Chapter 13
Elaine had a point.If all he needed was a wife who can solve problems, anyone would do. Yet for some
inexplicable reason, he couldn't stand the thought of
letting her go.
He wanted her by his side-for whole life, maybe longer. He'd never once imagined what life would be like without
Elaine.
Twas going, but he remained parked outside her house. As dawn broke, his phone suddenly blared to life. He
jolted upright, fumbling for it, only to feel a stab of disappointment when Vivian's nflashed on the screen.
He tossed the phone aside and slumped back against the seat.
Closing his eyes, he found his mind filled with nothing but images of Elaine.
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Teenage Elaine secretly following him across campus, thinking he hadn't noticed.
Bride Elaine walking down the aisle on her father's arm, her eyes full of love as she approached him.
Wife Elaine patiently handling his ex-girlfriends, then quietly crying when he brought hyet another
replacement the very sday.
The emptiness in his chest refused to go away, making it impossible to define exactly what Elaine meant to him.
The sound of wheels rolling across pavement caught his attention. He looked up to see Elaine approaching,
dragging a suitcase behind her.
Something like panic flashed through him.
"Where are you going?" His voice still carried its usual edge, but underneath lurked something unfamiliar: fear.
He hadn't even realized it himself, but he was terrified she was leaving.
Elaine startled at his sudden appearance, then glanced at the flashy Rolls-Royce parked nearby. The cigar butts
littering the ground told her he'd been there all night.
Looking at the unshaven man standing before her, she couldn't understand what he was doing.
When she didn't answer, his anxiety spiked. His grip on her wrist tightened as he repeated, "Where are you
going?"
She frowned, prying his fingers off one by one, then rubbed her reddened wrist.
"Alistair, you seem to have forgotten we're divorced," she said flatly. Everything about her her voice, her
movements, her eyes-was different now. The love and concern that had once filled her gaze whenever she
looked at him were completely gone.
She'd transformed into someone he didn't recognize. Someone who no longer loved him.
She took a step back. "You have no right to askthat question."
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"I never agreed to the divorce. It's only your deicision.."
She just shook her head, looking him straight in the eye.
"Alistair, you signed those papers yourself. | never lied to you. You've seen the divorce certificate. Why are you
still hung up on this?"
"Besides, you don't even love me, do you? | loved you once, so | put up with your affairs. But I'm not willing to
live that way anymore. If all you need is a wife, isn't Vivian-who looks so much like Sophia and is carrying the
child you've been waiting for a much better candidate than me?"
No, that's not it.
Alistair instinctively wanted to deny her words. "It's not the same..."
But he stopped mid-sentence, his expression suddenly blank.
"What's different?" he heard Elaine ask, confusion in her voice.
The squestion echoed in his mind. What was different?