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Let Me Go, Ex Husband! 61
Orchard’s POV The evening air was cool as I climbed the steps to the rooftop. My body felt heavy, like each movement required more effort than it should. The door creaked as I pushed it open, revealing the quiet sanctuary that had always been my retreat. The rooftop wasn’t much to look at, it was a simple flat space bordered by a rusty railing. A few old chairs sat scattered around, one missing a leg, the other barely standing. The city stretched out in front of me, endless and alive. I stepped toward the edge, my boots scuffing against the uneven surface, and sank to the ground with my back against the railing. Reaching into my jacket pocket, I pulled out a half-empty bottle of whiskey. It clinked softly against the metal railing as I set it down beside me, and for a moment, I just stared at it. My fingers tightened around the glass. I unscrewed the cap and raised the bottle to my lips, the first sip burning as it slid down my throat. The whiskey was old and sharp, but it did the
Last Updated : 2024-12-16Let Me Go, Ex Husband! 62
Tiffany’s POVI stood in front of the mirror, carefully brushing out my hair. Last night’s argument with Dave lingered in my mind, he hadn’t been himself, but that didn’t make the pain any easier to bear.I set the brush down on the dresser with a soft clink and reached for the necklace I’d chosen, a simple gold chain with a small emerald pendant. I was fastening the necklace when I felt a pair of familiar arms wrapping around my waist. I hadn’t heard him come in, and the sudden warmth of his embrace startled me.“Tiff,” he said softly.I froze for a second, caught off guard, then let out a slow breath. “Dave,” I replied, keeping my tone neutral.He tightened his hold on me, resting his chin lightly on my shoulder. His touch wasn’t demanding; it was tentative, almost apologetic. “I’m sorry,” he murmured.“For last night?” I asked, though I already knew.He nodded, “I was out of line, Tiff. I shouldn’t have snapped at you. It’s no excuse, but I was stressed, and…” He sighed, his breath
Last Updated : 2024-12-19Let Me Go, Ex Husband! 63
Tiffany “No,” she shook her head. “You wait,” she said, very firm. “You wait until everything is ready, and then you go change. I’m hoping that at least you’ll have things done before you come home.” She started to walk away from me. “Very good,” of course, that was her staple—walking away when she believed herself to be done with people or going to meet someone. So, after Mom left, I decided to go downstairs and simply get some hands-on experience. “Status?” I whispered to Bethany, Kimberly’s second. “We’re almost done with the table placement,” she said. “Of course, they’re also ready to cover the tables and set up the centerpieces. We’re having a few issues, though,” she said. “The guest list is quite muddled, and because we didn’t have a rehearsal dinner to figure out who’s sitting where, I hope the vegan table doesn’t get mixed up with the one for meat-eaters.” She widened her dark blue eyes. “This is a travesty,” she said, touching her forehead. “Shut up,” I mumbl
Last Updated : 2024-12-20Let Me Go, Ex Husband! 64
Orchard’s Pov“You know, you really are the most beautiful person to walk the earth.” I said to Iris, as she stood by the mirror brushing her hair. “You’re just saying that because I’m your wife,” she chuckled, her eyes lighting up the room and my heart as well. “What do you say, we try something different right now?”“Orchard! Your mum’s event is in a few hours, we should be getting ready.”“We have time.” I winked, earning a playful glare from her in return.I opened my lower drawer, retrieving a tool box from it, Iris eyes never left mine. I got close to her as her eyes followed my body, looking a bit presumptuous about every move I made. I took out from the toys I had brought, a blindfold. For some reason, I felt she looked very appealing in it. I was going to be gentle with her anyway. I just didn't want her eyes staring at me while I continued. I wanted her looking as hot as I wanted her to be. Not that she wasn’t already, I just needed to see her that way, in blindfolds.I s
Last Updated : 2024-12-22Let Me Go, Ex Husband! 65
Tiffany Dave soon began to walk towards the door. My mouth hung open as I watched him. Surely he wasn't serious, right? He was joking, right? "I'm sorry," I said. I blurted it out. "Can we just forget that ever happened and face this like adults?" He stopped dead in his tracks, his muscles tensing as he breathed in and out slowly. Somehow, I found myself mirroring his exact actions, trying to ease out the tension I felt and hoping that the slight moisture on my head wasn’t sweat but merely my imagination. "Fine," Dave shrugged, turned around quickly, and began walking toward the walk-in closet not far from me. Subconsciously, I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding and began panting heavily for breath, while even more moisture gathered on my forehead. Yep, that was sweat, I told myself as I reached for a bit of tissue and dabbed at it. Before I was done with my makeup, he came out, fully showered and wrapped in a towel, his hair now white and wet. His eyes briefly found
Last Updated : 2024-12-23Let Me Go, Ex Husband! 66
Iris After the shower, I stepped out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel, my hair still damp. His question had caught me totally off guard, and more so, my reply. I let him shower first, when he was done, I went in and had my shower. By the time I came out of the bathroom, Orchard was already rummaging through his closet, pulling out a crisp shirt and dark trousers. His ease and confidence were something I admired and envied.I went to the vanity, my hands trembling slightly as I reached for my makeup bag. I wasn’t usually this nervous, but today felt different. Everything felt heightened, like all eyes would be on me tonight.As I started applying foundation, my hands shook just enough for Orchard to notice. He walked over, his shirt half-buttoned, and leaned against the dresser, watching me with a calm expression.“You need to relax,” he said softly. “Everything’s going to be fine.”I sighed, setting down the brush. “I know,” I replied, though my voice didn’t sound convincing. “It’
