treatment,” she continued casually. “Paid for everything. Even bought her a house there. There’s a maid, a private doctor… everything’s arranged.” She laughed a little. “He’s really something, right?”
My fingers tightened around my phone.
“Miss Hereford, I’m sorry for taking your husband for now, okay?” she added, voice soft, almost teasing. “He just missed me too much. He loves me so much, I can’t even push him away.” Her smile didn’t change. “You can’t really compete with that, can you?”
The screen went dark. I didn’t realize I was crying until the tears hit my hand. Drop by drop. I wiped them away quickly, taking a shaky breath.