002

“Yes, Sarah. It’s still the same Rebecca. You’re the reason I gave up on her then and won’t repeat the same mistake. I’ll divorce you and make sure she becomes mine at all costs.” Charles declared.

Sarah snickered and stormed to Charles’s front. “How could you do this to me, Charles?” She uttered and did the only thing that came to her mind at that moment- slapped him.

Charles held his hurt cheek in his hand. “What are you doing?!” He asked with his eyeballs turning red because of the pain he was feeling in his cheek.

“I slapped you, Charles, and I won’t hesitate to repeat it. It’s resetting your brain that is blocked by greed and you’re misbehaving,” she explained. She exhaled deeply and grabbed him by the collar. “Now Charles, look at me and repeat what you said earlier. Tell me it’s the same Rebecca.”

Charles flung her hand away. He pushed her backward and looked directly into her eyes. “Yes, it’s her. Miller Rebecca.”

Sarah scoffed weakly and ground her teeth. “You’re shameless!” She screamed and her hand followed her heart’s command to slap him again. “You must have lost your mind, Charles.”

“What are you doing?!”

A familiar voice came from the entrance and raised her gaze to see Rebecca.

Sarah chuckled. “You even dare follow him home?”

Rebecca crossed her hands over her chest and walked closer in a slow stride. “Yes, I do,” she responded. She arrived beside Charles and stared at Sarah. “I commanded him to tell you the truth today, so I followed him in case you overreacted. He will soon become mine so I can’t let you hurt him,”

Rebecca loosened her hands from her chest and elevated her left shoulder. “I know how painful the truth can be, so I’m not amazed you acted as expected.”

Sarah cracked up. “I wish I could laugh out loud,” she uttered. “But Rebecca, if I want to react, do you think you can stop me? You, plus him, aren’t enough to tackle me.”

“Sarah, don’t make a big deal out of yourself. Without Sandra, everyone knows how weak you are,” Rebecca let out. “I told him to choose this hour because you won’t be with Sandra. I know she’s a madwoman, so I’m avoiding her.”

Charles faced Rebecca. “I’ll take care of this, dear. Whether or not she wants it, we’ll get the divorce. I’ll do anything for you.” He assured me.

“It’s obvious you can’t do this alone. If I didn’t intervene, maybe you would have the third slap already,” Rebecca said. She pushed Charles aside and faced Sarah. “Woman, why are you making a big deal out of divorce? He said he doesn’t want you anymore. Will you force yourself on him again? Till when will you keep up with this?”

Sarah smiled discreetly. “Why will I beg for a fruitless marriage that does nothing other than drain me?” She voiced out. “Why will I beg a man who thought his salvation would be the one who he means nothing to? A fool who wants to go back to you, who played with his heart back then,”

“Didn’t you abandon him then because he doesn’t have what it takes to take care of you? What’s now special about him that makes you come back? Does anything change?” She mocked in a questioning tone.

“You’re wrong. I didn’t abandon him. My mom sent me off and denied me access to reach him. It’s not my fault.” Rebecca explained, and Sarah burst into laughter.

“I don’t need to hear this. At least you already lied to him and he believed you. That’s enough.” Sarah let out.

“Enough of this, Sarah. Your words won’t work on me again. Never,” Charles let out. “You lied to me about what happened then. You told me Rebecca abandoned me because of my condition. It’s now clear you said it all just for your interest. You acted like an angel just to have your way into my heart. Your lies have ended and nothing will stop this divorce.”

“It’s useless to argue with you now. But I’m sure you’ll regret this,” Sarah poured out. “Rebecca, you spent years abroad and still make him your choice? I bet there’s a more hidden reason attached to this. You didn’t accept him out of love, right?”

Rebecca’s eyes blinked twice. “My reason doesn’t concern you!” She unintentionally raised her voice. She looked at Charles’s face and threw a question. “Does it concern her?”

Charles swiftly shook her head. “Not at all.”

Rebecca shifted her gaze back to Sarah. “Enough of your old tricks. None of your words can weaken us or change his mind,” she blurted. “We separated, and now that we’re back together, just go away and let us be. It’s our life. His life, his choice. His choice, his decision,”

“Accept the divorce. There are various means to survive, and marriage shouldn’t be one.”

Sarah chuckled lightly. “Rebecca, I’m not surviving with this marriage. This marriage relies on me. If I say I fed and clothed Charles and his family, I’m not bragging, it’s just an analysis. He and his family survive on me.” She clarified.

Charles widened her eyes. “Do you want a payback? Calculate everything and Rebecca will pay you back.”

“Yes, I will,” Rebecca agreed. “Just name your price.”

Sarah exhaled softly and filled her lips with a beam. “All I’ve done for you can’t be calculated. Should I mention I sponsor our wedding?” she spoke in a cool tone. “Besides, I’m priceless and my worth can’t be determined with whatever amount you pay,”

Sarah sighed and brightened her smile. “I’ve pride unlike you both and if not because of this worthless marriage, do you think I don’t know my worth?”

Her question required no response, so she proceeded. “Because of my dignity, I’ll do anything to protect. I’ll walk out of this marriage without taking a penny from you.”

“Sarah, will you reject this fantastic offer? Accept it now or you’ll regret it later if Rebecca changes her mind.” Charles advised.

