You're Out of My Life

Angela got into the Maybach with Carl and Lucy watching.

A group of their classmates who had exited together began teasing, "Oh, so Maybach drivers are doing Uber now? Since when?"

Carl's expression was rather unpleasant. He drove a Ford, which was still a decent car in its own right. Alas, it looked small and dated next to a Maybach.

Soon after Angela got home, Carl returned as well.

Startled, she asked, "Didn't you say you won't be coming back tonight?"

"You'd love that, wouldn't you?" Carl snarled, his expression stormy.

"What's your problem?" Angela mused.

"Who's the guy who came to pick you up today? What's his deal?"

"Him? He's my husband."

"Hah! I knew it!" Carl snorted.

Angela didn't get what Carl supposedly knew.

Taking a seat on the couch, he said with a smug smile, "You did it on purpose, right? You're just trying to antagonize me and get me jealous so that I'd care about you. It must've cost you a bomb to rent that Maybach, huh?

"That explains why you seem to have become an entirely different person lately. I've been wondering why you haven't made a fuss at all. Turns out you had this all planned out to bait me."

Feeling rather speechless, Angela replied, "If that's what you think, I can't do anything about it."

"Don't ever play these tricks again," Carl demanded disdainfully. "It's childish and pathetic."

"Think whatever you want."

"Angela, I know you're upset that the wedding was called off on such abrupt notice. You've always wanted me to marry you. I know that.

"But you need to accept that some things need to be prioritized more. Lucy is still grieving over Keith's passing. Her needs should be prioritized right now," Carl declared.

Angela couldn't resist asking, "Does that mean if Lucy never overcomes her grief, you'll never get married?"

"How can you be such a vicious person, Angela? Don't you want things to work out for Lucy? She's never done anything to offend you. Must you think so ill of her?"

Angela was fully aware of how protective Carl was over Lucy, but it was still the first time he called her vicious. To think that this was the man she'd spent over ten years loving and making sacrifices for. He almost became her husband, too.

This only made Angela even more disillusioned.

"I need your car keys for a moment."

"What for?" Carl asked warily.

"I'm retrieving something I left in your car."

Angela once made a crocheted horseshoe herself and hung it up in Carl's car as a good luck charm to keep him safe. Well, the current Carl no longer deserved the care and affection she showered on him.

"Lucy's things are in my car. You'd better not mess them up. I'll come with you," Carl said.

"Whatever."

Angela went down to the basement parking lot, and once Carl unlocked the car, she opened the front door to undo the crocheted horseshoe.

Alas, when she hung it up, she'd made sure to tie it securely out of fear that it might fall off. Hardening herself, she yanked on the yarn to undo the horseshoe instead. As a result, it transformed back into a long piece of yarn.

"Why did you pull it apart?" Carl asked.

"It doesn't matter if it's unraveled. It won't be of any use anymore."

Angela was backing out of the car when, from the corner of her eye, she spotted something black tucked beside the front passenger seat. She picked it up, only to realize it was a pair of black stockings—the kind worn by women.

It was obvious who it belonged to.

This was probably the "ordinary piece of clothing" Lucy left in Carl's car.

"Are you done yet?" Carl hurried Angela along. "Don't make a mess of the things in my car."

With a wooden expression, Angela stuffed the pair of black stockings back where she found them and said, "All done."

As soon as she got out of the car, Carl immediately shut the door and locked the car.

Angela didn't care. She tossed the ball of yarn she was holding into the trash.

Her phone started ringing, so she answered it. "Hello?"

"When will you be free? We can have the wedding in a month, but we should get our marriage registered first."

It was Julian.

"About that… There's no rush, right?" Angela replied. "It's very easy to get a marriage license these days. We can even get it done a few days before our wedding day."

At the mention of a marriage license, Carl grew alert. "Marriage license? What do you mean?"