For Our Anniversary, My Gift is My Departure

It felt like a bolt of lightning had struck me.Tears burst from my eyes in an instant.

I grabbed Vivian by the collar,my eyes bloodshot with rage.

"What did you just say?Say it again!"

Vivian’s face flushed red.Her breathing turned erratic as she slapped at my hands in panic.

However,I tightened my grip.

My grandson began crying loudly,drawing the attention of nearby passers-by who stopped to watch.

"Elena Vernon,what do you think you're you doing?"

Victor had just returned with the medical report and came striding over.

Vivian suddenly collapsed to the ground,clutching her stomach and screaming.

"Help me,Mr.Holloway!My sister’s gone mad!She’s trying to kill our baby!"

Furious,Victor slapped me across the face.

"I didn’t.She’s pretending.Vivian faked the fall,everyone saw it!"

I shouted back,looking desperately at the bystanders,hoping someone would speak up for me.

Unfortunately,the crowd remained silent.

"Sweetheart,are you all right?My dear?"

My son and daughter-in-law had rushed over after taking leave.They burst through the doors and immediately scooped up my sobbing grandson.

"I saw it.I saw everything."

My grandson wiped his tears.

I crouched down and held his small shoulders,clinging to him as if he were my last hope.

"Quick,tell Grandpa the truth.Grandma didn’t push Vivian,right?She was pretending,wasn’t she?"

To my horror,my grandson pulled away from me and buried himself in my daughter-in-law’s arms.

"Mom…Sobs sobs…Grandma is so scary…"

"She pushed Vivian really hard."

At that moment,it felt as if the entire world had come to a halt.

Victor scooped the sobbing Vivian into his arms and hurried toward the clinic.

"Children don’t lie."

"Elena,if you dared to do it,then have the courage to admit it.Don’t be a coward,or it only makes me despise you more."

"Go home right now and reflect on what you’ve done.If anything happens to Vivian’s baby,don’t think I’ll spare you just because you’re my wife."

My son wrapped his arm around his wife,picked up my grandson,looked at me with disappointment in his eyes,shook his head and didn’t utter a single word.

The crowd slowly dispersed.

I stood there in a daze as if I were the last person left on earth.

Suddenly,my phone vibrated.

[I have arrived.]

Just three simple words,yet they brought tears to my eyes.

I began to walk forward,one step at a time.

The sunlight fell gently on the tear tracks running down my face,its warmth tinged with a cool breeze.I looked up at the helicopter slowly lowering its gangway and a faint,relieved smile formed on my lips.

I stepped onto the private jet,one foot after the other.

Yes,that was it.

I no longer wanted my husband,my son,or my grandson.

At fifty,it was time for me to start a new life.