The Witch's Last Embrace

When I woke up again, a glass of warm milk had been placed on the bedside table.

"I took the day off just to spend it with you," Luci said casually, his body draped in a bathrobe, covered in a dense pattern of kiss marks.

I turned my face away, unwilling to look.

He fastened my favorite necklace around my neck, his voice soft and coaxing. "I've made a reservation tonight at your favorite restaurant. It's by the sea, with the best ocean view you love."

But I couldn't see anymore. What good was an ocean view to me now?

Suddenly, I remembered. Jasmine grew up by the sea.

Of course. He'd managed to hide living together with her from me—why wouldn't tonight's dinner include her as well?

I smiled bitterly. Luci mistook it for happiness and kissed me immediately.

That evening, the restaurant had been booked out entirely by him.

He even invited the band Jasmine liked and arranged for a drone light show.

I ate the food, which wasn't to my taste, while catching glimpses of his arm, which wouldn't stop moving.

Under the table, his hand had slipped beneath Jasmine's skirt.

"Mm... ah... stop it... not here..." she murmured, biting her lower lip, her voice teasingly low.

With his other hand, he kept a firm grip on mine.

"Mable, I love you," he murmured, his voice tinged with restrained desire.

Overcome with jealousy, Jasmine kissed him directly, forcing him to let go of my hand.

Her cheeks flushed deeply, and Luci was barely holding himself back.

After wishing me a happy birthday and professing his love, he turned and kissed Jasmine with an intensity that made me look away.

The musicians exchanged awkward glances, whispering among themselves, their expressions a mix of disdain and pity.

"Her own husband's being kissed by another woman, and she can still sit there eating?"

"I heard she's blind and has hearing problems too. She needs a hearing aid to communicate. No wonder her husband cheats—she's just a cripple."

The words stung.

Years ago, it was at this very restaurant where Luci proposed to me.

Even the band playing tonight was the same one from back then.

A shadow passed over my face, and Luci noticed immediately.

Gently pushing Jasmine aside, he asked, "What's wrong?"

But within seconds, Jasmine retaliated, clawing at him with mock frustration.

"I want your love and your body! Everything you did for her, you need to do for me now!

"I'm your woman now! She's useless—why do you still treat her like a treasure? What does she have that I don't?"

A single tear slipped from Luci's eye.

Was it sympathy for me? Or a crocodile tear meant to cover his guilt?

No, if he truly loved me, how could he do this?

Outside the restaurant window, drones lit up the night sky in dazzling patterns, spelling out his name intertwined with Jasmine's.

What was supposed to be my birthday dinner had turned into their announcement of love.

I was the extra piece, unnecessary and forgotten.

How laughable. How cruel.

"Mable, I accidentally got some oil on my collar. I'll go clean it up in the restroom. Wait for me," he said.

His collar was spotless, except for the small tears where Jasmine had ripped it apart.

They left, their urgency uncontainable, slipping into the private room next door.

Soon after, the muffled sounds of their passion drifted through the thin walls.