When I Walked Away

When the words left my mouth, I wished I hadn’t wasted my breath on her.

Back when we registered our marriage, Lucy insisted we keep it hidden from the company. She said she didn’t want the employees thinking I’d get special treatment, so she wanted our marriage kept quiet.

I understood her and went along with it. However, later on, she stopped caring about discretion and openly acted intimately with Zack at work. Everyone in the company thought she and Zack were the real couple, and she didn’t bother to explain. In fact, she seemed to enjoy the misunderstanding.

Even when it came to planning the wedding, she only invited business partners. She didn’t invite a single friend or relative. Her explanation at the time was that since we lived in another city, even if we announced our wedding, our friends wouldn’t be able to come. She said it would only look like we were asking for gifts, so it was better to keep things simple and quiet, and we could have a celebration back home later.

I didn’t think much of it at the time. Yet looking back now, she was basically creating opportunities for Zack to take the groom’s place. At this point, everyone already believed she was Zack’s wife. Aside from the marriage certificate, there was almost nothing left to prove that Lucy and I were together.

I originally thought she would just go along with my decision. However, she froze for a moment instead and frowned.

“What did you say? Graham, when did you become so petty? You want a divorce over something so trivial?”

When I didn’t answer, she let out a long breath, and her tone unexpectedly softened.

“Forget it. I know you’re just saying things out of anger. I won’t take it to heart. Stop making trouble, okay? Talking about divorce is hurtful. We’ve been together for so many years. How could we get a divorce just like that? Besides–”

She was about to continue when her phone rang. The moment she saw the caller ID, her eyes lit up. She answered without hesitation and walked straight into the bathroom to take the call, completely ignoring me.

I could already guess who it was—Zack. Whenever it involved him, she would unconsciously cast me aside to go and chat with him, like the rest of the world didn’t exist. I had gotten used to it. Sometimes I even wondered if she ever regretted registering the marriage with me.

She probably did. I had seen Lucy when she truly loved me. It was bold and passionate, which was why I knew with absolute certainty that the woman standing in front of me now had no love left for me at all.

Lucy stayed in the bathroom for two hours. Dawn was already breaking by the time she walked out, looking thoroughly satisfied.

When she noticed that I was still standing there, she paused and then guiltily averted her eyes.

“It was a company call. Something needed to be handled.”

I laughed. Even she didn’t seem to realize that she only offered explanations when she felt guilty. If it really had been a work matter, she would’ve walked out with a dark expression, handled it without a word, and only snapped at me later for asking if she needed help.

However, I didn’t expose her. Instead, I said quietly, “We’re not done talking about earlier.”

“About what?”

She looked genuinely blank, clearly having pushed everything about me out of her mind.

I was used to that, too. So, I reminded her, “The divorce.”

Only then did she seem to remember, and her brows immediately knotted.

“Graham, stop it. I already said I’m not agreeing to a divorce. Why are you being so childish? Why can’t you be more like Zack? He’s younger than you, and yet he’s more mature. When problems arose, he kept trying to fix everything. He even brought his parents over just to make sure the ceremony went smoothly. You don’t have parents, so of course they couldn’t come, but instead of trying to help, you just keep picking fights…” she rambled on, irritated.

I couldn’t help but snort. I never thought she’d have the nerve to bring up my parents.

When she was a kid, her house caught fire. She was home alone. To save her, my father rushed inside and ended up severely burned. He didn’t survive the night. My mother died soon after from grief.

The night my mother passed away, Lucy held me while I cried and swore over and over that she would never leave me. Yet now, after all those years of shared history, she was using my parents’ deaths as a flaw to compare unfavorably to Zack.

My fingers clenched, and a dull ache spread through my chest with every breath.

Before, I knew she felt guilty about my parents, so even if she said something hurtful, I would avoid pushing back. I never wanted her to feel like I was using morality against her.

Now, I met her eyes directly. “Do you remember how my parents died?”

She clearly hadn’t expected that question. Panic flashed in her expression, but it faded quickly.

Then, she muttered in a low, impatient tone, “There you go again… We’re not even talking about the same thing. And besides, that was years ago. Why bring it up? The dead can’t come back to life. And it’s not like I begged your dad to save me. He chose to go in.”