Chapter 3A New Decade Begins with a Bottle of Perfume

I pulled my wrist from Isabelle’s grasp, took the divorce papers from my bag, and spread them on the coffee table.

“If you really want to protect her, then act like a man. Sign the papers and let’s get divorced. Don’t stand here gaslighting me about bullying a newcomer.”

I shot a cold glance at Isabelle, who was now hiding behind Nathaniel, sobbing.

“Ambition is a good thing. Since your ambition has brought you this far, you might as well go all the way and win the man.”

My tone was so calm that a flicker of panic crossed Nathaniel’s eyes, but his words remained defiant.

“You’re being completely unreasonable!”

“Am I? Don’t you know the truth?” My gaze fell to the hand he was using to shield Isabelle. “You know better than anyone that I can’t tolerate filth in my life.”

“When something gets dirty, I throw it out.”

I held out a pen to him.

“If you want to retain any shred of my respect, sign it.”

I had chased after Nathaniel for ten years.

A decade ago, my parents died in a case of medical malpractice. It was Nathaniel who ran from hospital to hospital with me, who met with lawyer after lawyer, who grabbed the attending physician by the collar and demanded answers.

But halfway through the lawsuit, the hospital produced evidence that my father had an undisclosed medical history and that my mother had been disoriented when she signed the consent forms.

My lawyer advised me to accept a settlement.

I refused. I stood outside the courthouse and cried until I nearly passed out.

It was Nathaniel who picked me up and whispered in my ear:

“Aurora, you are not alone.”

“I’m here. If the sky falls, I’ll hold it up with you.”

In the end, I signed the settlement. I took the compensation money, along with the money from selling my parents’ house, and gave it all to Nathaniel for acting classes, for networking, for landing roles.

My friends all called me a fool. They said a woman who spends money on a man is cursed for three lifetimes.

But I held Nathaniel’s hand and said, “To spend it on Nathaniel, I’d be cursed for ten.”

Nathaniel cupped my face in his hands and made a solemn promise:

“Aurora, I will never make you regret this.”

Ten long years.

We went from a basement apartment to a penthouse in the city center, from unknown extras to him holding a Best Actor award. Every step was a struggle.

But Nathaniel’s tenderness, it seemed, had only existed in those few short months after my parents died.

Nathaniel looked at my resolute face, and a powerful sense of unease washed over him. He instinctively reached for me, but was interrupted by Isabelle’s sobs.

“Aurora,” Isabelle said, her eyes red, but her voice surprisingly clear.

“You can call me a homewrecker. You can call me shameless. I’ll accept it all.”

The fragile, helpless girl from moments ago was gone. She now looked me straight in the eye.

“I have feelings for Nathaniel. Anyone would be drawn to a man as wonderful as he is. My feelings are honest and out in the open. But unlike you, I would never use his love for me as a weapon to act so recklessly.”

“Everyone knows he’s spoiled you for ten years, and you repay him by getting rid of his child? That’s just cruel.”

Her words extinguished the last flicker of hesitation and pity in Nathaniel’s eyes.

“Aurora, are you sure you want this divorce?”

The person who knows how to hurt you the most always knows exactly where to twist the knife.

“Don’t forget,” Nathaniel said, pouring salt on my oldest wound, “you don’t have a family anymore.”

“I am the only family you have left.”

“If you leave me, you will be completely and utterly alone in this world.”

I have a deep-seated fear of people talking about my parents, of the vicious whispers that I was a jinx, that I was cursed to bring ruin to my loved ones.

It was Nathaniel who used to stand in front of me, throwing punches at anyone who dared to gossip.

It was him who held me tight during countless nights when I broke down, whispering:

“You are not a jinx. You are my destiny. I will love you enough for your parents too. I will never change.”

Now, that same man looked at me with cold eyes.

“There’s no smoke without fire. With a personality like yours, who could possibly stand you?”

“No wonder your parents left so early.”

That sentence shattered my last line of defense.

I slapped him, hard, across the face.

“You bastard!”

My vision blurred. The pain in my chest was so intense it felt like my heart was splitting in two.

I had scrimped and saved, passed up every opportunity and connection for him, stood by him through years of obscurity, only to be called a jinx in the end.

How could I not break? How could I not be devastated?

He stared at me for a few seconds, then a slow, cruel smile spread across his face.

“Fine, Aurora. You’ve really outdone yourself.”

“You want a divorce, right?”

Nathaniel snatched the pen and scribbled his name on the agreement.

“Then let’s get one!”

“And don’t you dare come crawling back to me!”

He threw the signed papers in my face, then turned, grabbed Isabelle’s arm, and stormed out.

I bent down to pick up the scattered pages and let out a soft, broken laugh.

“Nathaniel, this time, it’s really over.”

As I boarded the plane, my screen lit up. A series of calls from Nathaniel’s different numbers.

I looked at it for a moment, then switched my phone off.

Goodbye.