Sarah slowly shook her head, looking at Charles’s face. “If shameless is a person, it will be you. To hell with you, her, and your offer. Set of shameless humans,” she said. “I don’t have time to trade words with you. I would rather fetch water into a pocket than use my time and energy for you.”

She took a soft breath and discharged it in the same manner. “Right until this moment, I never knew I was tired of this marriage. It drained me a lot and I don’t even want to continue,” she voiced out. “You were never worth me or my love, but I turned a blind eye to your flaws, and refuse to reason that you turned me into your money-making machine,”

“You’ve been sullen for a few days, and I was even bothering myself to find out what’s wrong only to get this great news. Anyway, Charles, I’ll happily cut ties with you. I accept the divorce,”

She looked around the room and shook her head in pity. “What a waste of money. I wish I hadn’t spent my money on decoration. I would have thrown myself a freedom party,”

She faced Charles and lengthened her hand forward. “The divorce paper. I’m ready to sign it.” She requested.

“It’s-” Rebecca attempted to talk, but Sarah gave her no space.

Sarah raised her left hand and shook her index finger, directing her words to Rebecca. “Charles and I are still couples, so your interference is limited to how much you can intervene,” she made a point, and knowing what might be wrong, she put her hand down beside her. “Get the paper ready tomorrow.”

She walked to the bed cabinet to pick up her phone and walked past them, heading towards the door. “Call me for the details tomorrow.”

“You can spend the night here. I’ve got a place for me and Charles to spend the night and we all know it costs fortunes to rent a house these days, so I’ll let Charles leave this place for you.” Rebecca said as she veered around.

Sarah halted and with her hand on the door handle, she glanced backward. “I paid the house and rent so Charles can’t decide whether or not I can stay,” she declared and opened the door. “But I’d rather go to hell than spend the night in this house. My heart calls for the need of new fresh here and I shall obey,”

“Your presence is disturbing, and you spoiled the air already, and it’s suffocating,” she said, and without waiting to hear another word, she walked out of the room and slammed the door behind her.

Immediately as she walked out of the wooden fence, tears flooded out of her eyes, and her face instantly wet.

A year’s relationship and two years of marriage just ended for a reason she never imagined.

She, Rebecca, and Charles were college mates, but she never talked to Charles until after she lost her father and started working at the same store with Charles, whom she lent her shoulder to lean and mourn Rebecca’s absence.

Everyone knew Charles and Rebecca had been in a relationship since school days, so the news about their separation spread widely, and to gain pity, Charles lied Rebecca dumped him because he couldn’t afford her.

Sarah helped him in every way, which she believed was the reason he fell for her, and she accepted him to make someone believe she had moved on.

“How dare you do this to me, Charles?” Sarah asked and wiped her face.

She wasn’t sure if she was strong enough to face the challenges because, in the past years, all she’d done was her best to prevent Charles from having low self-esteem. Since things ended this way, all she could think was to follow her heart- she wished she could go to a far place, but she had no family member to cry to.

She was just an orphan who lost her mother at a young age and her father during her college final year. Her stepmother chased her away because she would be a burden along with her own two children.

“Gosh!” She let out and brushed her hand over her face. She unlocked her phone and dialed the contact of the only person she had, Sandra.

The phone rang for a few minutes, but Sandra didn’t pick it up. “Where did she put her phone?” Sarah whispered. 

She dialed the number again, and it didn’t ring twice before Sandra picked it.

“Hey, buddy. Can we speak tomorrow, please? I’m at Victor’s place.” Sandra said and instantly hung up.

“What’s she-” Sarah ground her teeth. She redialed the number, but it wasn’t reachable.

She placed her hand on her forehead and exhaled softly. “What am I supposed to do now?”

She opened her bank app to check her account balance. “This isn’t sufficient.”

She gave it a minute's thought, and since nothing came to her mind other than leaving the area, she turned to the left and headed down the street.

~~~

“No, you can’t, Sarah…” Sarah told herself every minute she thought of going back home since there was nowhere to spend the night.

She stopped by Sandra’s house, but Sandra didn’t leave the key behind. She checked a convenience store to work overnight, but there was no vacancy, so she had been wandering around for over an hour.

She entered the fourth street after Sandra’s and saw a swing at the other side. A smile instantly appeared on her face, and she was excited she could finally sit and relax.

She looked left and right and ran to cross the road, but as she got to the road center, she suddenly felt dizzy and her feet became hard to move from the ground. 

“What’s wrong?”

She felt pain in her head, but couldn’t even lift her hand as she struggled to take a step forward, but her body continued disobeying her mind’s command at the moment.

“What’s happening to me?!” She screamed in silence.

Cars’ lights set on her face and their honks rang loud in her head, showing cars were getting closer, so she put more effort into moving, but she couldn’t. 

Her eyes drooped and her body drifted downward, but before she could reach the ground, someone grabbed her.

“Sarah!” He shouted her name as her body fell into his arms. 

“Harold.” She called in a weak tone.

“Yes, it’s me.” He answered.

She relaxed her head on his shoulder and her eyes shut.

He rounded his arms around her body and patted her back. “I’m back now, Sarah. I got you. You’re safe with Harold.”