Last Updated : 2024-12-24Let Me Go, Ex Husband! 67
Iris Halle’s reply was totally expected, the world could probably be ending tomorrow and she would go to the office today.“Yeah, but…” I reached out toward her, placing a hand on her. Granted, she wasn’t pale, and she didn’t look tired. If anything, she looked much better than the day she was discharged. But still. I had seen just a little bit too much confidence harm someone. It suddenly struck me, remembering one of my high school friends, Betty. Her mom got admitted to the hospital due to an accident. While Betty was mostly fine, her mom wasn’t. By the time the doctor said she was fine and ready to go home, Betty’s mom spent two days at home and died in her bed due to complications from a surgery she had. Of course, Halle couldn’t be compared to that. Still, I was worried. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” She smiled a rather kind smile, shook her head, and somehow tapped me on the nose with an index finger. “I’m fine,” she said. “Not really perfect, but the whol
Last Updated : 2024-12-25Let Me Go, Ex Husband! 68
Tiffany I stood staring at myself in the antiseptic-smelling air of the ladies' room, of course be-speckled with the scent of various perfumes and other air fresheners. Still, it left my nose powerful enough to pick out anything sometimes. This time, however, my focus had been so much on the mirror, on myself, on the dress I frankly hated, especially when compared to hers. Damn it, my sister was supposed to be living badly. She was supposed to be suffering. Her life was not supposed to be anything I wanted. It wasn't supposed to be anything I desired. So why? Why was her dress an early sub? I had seen the dress in several pictures. I'd loved it. I'd raved over it. I wanted it more than anything itself. And yet, my step-sister showed up in that dress with a billionaire dressed on her arm. She smelled impeccable. In a custody battle, I had seen the bottles. They looked almost like crystal. I'd wanted it, but frankly, the thing cost a little more—nearly as much as my car. And then
Last Updated : 2024-12-26
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Let Me Go, Ex Husband! 118
Tiffany I watched Dave. Not because I was beginning to quite enjoy stalking, but just watching him, and I knew that he was hiding something. They say every woman knows when a man is doing something like that, and I was no stranger to this. After all, I had been on the receiving end. "Let’s just try one more time," I told myself as I crawled into bed beside him and reached him. "Not right now," he said, confirming my suspicions. Until now, he was practically hanging off the edge. I wanted to spite him just a little bit. I felt like it, and he would deserve it in some ways. But somehow, even as I watched him shift within me, I told myself to just let it go. I hugged myself into a ball. It was a strange thing, I thought. Admitting it was even stranger. But my sister didn’t even really get the nicest things, men included. If not for me, Dave would still be with her. And probably, if you thought about it really deeply, if not for me, in the next few months, Orchard would still be
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Iris My dad placed a hand on my leg, squeezing—a strange kind of contact, I decided. When was the last time he ever touched me? When was the last time I felt the warmth of his hand or the worry in his voice? "I'll be fine," I said. "You know what? Just… let's drop it," I added, using the opportunity to wiggle myself out of his grasp. At that instance, my phone buzzed. Reacting to the activity, my hand dove into my bag, and I pulled it out. It was my mother-in-law. "Iris," she wrote. "I found this really funny article online, and a few of my friends were talking about it the other day, you know, about your mother. I believe Chameleia was her name or something like that? Yeah, they mentioned how she was quite popular... I know this might sound weird—I mean, she was your mom—but they say your mom was sort of like a prostitute. I just wanted to confirm and tell them off, you know, tell them that it wasn’t true. But I already did! I already told them it was impossible, someone like
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Iris "You see, your grandfather on your mother’s side died young, but not before making my marriage to your mother a pain every step of the way. When we started the company, he didn’t see us as those who cared much. In fact, he didn’t. She begged him for support, but he gave nothing, so we had to look for money on our own to start. "She would be the one talking to people because, Lord knows, I was bad at that. But she was pleasant, you know. You have the same smile," he said suddenly, catching me off guard. "She could convince anyone to do anything, and so she was the one mostly going out, looking for investors. We made quite a team," he said. "Until, you know, the decline started, and everything seemed as though it was all rubbish." He stayed silent suddenly, breathing in and out heavily. This is my moment, I thought. I needed to tell him about Dave. "Dad," I said, calling him what I used to way back when I was younger and when our relationship was less rocky. "Dave," I said
Let Me Go, Ex Husband! 115
