7
363words
The grand opening was a spectacle—lanterns, and the air buzzed with excitement.
Then, an unexpected visitor arrived.
Sophia,in coarse clothes,her hair in a low ponytail,looked aged,worn by years of hardship.
I recalled her past-life return with Edward,radiant and dazzling.
Without that glow,she was ordinary.
“Why are you still stealing Edward from me?”
“You’ve been gone so long.Why won’t you leave me alone?I just want a peaceful life with him,but you came back and seduced him!”
Her ignorance was astounding. Had staying in the country stunted her growth so completely?
“Seduce him? I don't know what you are talking about?”
Her lips trembled.“Liar!The day you returned,Edward said he’d divorce me.You’re his real wife…”
“He said… he never truly saw me as his wife!"
I cut her off.“We’re in a monogamous era.Stop with the wife-and-concubine nonsense.”
“I don’t want him and won’t be with him.”
She broke down,gripping my shoulders.
“Liar!It should’ve been me and Edward abroad.Everything you have should be mine!”
“Enough!”
Suddenly a man’s angry voice interrupted.
Edward yanked Sophia away.
“Who told you to spout nonsense?”
“Nonsense?If I don’t act,you’ll divorce me!What about our child?”
Edward's face flickered with discomfort, but he pressed on.
“I’ve fallen out of love with you. My heart belongs… elsewhere."
He glanced at me,then quickly looked away.
“This marriage—I don’t want it anymore.”
The irony was palpable.
In my past life,he’d said the same,handing me divorce papers to honor Sophia.
This was the woman he claimed to love forever.
How quickly it had crumbled.
No—not crumbled—he’d never faced the consequences.
In my past life, I had been their scapegoat, absorbing every hardship while they reveled in romance.
Now,without me,they’d worn each other down,their love eroded.
“Edward,I don’t love you and won’t be with you.”
“I’m saying this one last time. Keep your family away from mine."
“We’re done.”
He looked up,tears in his eyes,his voice hoarse.
“But I truly love you.”
I gagged, walking aside to retch.
His “love” was as vile as sewage.
Dragging a sobbing Sophia away, he ignored her cries—just as he'd once ignored mine.
