Celeste nervously clutched my hand.
“Julian, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have lied about the abuse. But I truly like you now, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
“Like me? Or like my money?”
“Julian!”
“Leave. I don’t want to see you anymore. You have three days to move out of that villa.”
“I’m about to give birth! Are you really going to do this to me? You know I’m divorced now, I have nowhere to go. Besides, you
said before that my health was most important, that you’d ensure this child would be well–fed and clothed.”
“That was on the premise that what you said was true: that you really had an abusive husband, that you really had nowhere to go, that this child’s father really didn’t want him. But now, tell me, which of those is true? Leave. I never want to see you again.”
Celeste tried to say more, but I motioned for my secretary to come in.
“Ms. Celeste, please leave.”
After Celeste left, I slumped back onto the sofa.
Ever since Aubrey left, every time I opened my eyes, I felt a gaping hole in my chest.
Sometimes I’d pinch myself, hoping Lwas dreaming, that all of this was just a dream, and that the real Aubrey wasn’t dead.
But the truth was, Aubrey was really gone.
16
Everyone thought the child in Celeste’s belly was mine.
In truth, it wasn’t.
11:01 AM
<
16
Everyone thought the child in Celeste’s belly was mine.
In truth, it wasn’t.
But I never explained, letting everyone continue to misunderstand.
Perhaps Aubrey also thought that during those nights I didn’t come home, I
was
But I wasn’t.
messing around with other women.
During my marriage to her, I never cheated.
Deep down, I despise men who can’t control their impulses, who cheat.
Even after we divorced, I would never go back to Celeste.
I only pitied her situation.
Celeste had called me then, crying helplessly, telling me that the apartment complex she rented had terrible residents, and
people were constantly knocking on her door, scaring her.
Being a man with countless properties, I simply gave her the keys to a villa, telling her to stay there and rest during her
pregnancy.
It was because of this that everyone’s misunderstanding of me deepened.
