Silas chuckled along, not even bothering to look at me. "Juliette, you're even resorting to lies like this?"
"What? Can't stand the sounds we were making?"
Silas locked the door again.
The more I shouted, the louder the noises outside became.
Completely desperate, I grabbed the stool beside me and smashed the window, climbing out.
The sharp glass cut my legs and blood instantly flowed.
I couldn't get a taxi because it was so late and snowing.
I could only run forward like a zombie, leaving shocking trails of bright red blood in the snow.
A black Cayenne stopped beside me after honking twice.
"Get in."
The man in the driver's seat never looked back at me inside the dim and cramped car.
I thanked him repeatedly, but he didn't say another word.
Just as I was about to leave the car, I finally heard him say.
"Juliette, you have options besides Silas."
"If you figure things out, remember to look for me."
A gold-embossed business card was handed over. I took it with both hands, thanking him profusely.
At that moment, my whole heart was focused on my mother, so I didn't look closely and just put it in my pocket.
I stumbled into the hospital emergency room. Before I could even ask, I saw nurses pushing a body covered with a white sheet out of the operating room.
"Is Sarah Ziegler's family still not here?"
"Unbelievable. Her daughter didn't even show up before she died."
Two nurses were talking amongst themselves, their words easily piercing my heart.
I rushed over and lifted the white cloth. My mother's delicate face in the past was full of scars, while her body was covered in wounds of every size.
For ten years, I had resented her because of Silas.
I had even viciously wished for the whole family to die together, but now that she was truly dead in front of me, all I felt was heartache.
Since there were no more relatives left at home, there was no need to hold a funeral.
I stayed by my father's bedside for a while, telling him about my mother and myself.
I talked intermittently until the early morning. Before leaving, I looked at my father, who had been motionless for ten years and said with a crying voice.
"Dad, I'm tired."
The next morning, my mother was cremated. Then, I put the urn into a box and took it home.
Along with it, I also brought back the divorce agreement I had asked someone to draft.