I don't remember how I left the café. Zachary said he was going to be promoted to associate director at the hospital. "I can't afford any problems right now," he said, as if that justified everything. He reminded me that my mother had passed away and that he was the only family I had left. "Think it over," he added coldly. "What good will it do you to leave me?"Online advice would often tell women not to stay with a man while he "grows up," yet some people, like me, always thought they were the exception, that they had chosen wisely. That confidence would almost always be shattered. It happened to me, too.Somewhere along the way, Zachary had changed. The compassion and sense of justice that once defined him as a doctor had eroded. All that remained in his eyes was an insatiable hunger for power and control. There was no reasoning with him anymore. He had become a man I could no longer communicate with.I had my lawyer file for divorce.A week later, we were in court. Unfortun
I had already figured out how to deal with Zachary long ago. When Sean appeared, it felt like fate was giving me a shortcut to revenge.I asked Sean to anonymously report Zachary for illegally switching the recipient of the kidney donation, endangering a life in the process. At this time, Zachary was in the middle of his bid for associate director at the hospital, and the investigation led to his immediate suspension. As long as this issue was investigated, they were bound to find the traces he left behind. With the evidence Sean provided, his guilt was all but guaranteed.Zachary called me again and again desperately, but I didn't answer.Later, the scandal was posted online, and Zachary became the target of public outrage, condemned by everyone.The next time I saw him, he was waiting outside my apartment. The man who once radiated confidence was gone. His face was unshaven, and his shirt was wrinkled.I expected him to come and demand answers, but instead, his voice was low.
I took out my phone, looked up Ella's Facebook, and showed him one by one.He only looked at two and then glanced elsewhere."Zachary, I used to think that you were sincere, careful, responsible as a doctor, and loving. I was proud of you. You were upright and never showed any favoritism. Even when my mother was sick, I didn't push you to go against your principles."But then Ella came into the picture, and I realized those so-called principles only applied depending on who was involved."If you love her so much, why do you keep coming back to me?" I asked.Zachary's face twisted in embarrassment, his lips moving as if he wanted to say something but couldn't.Just then, Sean appeared. He strolled over, still talking on the phone, and shot me a subtle glance.Without saying anything, he activated the speaker. Desperation laced Ella's tone as she spoke over the phone. "Sean, don't listen to Zachary's rubbish. We've broken up for a long time."If it wasn't for my mom needing a kid
Zachary still refused to agree to the divorce, but by now, I had more than enough evidence to make it happen. Teresa was worried that he would do something to hurt me out of desperation, so she insisted that I move to her house.I wasn't afraid of Zachary. Rather, I just found our ongoing entanglement exhausting. So, I decided to take her up on the offer and moved in.It was there, in Teresa's home, that I saw a painting."How is this painting here?" I asked.Teresa put her arm around my shoulders and said gently, "Sean remembered you once said you'd sign your paintings as 'Wandering Soul' from then on. When this painting went up for sale at the gallery, he recognized it as yours right away."I pressed my lips together and nodded. "So that's why it sold for such a high price back then."The money from that sale had pulled my family out of a crisis. I had tried to contact the buyer to express my gratitude, but the gallery told me the buyer wished to remain anonymous.It turned
Not long after the call was hung up, Zachary sent me a message. 'There's a surgery. I'm staying at the hospital tonight.' Short and to the point, it indicated he wouldn't be coming home.I couldn't help but recall the smug confidence in Ella's voice when she answered his phone. Judging by Zachary's response, it was clear she hadn't told him what I said.I let out a bitter laugh, picked up the last of my things from his house, and walked out the door. Locking it behind me, I didn't even bother with a final glance.We had been married for five years, and in all that time, whenever Zachary had to work late at the hospital, he would always make sure to let me know in detail. He once told me that women were sensitive and that as long as a man took care of the little things, it would give a woman a sense of security. Sending a text or making a quick call wasn't that hard.This time was no different, as he used surgery as his excuse.Once, I had loved him for his brilliance and thoughtfu
Clutching my mother's death certificate in my trembling hands, I felt like an empty shell. My eyes were dry, unable to shed even a single tear. I was too numb to cry.I called Zachary over and over again, but he never picked up.When my mother's condition worsened, I begged him to pull some strings, to move her up the transplant list faster. He knew how desperate I was, but he still refused."If I did that," he said, "what about the patient who's next in line? That person has been waiting just as long. It wouldn't be fair."Zachary grew up in a small border town and was the only child to graduate from a prestigious university. He had no family connections or privileges, and he became a well-known professor entirely by his own efforts and talent. He despised injustice, both at the hospital and the university.That was why it was so hard to believe that the man who claimed to uphold fairness had stolen my mother's kidney and given it to someone else!I rushed to the door of Ella'
Under the weight of his betrayal, I felt my heart grow cold, wrapped in an icy numbness. The urge to rip apart Zachary's mask of righteousness consumed me."Give her proper treatment? How will you treat her? Do you even realize that because of you, she's already—"Before I could finish, a voice rang out. "Zachary! Come quickly. Something's wrong with my mom!"It was Ella calling desperately for him. Zachary's face immediately tightened with concern. He didn't even listen to the rest of my sentence before rushing off to her mother's ward.I couldn't stop a bitter smile from tugging at my lips as tears spilled down my cheeks. In my mind, I could see Zachary's self-righteous expression, the one he always wore when lecturing me about "fairness." And in that moment, I realized I never truly knew him.As the medical staff called me again and again to sign the paperwork for my mother's remains, I fought to hold myself together. Somehow, I managed to gather the strength to handle her affa
When Ella first started appearing around Zachary, his behavior changed in ways that were impossible to ignore. He would sit at home, eyes glued to his phone as if waiting for something. Then he went and bought a privacy screen protector for his device. When I asked, he claimed it was to stop people at the hospital from snooping because some people liked to do so.I didn't say much at the time, but a woman's intuition was rarely wrong. Little by little, the name Ella began slipping into Zachary's conversations. That was when I knew something was off. What I never expected was that he would go so far as to bend the rules and sacrifice my only living family member for her.After that call, Zachary stopped contacting me altogether. I knew what he was waiting for. He was waiting for me to give in and admit my fault. Unfortunately, I had no time to talk to him because I was too busy planning my mother's funeral.My mother had always told me she didn't want anything extravagant. As long