Farewell, Cruel Love

Michael Purnell and I had been together for nine years. In that time, we had gotten divorced ten times. The eleventh time, I followed him to a jewelry store where he helped his lover, Regina White, choose a diamond ring.

“She’s pregnant. Just pretend this is temporary,” Michael said calmly.

Without any hint of guilt, he continued as he said, “We’ll get married again in eight months.”

“Until then, move out. I’ll have your meals delivered to you every day.”

“Oh, and go sign the divorce papers. Regina is in a very delicate condition right now. She can’t handle taking care of a baby by herself.”

I took the divorce papers from him and nodded quietly. As I turned to leave, I heard laughter behind me. It was his group of friends.

“Michael is something else,” one of them said, laughing.

“He turned his ex-wife into a servant.”

Michael chuckled and said proudly, “This is nothing. Evelyn is cheap. Even if I don’t marry her again, she’ll still take care of my child like a mistress.”

I didn’t respond. I just looked down at my phone and sent a message to the man I had been speaking with.

[Evelyn Cooke: I have the divorce certificate now. When are we getting married?]

——

He replied almost immediately.

[M P: Tomorrow. I’m taking the earliest flight home.]

A moment later, I received a notification. My bank account had been credited with 52 million dollars. The message attached said something.

[Gift for our engagement]

I smiled and put my phone back into my pocket.

Michael saw my smile and frowned.

“Evelyn, what are you smiling about?” he asked coldly.

“Are you so heartbroken you’ve gone crazy?”

In theory, I should have been heartbroken. I remembered the first time Michael asked for a divorce because of Regina. It felt like my world had ended.

I cried for three days and three nights. I begged him not to leave me. I even got down on my knees in front of all our family and friends.

When he still walked away, I cut my wrists in despair. He didn’t come back. But this time was different. I looked at him without any emotion.

“Congratulations,” I said.

“You’re finally going to be a father.”

Michael nodded. His tone was cold and careless.

“Don’t worry. We’ll get married again after the baby is born,” he said.

“As long as you behave, I’ll tell the child to call you ‘Mom’ in front of others.”

I had heard words like that too many times over the past nine years.

The first time Michael met Regina, she was just a new intern. He gave her a million-dollar gift, but she refused to become his mistress. So, he divorced me immediately to chase after her.

After sleeping with her, Michael proudly showed me a photo of them in bed.

“She’s different,” he told me with a smirk.

“So young and pure.”

From then on, Michael was completely obsessed with her. Once, he accidentally came inside Regina in a wooden cabin up in the snowy mountains. I had to walk for miles in the freezing cold just to bring him contraceptive pills.

Another time, Regina was in a bad mood. She asked me to kneel and bark like a dog to entertain her. I did it. If anything made Regina even slightly unhappy, Michael would divorce me just to make her smile.

After that, Michael would secretly remarry me to keep the connection between our families. After repeating this cycle for nine years, I had stopped feeling anything. I had become numb.

I left the house without saying a word, my face blank.

Then, I heard Regina’s sharp voice from behind me.

“I don’t like any of these rings. I want the one Evelyn is wearing!”

“Okay, okay. Don’t be angry, baby,” Michael said softly.

“I’ll get it for you right now.”

He grabbed my hand without warning and pulled the ring off my finger. The diamond scraped my skin, cutting it. Blood dripped onto the ten-carat yellow sapphire.

Regina frowned when she saw it.

“It’s unlucky,” she said and tossed it aside without a second thought.

Michael didn’t get angry. Instead, he gently comforted Regina again and again until she finally smiled. He even promised to give her the ruby ring that had been passed down in the Purnell Family. That was the ring Michael had once said would be my wedding ring forever.

I bit my lip to hold back my tears and knelt down to pick up the yellow sapphire ring, which was my mother’s only keepsake. My hands were shaking. My heart was aching.

But in that moment, I made a silent promise to myself.

This would be the last time I ever cried for Michael.