Chapter 70
Part 70
After Adrian made that promise, he started coming home on time every day. I was busy with my upcoming training program and did not pay much attention to anything else.
One weekend, a welcome distraction arrived in the form of a colleague’s invitation to go shopping. I told Adrian I was going out and he seemed relieved and said, “I have to work overtime this weekend, so I can’t join you. Go have fun with your colleague.”
His response sent a fresh wave of suspicion rippling through me. But I brushed it aside, clinging to the fragile hope that maybe, just maybe, things had changed.
However, fate, it seemed, had a cruel sense of humor. As I rounded a corner in the mall, my breath caught in my throat. There, in a brightly lit children’s restaurant, sat Adrian. Jesse perched on his lap, a mess of giggles and tomato sauce, while Sophie, the picture of domestic bliss, doted on them both.
Sophie smiled and wiped the tomato sauce from Jesse’s mouth. I stood there, watching the smile on Adrian’s face. They
looked just like a famous Juguete in talian peaches them
My colleague’s nudge snapped me out of my paralysis. “Madeline, why did you stop?”
A brittle smile, a mask to hide the devastation within, was all I could manage. However, just as I turned to leave, a flicker of movement in the restaurant caught my eye. Adrian. He’d seen me.
I turned to leave, but he quickly put down the child and ran after me. “Madeline!”
Adrian caught up with me and held my hand. ” Jesse was crying and begging to come out for fries. I only came because the child was upset.”}
and
His explanation, laced with desperation, rang hollow. My hand recoiled from his touch as if burned. “It’s fine. Go back be with them.“E
Adrian shook his head. “No, I’ll come with you. What are you shopping for? Let me help.“}
“There’s no need. I’m with my colleague.”
Adrian persisted and held my hand again, more tightly this time. However, before we could leave the spot, a small hand suddenly grabbed Adrian’s other hand. “Daddy, I want you to take me to the amusement park.”
Sophie ernerged from the restaurant, her voice dripping with feigned sympathy. “Madeline, I’m sorry, Jesse’s still young and. doesn’t understand.”
Yes, the child was still young, but calling someone else’s husband “Daddy” was still too much. After all, the mother could have taught basic etiquette at home, could she not?
With a curt nod in their direction, I turned to look at Adrian. My voice, devoid of the anger that used to simmer just beneath the surface, was laced with indifference. “Yes, you’re right. A child needs a father figure. Perhaps you should spend more time with them, Adrian.”
I pulled my hand away and turned to leave. However, Adrian let go of Jesse’s hand and followed me. “Madeline, wait! Listen to my explanation!“/
Behind us, Jesse started crying loudly and Sophie hugged the child. Both of them looked pitiful, as if I were the one stealing their husband and father.
“There’s nothing to explain,” I replied, my voice flat. “It’s perfectly clear.“@
“Madeline, please listen to me,” Adrian said, gripping my hand tightly. “It’s the child, Madeline You have to understand. Being separated from the father at such a young age, isn’t it sad? That’s why the child’s very attached to me. Madeline, can you understand me?“{
“I understand, really. It’s the child.” I stopped and nodded. What did he expect me to understand? The hypocrisy?”
In the first year of marriage, his family had pressured us for children. His parents then began to blame me, thinking it was my fault I had not conceived yet.”
However, Adrian, ever the voice of reason, had assured me he was not ready, that we should wait. Apparently, it was not that he was not ready, he just did not want to have children with me.
The silence stretched between us, and just as I turned to leave, he suddenly stepped in front of me, blocking my way. “Madeline, why?” he stammered. “Why aren’t you angry anymore? What are you thinking?”
I met his gaze, my expression carefully neutral. He searched my eyes, desperately seeking a flicker of my old self, the one who would fight for him. But the next second, his phone buzzed insistently. When he took it out, I saw the name on the screen, Lovely Sophie, the pet–name a stark reminder of his deceitfulness.#
Adrian still answered the call. “Don’t cry,” he soothed. “What’s wrong?” A beat of silence, then a strangled gasp. “Jesse is missing? How could that happen? Calm down, I’ll be right there!“#
2:53 PM PP
After hanging up, Adrian seemed to want to explain, to offer some empty apology. But the flicker of panic in his eyes was all the explanation I needed.\
I simply stepped aside, creating a clear path for him to leave. “Go quickly,” I said, my voice flat and devoid of emotion.”
He put away his phone, then hesitated. A flicker of something akin to guilt crossing his features before he rushed past me.
