Chapter 23
Everyone around Abigail was stunned by her words.
They looked at her in shock, asking in disbelief, “Hate?”
“That’s right!”
Abigail took a deep breath, her tone dark and resolute. “Back then, when my family was falling apart, he chose to break up with me and abandoned me without a second thought. Do you think I’d ever let him off easy? I want him to feel the pain I went through–a hundred, a thousand times worse!”
One of her friends looked at her, horrified, and asked, “Is it worth it?”
Abigail smiled. It was a harmless, almost innocent smile.
“Of course, it’s worth it. Why should I be the only one stuck in pain? He, the one who caused it all, should suffer just as much as I did!”
She downed another glass of wine, her eyes burning with pure hatred.
The video ended there.
I stared at the screen, at the look of seething resentment in Abigail’s eyes, and felt my heart plunge into darkness.
No wonder she’d been so eager to pick me up from the airport when she heard I was back.
She hadn’t shown any anger at all. There was only warmth and enthusiasm, as if nothing had ever come between us.
All that love in her eyes had been nothing but an act.
A cold chill ran through me as the full truth hit home.
The only reason she’d married me was to get revenge for what she saw as my betrayal.
I’d thought that, on our wedding day, the friends who’d gathered were genuinely happy for us. But now I realized that they were all just there to watch the show.
They’d come to see how Abigail would slowly, methodically, drive me to the edge.
My breathing grew heavy, and for a moment, I didn’t know how to process any of this.
Silent tears began to fall, one after another, splashing onto the phone screen, each drop landing with bitter finality.
Zack patted my shoulder, taking a deep breath before saying, “If you want to go abroad, I can take you right now. I know about your illness… Please don’t give up. We can get treatment
overseas.”
But I shook my head, my eyes filled with a sense of hopelessness.
For someone at death’s door, it didn’t matter where I was.
“Uncle Zack, thank you… for caring about me all this time.”
I gave him a bitter smile. “But I think I’ll stay here. I don’t want to keep running.”
Zack respected my choice and didn’t press me further. After a few words of encouragement, he
left.
I stared at the TV, but I couldn’t focus on whatever show was playing. All I could see was the
actress on screen morphing into Abigail.
In my mind’s eye, she was on her knees, clutching my hands, her eyes red and pleading.
“Samuel, I don’t want to break up. Please don’t leave me alone…”
“I’ll make sure he suffers every bit of the pain I went through.”
A tightness built in my chest, my breathing growing labored. It felt like something was slowly eating away at my nerves, hollowing me out from the inside.
I didn’t even know when I fell asleep, but when I opened my eyes again, daylight was streaming through the window.
The door to my hospital room swung open, and Abigail walked in, carrying a bag filled with my favorite foods.
“You haven’t been well lately. You need to build up your strength.”
She set the boxes down in front of me. There were honey–glazed spare ribs, braised pork knuckle, fish chowder, and a container of freshly sliced mango.
Looking at all of it, I gave a weary smile and shook my head. “Abigail, there’s no need for you to do all this for me.”
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