Chapter 12
Chapter 12
Lucas’s pitiful cries echoed in the dimly lit room.
Even the pounding rain couldn’t drown out his anguished wails.
In that moment, it felt like he was back to the year when he loved me the most.
When we first started out, we didn’t have the means to live in a nice apartment.
To fund our startup, we had to live in a damp basement that leaked when it rained.
Every time it rained, the air would be thick with the smell of mold and rot.
He would eat the cream cake I spent half a day making, his eyes red as he apologized
for making me suffer.
I told him, as long as we loved each other, life wouldn’t be hard.
The wind outside blew down several saplings.
But saplings can be replanted and reinforced.
Once love is lost, though, it can never be restored.
I reached up to wipe the coldness from my face, only to realize it was just rainwater
blown in from outside.
I was no longer the woman who wallowed in self–pity, endlessly trying to give him a
child.
Lucas, with swollen eyes from crying, was taken to the police station on my orders.
He looked defeated, refusing to admit to any crime.
He just kept repeating, “That’s my home. I went back to my own home. What’s
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Shattered Promises
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wrong with that?”
The police reminded him.
“We’re seeing a rise in domestic violence cases during divorce proceedings. If you
don’t cooperate, we’ll have to…”
Before they could finish, Lucas suddenly shouted in a fit of emotion.
“I said that’s my home! It’s Eva and my home!”
“Wherever Eva is, that’s my home. Don’t you understand?”
He curled up helplessly, like a pile of rotten, stinking garbage.
“How did it come to this? I have no home anymore…‘
“1
He slapped himself several times, venting his grief and rage like a madman.
“It’s my
fault. I killed my own child. I forgot all the promises I made…”
Alone, he laughed and cried by turns, and the police didn’t know what to do with
him.
So, they came to me, hoping to find a solution.
“Mrs. Evans, we can lock him up.”
“But the surveillance footage isn’t very clear, and his emotional state is…”
I slammed my hand on the table, my voice steady and calm, tinged with a chill.
“So, if he goes mad and kills me, would it be my fault?”
I wasn’t angry at the police.
But there are times when we feel powerless to fight back.
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Chapter 12
I hated that feeling, so I contacted my lawyer.
Lucas’s lawyer, who also serves as the company’s legal counsel and is a mutual friend
of ours, tried to appeal to my emotions.
“He just wanted to win you back so badly that he made a mistake in the heat of the
moment. Eva, you’re a generous person–why hold a grudge against a man who’s so
deeply in love with you?”
It’s clear that society is more forgiving toward men.
I thought about the statement I released not long ago.
In it, I clarified that the breakdown of my marriage with Lucas wasn’t solely due to
the interference of another woman.
There were other issues, and the matter of having children played a significant role.
Yet, many people still criticized me.
They called me an ungraceful old woman, dismissing all the contributions I’d mac
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the company.
They thought that if I had been good enough, my husband wouldn’t have been
drawn to another woman.
They placed the blame for Lucas’s affair squarely on my shoulders, claiming it was
because I wasn’t good enough.
And when they heard that Lucas had begged for reconciliation and forgiveness, only
to be sent to the police by me, they berated me even more.
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“Men are out there fighting for their careers; they’re not supposed to grovel and
apologize to you, Get your priorities straight!”
“Come on, what cat doesn’t go after a little mouse? Maybe this nasty woman has
already been cheating on him with someone else!”
“He just cheated; it’s not like he committed murder or arson. Do you really need to
ruin a man who once loved you?”
I knew these were tactics employed by Lucas’s lawyer.
He was adept at using public pressure, hoping I’d relent and stop going after Lucas.
But if I let this go once…
There would be a second time, and a third, wouldn’t there?
In the midst of both support and opposition, I stood firm in my decision.
I refused to forgive Lucas for what he’d done to me, including the harm he intended
but hadn’t yet caused.
In the end, after both lawyers fiercely argued their cases, Lucas was sent to prison.
He kept writing me letters, asking the same thing every time.
“I only had an affair. Why must I pay such a heavy price?”
“Eva, you’re a cruel woman. Do you know how much it hurts me to think about our
dead child every day?”
I burned his letters and instructed my assistant to burn any future ones as well.
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Chapter 12
What surprised me, though, was Ava’s decision to press charges, trying to increase
Lucas’s sentence for assaulting her.
She cried rivers, her disfigured face still shocking even with filters applied.
With that face, she stirred up emotions online, portraying herself as the victim.
It was as if she wanted to use this to justify or erase the immorality of being a
mistress.
But I believe in the principle that “those who commit crimes must bear the legal
consequences.”
So I handed over the evidence of Ava’s crimes–how she used her position in the
company to engage in illegal activities–to the police.
I’m confident it won’t be long before she pays the price for her ignorance and
arrogance.
As for me, I will no longer be bound by the chains of marriage. I no longer feel
compelled to pursue motherhood.
In truth, being a successful, independent woman was my dream from the very
beginning.
