Divorce you and marry him novel Chapter 4

Chapter 4

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The rain kept getting heavier.

Katherine walked home alone. By the time she reached the house, she was soaked through, and her feet were rubbed raw and bleeding.

A maid saw her and froze, eyes wide in shock. “Mrs. Padilla? What happened to you? Where is Mr. Padilla?”

Katherine shook her head. She didn’t want to say a single word. She had barely stepped through the doorway when her vision went black, and her body went limp.

In the haze that followed, she dreamed again and again.

The dreams were chaotic and shattered, filled with scenes from the past years-each one a moment when Nicholas chose Samantha and left her colder than before.

On her birthday, he promised to have dinner with her. She waited until late into the night. The dishes were reheated over and over, and the candles burned down to nothing. Then someone came back and told Katherine she didn’t need to wait anymore. Samantha was in a bad mood, so Nicholas had gone to catch fireflies for her.

When she caught a bad cold and coughed nonstop, she begged him to come check on her, but he went to church with Samantha instead, because Samantha claimed she’d been having nightmares.

She once knitted him a scarf with her own hands. He laughed and gave it to Samantha just because Samantha said she “liked it.”

When Katherine’s father fell gravely ill, she begged to go home. Nicholas stopped her and said, “Sammy hasn’t been well lately either. Someone needs to manage the household. Wait a little.” So, she waited. And what she got in return was her father’s death notice.

There were too many scenes like that.

Every disappointment and every moment of cold neglect was like a dull knife sawing at her heart, slowly, relentlessly.

By the time of the abortion, and then the moment she was abandoned at the cliff, her battered heart was finally shattered completely and could never be put back together.

Her body felt heavier and heavier, as if she were sinking into ice water. She was shivering, and

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Chapter 4

11 288 Vouchers

through the fog of fever, she could faintly hear the maids’ panicked voices. “Has the doctor been called yet?”

“I did call!” another maid sobbed. “But all the doctors were sent to Ms. Lester. Mr. Padilla called them over there! I told him Mrs. Padilla’s burning up and coughing blood. I begged and begged, Mr. Padilla was about to send one back, but then Ms. Lester started coughing too. Mr. Padilla panicked again and said Mrs. Padilla should just wait-”

“Wait? She’s coughing blood! How is she supposed to wait? How can Mr. Padilla do this? Mrs. Padilla loves him so much. She’s given him everything for years, and in the end, his heart still only belongs to Ms. Lester…”

“Shh… Lower your voice…”

“I can’t keep my voice down. It’s just not fair to Mrs. Padilla…”

A tear slipped from the corner of Katherine’s eye and disappeared into her hair.

The

years she loved him had been a complete waste.

At some point, her burning fever finally eased slightly, and her consciousness clawed its way out of the nightmare.

When she woke up in a daze, she actually saw Nicholas sitting by her bedside.

The moment he noticed she was awake, his face relaxed with visible relief. He leaned closer, his voice filled with concern. “Katie, you’re awake? How do you feel? Are you still uncomfortable? Does anything hurt?”

Katherine stared at him. Her eyes were empty and unfocused, like she was looking straight through him.

you

Nicholas shifted uneasily under that gaze. After a pause, he started explaining, “Brittany said had a high fever, and you were coughing blood. I-I was going to call a doctor, but Sammy’s situation was urgent too. She’s been weak since childhood. She got frightened this time and felt dizzy. She kept coughing… I couldn’t stop worrying, so I—”

“You don’t need to explain,” Katherine cut him off. Her voice was painfully hoarse, but her tone was unnervingly calm. “This is your home. You’re the head of the household. So, of course, you can decide who the doctor is for. I respect your decision.”

Nicholas went quiet, completely choked by her words. A flicker of panic crossed his face. “What do you mean it’s my home? This is our home. I know I didn’t think it through this time, and you suffered because of it. I swear between you and Sammy, I’ll choose you first next time.”

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