Chapter 16
Ultimately, Terence still returned to the country with Halley. After landing at the airport, they headed straight to the hospital.
It turned out Nora had found the things Terence had left on his bedside table. She’d also read the journal Her heart couldn’t handle the shock, and she ended up getting admitted to the hospital.
Terence was quilt–stricken when he saw how ashen Nota looked. Aside from Hailey, everyone at the Rainer family liked him, especially Nora. She would often call him to ask how he was doing
“I’m sorry about this, Nora..” he said.
She sighed deeply and patted his hand comfortingly. “What do you have to apologize for? It’s all Hailey’s fault”
She thought about the first time she’d met Terence. He’d been energetic and innocent, and his eyes had been bright. His clothes had been shabby but clean, and his face had been a little flushed as he greeted her.
He and Hailey had only been married for five years, but his eyes had already become dull and full of despair.
Nora had tried to make Hailey see sense, but Matthew was all the latter could think about. She refused to listen to Nora’s advice. Now, Hailey could only blame herself for how things had turned out.
Meanwhile, Harold and Hailey were at Rainer Manor. The former looked at the latter in disappointment. She’d always been his pride and joy–she was young but wise and level–headed in her actions. She’d never made him and Nora worry about her.
H
er, when it came to dealing with her marriage, she was like a child who would never grow up. She dic atever she wanted without bothering about how it would make her husband feel. He could only say she deserved the situation she was in.
Harold said, “Don’t visit your mother just yet–she’ll only get angry at the sight of you. You should head home now and think the situation through before doing anything else!”
Hailey returned to her and Terence’s marital home. She paced his bedroom irritably, not expecting things to turn out like this.
The room still looked like it had before Terence had left. The wedding band he’d never worn was on the dressing table. Hailey walked over to it and picked it up; there was a thin layer of dust on it because no one had touched it.
Her mind wandered as she stared at it. When preparing for the wedding, she’d squeezed half a day out of her busy schedule so they could pick their wedding rings together. The sales clerk had brought them a tray of rings with precious gems that had gleamed under the lights.
Hailey figured no one would say no to a gigantic diamond ring. Besides, she could always bring Terence to a friend’s studio if none of the rings caught his eye–there would be flashier ones there.
To her surprise, Terence had ignored the bejeweled rings and tapped on a corner of the glass display. A nondescript wedding band was tucked there. It was cheap and plain.
In hindsight, he’d probably picked the simplest ring available because he’d already given up on their marriage.
Hailey threw the ring aside and sat on the couch, running her hands through her hair irritably. As she looked down, she saw the journal on the table.
Chapter 14
She wondered what was written inside. What could’ve possibly angered Nora so much that she’d fainted? Out of curiosity, she picked it up. Then, she stiffened when she read the first page.
“October 1st, 2019. I’ve gotten married to the woman like, but she’s gone abroad to see what her first love looks like at his wedding.”
Hailey wasn’t sure whether she’d done it out of anger or indignation, but she’d chosen to marry Terence on the day of Matthew’s wedding. She wanted him to know life would only be better for her without him by her side.
But when she’d seen photos of his wedding on his Instagram story, her resentment had turned to bitterness. She still wanted to see what her beloved looked like in a wedding tuxedo. So, that night, she’d left Terence behind to fly abroad. She hadn’t even bothered giving Terence an excuse.
Guilt washed over her as she traced the dried tear tracks on the paper. She pursed her lips tightly. It wasn’t hard for her to imagine how devastated Terence would have been to cry while writing this journal entry.
