Chapter 6 Have You Calmed Down Yet?
"I called the ambulance. My brother..."
Violet had always spoken before thinking. By the time she noticed Elsa's expression, it was too late.
Elsa closed her eyes, feeling as though the last piece of her heart had died.
Of course.
The woman Alexander loved had returned, bringing a five-year-old son with her. Why would he have time to care whether Elsa lived or died?
Pain clenched around her heart. Elsa pressed both hands to her chest and curled inward.
"Mom, Violet... my mother just had bypass surgery. I don't want my parents to know I ended up in the hospital too. Can you take me home?"
Eleanor immediately told Violet to bring the car around. "The doctor said you fainted because your blood sugar was low and you were overwhelmed by stress. Resting at home is fine. It'll be more comfortable there."
Then she squeezed Elsa's hand. "I'll handle this. I've already called Alexander and told him to come back as soon as possible."
On the drive home, Elsa repeatedly asked both her mother-in-law and Violet not to interfere in what was happening between her and Alexander.
No matter how much it hurt, she wanted to end this with her own hands.
After they returned, Eleanor and Violet stayed with Elsa all day, feeding her medicine and spooning porridge into her mouth.
Alexander was the only person who never appeared.
Elsa drifted in and out of sleep for most of the day. By evening, a little strength had finally returned.
It took a long time to persuade Eleanor and Violet to go home and rest.
Standing in front of the bathroom mirror, Elsa barely recognized herself.
In only a few days, she had become frighteningly pale and thin.
She squeezed toothpaste onto her brush, brushed her teeth, and put the cup back by the sink.
It slipped.
Crack.
The cup shattered against the floor.
Elsa slowly crouched and picked up a piece of ceramic.
The photograph printed on the cup—her and Alexander together—had broken into countless fragments.
She had ordered the cup online for their first wedding anniversary.
It was one of a matching pair. The image came from a selfie she'd taken by secretly leaning close to Alexander.
He had called the idea childish and refused to use it.
Elsa begged him for an entire week. Only after she cried through one whole night did he reluctantly agree.
The fragile calm she'd fought so hard to recover suddenly snapped.
Elsa stood, grabbed the other matching cup, and smashed that one too.
Then she swept everything from the sink onto the floor.
She kept going, from the vanity area all the way into the bathroom.
More than ten minutes later, all her strength was gone.
She collapsed onto the floor amid bottles, shards of glass and ceramic, towels, charging cables, and scattered toiletries.
Elsa lay in the middle of the wreckage.
She cried until, without warning, she started laughing.
She had imagined countless versions of a future with Alexander.
Not once had she imagined ending up like this.
What a mess she had become.
At the same time, at the Horton family residence, Eleanor finally saw her son come home and nearly exploded.
"Alexander, what kind of husband are you? Elsa ended up in the hospital. Did you even know that?"
Alexander's expression remained calm. "What did the doctor say?"
Violet glared at him. "They said she had low blood sugar and fainted after getting so worked up. Because of you."
Alexander gave a quiet, indifferent, "Mm."
Eleanor couldn't hold back any longer. "Your wife collapses at home and that's your reaction? You've failed her as a husband."
"Don't worry. She's fine."
Alexander knew Elsa better than anyone.
She was pretending.
Eleanor threw Elsa's examination report at him.
Alexander picked it up and skimmed the page.
So she'd improved her acting skills.
Not only had she complained to the family, she'd even fooled the doctors.
Eleanor shoved a thermos of freshly cooked porridge into his hands and told him to go home immediately and check on Elsa.
Alexander's father, Charles, snapped at his wife. "What would a housewife know? A man should be focused on building his career."
Then he added coldly, "She's just the daughter of a bankrupt family. She has nothing to offer Alexander. The fact that we haven't demanded he divorce her is already generous. She should know her place."
Alexander's grandfather spoke with an equally dark expression. "No career, no child, and she can't even take care of herself. What use is a woman like that?"
Alexander had no interest in continuing the conversation.
After a few perfunctory replies, he picked up the thermos and left the room.
Violet chased him outside. "Alexander, is that woman back?"
His hand paused on the car door.
He looked directly at her. "What woman?"
Violet clenched both fists. "The woman in your social media post that night! She had a child with her. I saw everything!"
Alexander's gaze sharpened. "Did you tell Elsa?"
The look in his eyes frightened Violet into silence.
After stammering for several seconds, she said guiltily, "Elsa is the best sister-in-law I could ever ask for. I was scared she'd leave you. Why would I tell her?"
Elsa had asked Violet not to say anything, which meant she must already have her own plan.
Alexander visibly relaxed.
He warned Violet, "Watch your mouth. If I find out you've been spreading this around, don't ask me for another cent of spending money."
Violet watched him leave and nearly jumped in place with rage.
The sky had officially fallen.
Her brother really was cheating.
Alexander returned to the home he shared with Elsa.
The silence inside felt strangely uncomfortable.
He placed the thermos of porridge in the dining room, then went upstairs.
Elsa wasn't in the bedroom.
Alexander took off his suit jacket, loosened his tie, undid the top button of his shirt, and turned toward the bathroom to shower.
She wasn't home at this hour, so she was probably at the hospital with her mother.
She couldn't even commit to her little performance properly.
His phone began to vibrate just as he reached the bathroom door.
Alexander checked the caller ID and answered.
Serena's guilty voice came through the line. "Alexander, you're already so busy with work, and you still have to keep coming to the hospital to take care of me. Please let me be discharged. I'm almost completely better."
At the sound of her voice, some of the fatigue in Alexander's face eased.
"Listen to the doctors and stay a few more days. When you're discharged, I'll take you and your son shopping."
Serena immediately sounded delighted. "Thank you, Alexander. You're exactly the same as you were six years ago. Go home and get some rest, okay? You've done so much for me lately."
When the call ended, Alexander put down his phone and walked into the bathroom.
The moment he opened the door, he saw destruction everywhere, as though someone had ransacked the room.
The bathroom beyond was still lit.
His expression changed.
He stepped inside and immediately saw Elsa lying flat on the floor.
Something tightened unexpectedly in his chest.
Alexander crouched, lifted her upper body, and found her skin ice-cold.
"You can be upset, but you can't treat your body like this."
Elsa slowly opened her eyes.
There was nothing in them.
Her lips moved, but no sound came. A tear slid from the corner of her eye.
His arms were warm.
But they no longer belonged to her.
Alexander's face darkened as he picked her up and carried her to the bed.
Elsa pulled herself deeper beneath the blanket and refused to speak.
Alexander stood to clean up, took a few steps, then came back and sat on the edge of the mattress.
He pulled the blanket down slightly so he could see her face.
"Have you calmed down yet?"