Chapter 3Until the 99th Sunset

Whether Arthur regretted it or not, I no longer cared. After finally giving up on his treatment, the constant tension I’d lived with for so long began to ease.

After leaving the Hayes estate, I was about to go retrieve my passport and ID from Arthur. For years, all my documents had been with him. Just as I rounded a street corner, a sharp pain shot through my forehead. Hot blood gushed from the wound. I felt dizzy, disoriented, before I even understood what was happening. A group of people violently dragged me, hitting and kicking.

“That’s her! That’s the homewrecker!”

“Mr. Hayes and Laura are the real couple, she just had to come chasing after him, trying to be a mistress.”

“Pfft, she’s a disgrace to the legal profession, always handling other people’s divorces, yet she can’t sort out her own life.”

The commotion immediately attracted the attention of passersby. They didn’t intervene, but instead pulled out their phones, snapping photos of me. Losing too much blood, I couldn’t fight back. When the crowd saw I was completely defenseless, they dispersed, spitting on me as they left. “We’ll beat you every time we see you!”

Through my blurring vision, I saw Arthur in the distance. He and Laura were holding hands, laughing sweetly, looking genuinely happy. Our eyes met, and Arthur’s expression stiffened. He instinctively started running toward me. “You, what happened to you?”

Blood flowed unstoppably, staining my clothes. Arthur’s mind went blank. He seemed to panic, his hands trembling as he pulled out his phone to call for an ambulance. But Laura stopped him. “Don’t bother. She’s probably just faking it, trying to get your sympathy, isn’t she?” Her voice was dismissive. “It just looks scary, she’ll be fine.” Laura tugged at his arm. “Didn’t you say you were going to take me to pick out my birthday present?”

Laura pulled him away. Arthur hesitated for a moment, then turned off his phone. He didn’t look back at me.

I leaned against the wall, gasping for breath, the blood still flowing. In the end, I called for an ambulance myself. But before it could arrive, I lost consciousness completely.

When I woke up again, it was a week later. The doctor said if I’d been any later, I might have died from blood loss. Arthur’s mother, hearing what happened, specifically came to the hospital to see me. She covered all the medical expenses.

“Eleanor, it was just those people’s extreme behavior. I’ve already handled it.” She looked at me, a flicker of something in her eyes. “Arthur… he just forgot you have a blood clotting disorder.” Arthur’s mother tried to persuade me again, but seeing my pale face, the words died in her throat.

I smiled faintly. “Mrs. Hayes, Arthur and I are divorced, and I won’t be staying in Sterling anymore.” I took a deep breath. “I won’t be coming back.”

Hearing the change in address, her eyes welled up. In the end, she just nodded. “Eleanor, whatever you want to do, I’ll help you.”