Chloe: [Happy Anniversary!] the caption read.
Chloe: [Only the dumbest woman would fail to see how amazing this man is.]
Mark knew Chloe's birthdays, anniversaries—even her cycle. But somehow, he had forgotten that today was my birthday, too. Every year, whenever I would suggest celebrating, he would wave me off.
"Rachel, do you even know what it takes to make money? Why waste it on these things? Do you even want to marry me or not?"
I believed him. I would put my life on hold for eight years, sacrificing everything for him. In the end, he had left me with nothing, not even dignity.
I blocked Chloe. If she wanted him, she could have him. I was finally done.
***
The next morning, I woke to my phone vibrating, Mark’s name lighting up the screen. I ignored it, but his voice echoed in my head. "Where did you go this time? Do you think you are still twenty, running off like this? You are nearly thirty, Rachel! And what's with the blood on the carpet? Do you know that's a custom-imported carpet Chloe picked out herself? It cost over two hundred thousand dollars ……!"
I hung up. He had not noticed that I had packed up my life and had not even asked why I was bleeding. To him, as long as it was related to Chloe and what she liked, it was worth more than me—or my mother's life.
If it was me a day ago, I would have blamed myself for those words and tried to find a way to apologize to Mark. But that version was gone.
But now, I had far too much on my mind to waste more emotions on Mark. I glanced at the time, grabbed my things and headed to the mall to buy a new suitcase. After wandering around a bit, I picked out a pink one—the color Mom had always loved.
I suddenly heard a familiar voice while dragging the suitcase to prepare for the crematorium.
"Mark, my foot hurts so much…"
I looked up and saw Mark, with Chloe in his arms. He was gently rubbing her nose before lifting her up effortlessly, all under the curious gazes of bystanders.
I froze in place and suddenly, a memory hit me—the day I begged Mark to go with me to the hospital. Back then, he had been impatient just because of a single word of urgency, shoving me out of the car when I was still pleading. I had fallen, bloodied and in pain. I was unable to get up and wanted him to help me.