Chapter 11
Albert stood at the door of Melanie’s ward, his hand tightly gripping a delicate bracelet.
it was something he’d bought for hereadler that day while he was out shopping with Vivienne. Though Melanie always said she didn’t need compensation, he’d still felt compelled to buy it for her.
Perhaps it was guilt, or maybe something else. He couldn’t quite explain it himself.
Albert gently pushed the door open and whispered, “Melanie?”
The room was empty. The white bed linens were neatly folded, and the bedside table was spotless. Even her usual cup was nowhere to be seen.
Albert froze for a moment. A sense of unease crept up inside him.
Frowning, he muttered to himself, “Did she go for a checkup?”
He stepped out of the ward and grabbed a nurse passing by. His voice was tinged with urgency as he asked, “Where did the patient in this room go?” The nurse looked at him in surprise. “Mrs. Palmer requested to be discharged this morning, Mr. Palmer. Didn’t you know?”
Albert’s mind buzzed, as though something had just struck him,
He repeated the words in a daze. “Requested to be discharged? She’s still recovering from the injuries on her hand. Why would she leave so suddenly?” The nurse shrugged helplessly. “I don’t low, Mrs. Palmer seemed very determined. She completed all the paperwork and left.”
Alben’s heart sank. He quickly pulled out his phone and dialed Melanie’s number, but the cold, automated message greeted him instead. “The number you’ve dialed is unavailable,”
Yet he didn’t give up. He sent her a few messages, but still, no reply came. A rising panie gripped him, as if something important was quietly slipping away. The only place she could have gone was their villa. At that thought, Albert quickly left the hospital and drove straight home.
But as he pushed open the door, his chest tightened. The entire villa was empty, and a cold, desolate alt hung in the atmosphere.
He called out to Melanie several times, but there was no response.
His eyes fell on the coffee table, and his breath caught in his throat. There were three Items testing on it —a divorce certificate, a divorce agreement, and a wedding
Albert’s head spun, the weight of the moment hitting him a heavy blow. He rushed over and grabbed the divorce certificate. His fingers trembled as he held it
A divorce certificate? When did we get divorced? His voice was filled with disbelief.
Then his gaze tell on the divorce agreement. Albert suddenly remembered how he’d signed a document the other night.
So, Melanie lad wanted to discuss this with him that dgla She’d made lip sign a divorce agreement!
Aino–scribable emotion surged inside him. It was a mix of anger and regret. Albert was angry that Melanie hadn’t been straightforward, and he regretted ever signing the document.
Had below that this was what she’d wanted to discuss, he would’ve never agreed,
let alone signed it.
His fingers tightened around the wedding ring, his lovuckles turning white. The cold metal sent a sharp pang through his chest.
At that moment, it hit Albert. This ring had once adorned Melanie’s Hager as a symbol of tight five years of mariage. Now, it was lett behind, severing the last Demaining thawad between them
The pain in Albert’s chest was seating, like the burning through lin
the polite yet distant conversations, and the tenderness of the nights they’d
Memories of their life after the wedding flooded his mind–the days of quiet respect, the pol shated
Everything had been line. So why had Melanie suddenly wanted a divorce?
Albert rusled upstairs and into their bedrooms, hoping to find something she’d left behind
but the room was empty, Herclothes were gone from the closet, her skincare products were missing from the vanity, and even her towels and toothbrush were
nowhere to be found
Alben felt hollow, like his hand brent emptied.
He tune through the house in a frenzy until finally, be found a contract in a comer of the study
His fingers trembled as fir picked it up
The coutract clearly laid out their agreement from five years ago Awave of tralization hit him hard. Ite now understood why Melarde wanted the divorce.
a live–year mamiage where they would fulfill their own
own ticeds before going their separate ways.
Tim contract was over. She was supposed to trave
ale’d become so comfortable with Melanie that, over time, he’d forgotten about the she’d been preparing to walk away from him every day.
the contract. But she hadn’t forgotten