IrisThis was the last place I wanted to be, especially after the events of the past few days, but I needed to pay my respect. Being normal of a graveyard, there wasn’t much activity. But I found a familiar car just as he reached the parking lot. Then again, it could also just be my mind playing tricks on me, but I waved it off. The closer I got to Mom’s grave, the more I felt a rather impending feeling, something strange was going to happen. As if the thing with Dave wasn’t bad enough, whatever fate was about to throw at me again, I didn’t think I was much ready for it. I reached Mom’s grave and nearly screamed out loud. Of course, I mean, everything wasn’t fine. It wasn’t just the flowers, though. The entire place had been unearthed, looked on, touched. In fact, the only problem had arrived in the person in front of it. It was the hunched figure of my own father. “What are you doing here?” I asked, too angry to hide my disdain. He stood, glaring. “I wouldn’t see you in
Let Me Go, Ex Husband! 114
IrisI sat still in front of my mirror, staring at my reflection. My breath, strangely enough, came out in short pants as though I had been running for my life—but I had, in my dreams, that is. I had been running from him, eager to get away—Dave, that is. Granted, it was quite satisfactory seeing him get beat up like that, but the way he crawled across the battlefield, reaching for me, was a little too much. My husband, however, had been as comforting as possible, pulling me into a hug and keeping me still through the night with my head placed on his chest, listening to his heartbeat until I was lulled by it to sleep. "Work today?" I heard him ask someone behind me. My eyes finally went out of focus, away from my reflection, and found him standing in front of the long floor-to-ceiling window with his arms folded across his chest. "No. Today is…" I turned away from him and looked down at the top of my vanity. Somehow, my words felt caught in my throat as an inexplicable feeling
Let Me Go, Ex Husband! 113
Orchard I didn't know why my mind kept going back to Iris. But it did. If not for Richard in front of me constantly reminding me of stuff, I would’ve, of course, forgotten. But I did, didn't I? Or was it yesterday? "Focus," Robert snapped his fingers in front of me. "Your nice little weekend getaway cost us too much." "What now?" "Sozo," Robert replied. "Some idiot is causing some trouble. I don’t know who. Looks like Russians for some lotteries and—" Suddenly, it hit me at that point. There was a Russian at my mom's party. Did that have anything to do with it? "Can I take a break?" "No," Richard and Robert answered at the same time. "Do you two have a strange fetish for watching me work myself to death?" Richard raised his eyebrows. "You’re not dead, and you’re not going to die. At least not unless you’re Hades yourself. Well, last time I checked, you’re not it, Golden Boy." Just as I was about to hit him with a retort, a phone call snapped me out of it—from an u
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Iris"Don't look at me like that. I mean it," he said. "I still love you." Suddenly, I found myself chuckling. I was definitely being pranked. The sheer humor was underhanded, perhaps much needed, and, if anything, low but understandable. After all, it would seem Dave was still very interested in pranking me. "Funny," I said, catching my breath as finally my mind was taken off the attempted kidnap. "I'm not lying. I'm not joking. I'm not trying to be funny." Dave grabbed me roughly by the arm. In that moment, I felt the same feeling of revulsion, almost as though Dave stunk. He stung to the point where my body recoiled, and I had no choice but to scoot further into the bed. "Don't touch me," I said, holding up a hand. "You've lost your right," I said. "Long ago, you lost that right. If I need to remind you of why and how you lost it, then you're an even bigger idiot than I thought." "I'm not an idiot," he stated harshly. "Is it wrong for a man to change his mind?" His
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Iris"Only a matter of time now," my mother-in-law had muttered when she came back a few days ago, and those words seemed to echo in my mind. But instead of leaving me breathlessly shy, I simply blushed and turned my eyes away from hers. Even remembering it now, in the car, was bad enough. "How was work?" his voice came to me over the phone. "Same old, same old," I mumbled. "Can’t wait to get home and pull off these shoes," I said, wiggling my toes in my heels despite how impossible it was. "Can’t wait to take off the shoes and other things too," I said with a smile as suggestive as I could, even though he couldn’t see me. "Are you thinking what I’m thinking?" His question was slow, his voice low, sparking easy memories. I smiled. "It’s easy enough to guess what you’re thinking," I said when suddenly the smile fell. I hadn’t told him about Dave and meeting him. That was bad enough. That alone had caused no small amount of guilt to eat away at me. But it wasn’t as though I’
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Tiffany As fun as the trip was, it came to an end a little too quickly, but only one question had remained resounding several times in my mind, even as I slept after we came back. "Give the company to me," Dave had said. "Transfer your rights as acting president. Of course, I understand your father is the CEO." "Can we stop?" I interrupted him, grabbing his hand. "We're supposed to be enjoying ourselves." His face fell. Did I make a mistake talking? Should I have just let him continue? "It's okay," he said. But of course, I knew it wasn’t okay. I knew by the way he looked at me that he wasn’t happy. Dave was pissed about something, and it was my fault. Even after we had gotten back home, things were strangely strained between the both of us. It was like a rubber band that had grown slack several times over, and we were trying our best to shrink it back to size. I simply decided to let it wait, thinking maybe my mind was playing tricks on me. "Can we talk?" Dave suddenly
