Chapter 10 Lets Get a Divorce
Elsa stayed with her parents for two days.
When she checked the calendar, she realized it was already mid-June and the rainy season had begun.
A heavy shower had just passed when she stepped outside the apartment complex.
The rain had washed the color from the city, leaving everything gray beneath the humid air.
Even breathing felt heavy.
Elsa deliberately waited until Monday, when Alexander would be at the office, before returning to pack her things.
She wasn't the one who had cheated.
Still, she no longer knew how to face him.
Whether she screamed or stayed silent, whether she fought or walked away calmly, the ending would be the same.
Better to preserve the last scraps of dignity they still had.
The moment she returned to the home where she'd spent three years as Alexander's wife, Elsa went straight upstairs.
The bedroom looked exactly as it had the day she left.
The bowl of porridge Alexander had placed on the nightstand was still there. The blanket she'd thrown back remained in the same disorder.
Apparently Alexander hadn't been staying here either.
The thought immediately created images of him with Serena, and pain gripped Elsa's chest again.
She entered the dressing room and pulled out a suitcase.
She packed only a few outfits she wore often and some underwear.
The Winters family had already gone bankrupt before she married Alexander. For the past three years, he had supported her financially.
There was almost nothing in this house that Elsa had bought with money she'd earned herself.
Her gaze stopped on a white T-shirt decorated with hand-drawn artwork.
She froze for a moment, then took it from the hanger.
She had bought it during the summer of the year she married Alexander.
He had been traveling for work, and Elsa secretly flew to the city where he was staying, then pestered him until he agreed to go shopping with her.
The two shirts were supposed to be a matching couple's set.
An art student at the shop had painted the design by hand.
Elsa still remembered the student asking what she wanted painted.
She had kissed Alexander in public, then laughed and said, "My husband is already handsome enough. Make me look prettier, or I won't match him."
By the time her shirt was finished, Alexander claimed he had business to attend to and refused to wait any longer.
So his matching shirt remained plain white, untouched by any design.
Elsa opened Alexander's wardrobe and pulled that plain T-shirt from the bottom drawer.
She threw it into the trash together with her own.
Three years.
No matter how much she begged, teased, or pleaded, Alexander had never worn it once.
Elsa stood still for a while, then called a cleaning service.
The duplex was enormous, more than five hundred square meters, but she went through it systematically from room to room.
Anything connected to her was removed.
One of the cleaners finally couldn't help asking, "Mrs. Horton... do you want us to throw away the wedding photos too?"
Elsa answered with one word.
"Yes."
By early evening, she paid the cleaners and told them to take everything away with the rest of the trash.
Looking around the now bare, spacious rooms, Elsa finally felt as though she could breathe a little more easily.
She placed her suitcase by the front door and sent Alexander a message.
Alexander saw Elsa's message but didn't reply immediately.
In his mind, if she had finally calmed down and returned home on her own, then the previous days could be forgotten.
Whatever had happened, he was willing to let it go.
Gavin entered his office. "Mr. Horton, the car is ready."
"Cancel tonight's dinner engagement."
Gavin acknowledged the order without asking questions.
His boss hadn't looked for his missing wife once, yet had made Gavin spend days breathing hospital disinfectant while watching for her.
Now that Mrs. Horton was finally home, Alexander immediately canceled his evening plans and rushed back.
So perhaps he wasn't as indifferent as he pretended to be.
Outside Horton Group headquarters, Alexander was about to get into the car when Serena came running through the rain toward him.
Alexander opened the door and pulled her inside. "Why aren't you resting at home? What are you doing out here?"
In the back seat of the luxury car, Serena gripped the sleeve of his coat and spoke with determination.
"Alexander, I've thought about it carefully. I think I should leave."
His expression darkened. "Don't be ridiculous."
Worry filled her eyes. "Your wife is already this upset with you. If you don't comfort her properly, of course she's going to resent me."
After a brief pause, Serena continued.
"But you know what I've been through these past few years. Those memories are the deepest wound in my life. I don't want people humiliating me over them again."
She looked down. "Maybe this is simply my fate. Our backgrounds never matched. Even though I love you enough to die for you, your family still never respected me. I don't want to drag you down. I'd rather disappear and fend for myself than be targeted by your wife."
With that, Serena opened the door and stepped back into the rain.
Alexander immediately got out and stopped her.
His eyes were full of concern. "What are you talking about? As long as I'm here, no one will dare say anything about you or your son. No matter what happens, I won't abandon either of you."
He forced Serena back into the car.
Serena struggled, crying as she tried to get out again. "I'd rather die with my son than have your wife call me greedy or accuse me of being your mistress."
Alexander reassured her again. "Serena, I promise I won't tell her anything about what happened to you. I won't give her information she can use to attack you or your son."
Serena gradually stopped crying.
She looked at him with uncertainty. "But if you don't explain anything... what if she divorces you?"
Alexander's voice was certain. "She won't."
Elsa would make a scene.
Of course she would.
But divorce?
It would never go that far.
At last, a faint smile appeared on Serena's tear-streaked face.
She wiped her eyes and, despite Alexander trying to stop her, opened the door and got out again.
"Don't worry about me. Go home and comfort her. I can take care of myself."
Then she ran off through the rain.
Alexander was still worried and ordered the driver to follow her.
The driver hesitated before saying, "But sir... Mrs. Horton is waiting for you at home."
Alexander kept his eyes fixed on Serena's disappearing figure. "Elsa can wait. If Serena stays out in the rain, she'll get sick."
The driver swallowed whatever else he wanted to say and obeyed.
More than two hours later, Alexander finally returned to the home he shared with Elsa.
It was almost eight in the evening.
Three full hours had passed since Elsa sent her message.
Alexander's gaze darkened when he saw the suitcase by the entrance.
Then his eyes moved toward the lights in the living room, the flicker of the television, and the quiet figure sitting on the sofa.
His expression gradually eased.
He tossed his coat over the back of the sofa, sat beside Elsa, and placed a box of matcha truffles on the coffee table.
She had lost a lot of weight lately. She probably hadn't been eating properly.
"Have you had dinner?"
Elsa's lashes trembled.
Her gaze slowly moved to the food on the table.
In three years of marriage, this was the first time Alexander had ever brought food home specifically for her.
She parted her lips. "I'm not hungry."
Alexander leaned in to kiss her. His low voice carried a teasing, suggestive note.
"If you're not hungry, then let's go upstairs."
Elsa turned her face away from his breath and ignored the implication.
For three years, Alexander's way of making peace with her had always been sex.
And in the past, Elsa had been pathetic enough to accept it.
No matter how angry she was, one night in Alexander's bed had always been enough to make her forgive him.
But not anymore.
Now he felt tainted by another woman.
She didn't want him.
Elsa took out the divorce agreement she'd prepared in advance and placed it on the coffee table together with a pen.
Then she looked at him and said quietly,
"Alexander... let's get a divorce."