The sudden pressure on her hand caused the half-healed wound from earlier to reopen. Fresh blood seeped from the cut, dripping onto the pristine white hospital floor, stark against its sterile backdrop.
"Blood!" Iris exclaimed, her voice tinged with alarm. "Driver lady, your hand is bleeding!"
Amber looked up at Calvin, her gaze pleading, her lips trembling as if begging for him to show mercy. But his cold, unyielding expression offered none. The man she had loved for a decade stood before her, oblivious to her pain, both physical and emotional.
Amber's heart twisted painfully in her chest. She didn't want to eat the cake, not because of the taste, but because she knew the agony that would follow. Mangoes weren't just a mild irritant for her; they were a torment. An allergic reaction would leave her body covered in angry red welts, the itch unbearable, often driving her to scratch herself until her skin broke and bled. She didn't want their last wedding anniversary to end in such humiliation.
Yet, Calvin's grip only tightened, his eyes daring her to disobey. He left her no escape.
Her breath hitched and tears gathered at the corners of her eyes, but she blinked them away. She refused to cry in front of him, not again. Amber steadied her trembling hand, picked up the fork and speared a piece of mango coated in cream.
She forced the fruit into her mouth, chewing slowly, her stomach rebelling with every movement. The sweetness of the cream mixed with the sharp acidity of the mango, turning the bite into an unbearable bitterness. She swallowed, the action painful, as though each piece dragged down her pride along with it.
"Is this enough now?" she asked silently, her heart screaming the words Calvin would never hear: "Is this what it takes for you to finally let me go?"
Calvin said nothing, watching as she continued to eat piece after piece. His silence was heavier than his words ever could be.
Amber's hand trembled so violently that the fork clattered against the plate. Her face was pale, her body visibly shaking, but she didn't stop. She didn't dare.
Finally, the grotesque scene jolted Calvin back to his senses. He stepped back, releasing her wrist abruptly as if scalded. Amber cradled her hand against her chest, tears pooling in her eyes but refusing to spill. The blood dripping from her wound was stark against the yellow of the mangoes.