Escape from Mr. Whitman (Emma and Theodore) novel Chapter 384

As Theodore Whitman himself had said, he was moving out.

So that very day, after wrapping up everything that needed to be handled, he spent the late morning and early afternoon arranging for a moving company. By the time they arrived, he’d already decided: everything in the house he’d shared with Emma Bennett—what was once their marital home—was to be cleared out.

There were plenty of valuable things inside: appliances, decorative pieces, cookware, dinnerware. None of it had been cheap when they bought it.

Whenever the movers asked what to do with this or that, Theodore only shook his head. “Leave it. I don’t want it.”

He stood in the middle of the room, surrounded by the traces Emma had left behind in her life with him.

For five years, she had lived and breathed here. Five years woven into the fabric of his everyday life—a woman who, for so long, had pinned her hopes and her future to his.

“I’ll handle this room myself,” he said, his voice rough. “You guys can take care of the others.”

And so, it ended up with Theodore alone, packing silently in the bedroom, while the movers hovered in the hallway, uncertain and awkward.

Eventually, he noticed their aimless waiting and looked up, puzzled. “Are you finished already?”

One of the movers hesitated. “It’s just... you said you didn’t want any of those things…”

Theodore paused, a heavy silence hanging between them.

After a moment, he finally managed, “Well, just wait a bit longer then. I’ll finish up here. Go grab something to eat, have some water in the kitchen or something.”

The movers glanced at each other, at a loss for what to do. Their company usually offered full packing and storage services—never had they been paid to stand by and snack while the homeowner did the packing himself.

Meticulously, Theodore gathered up everything that had belonged to Emma, big and small.

In truth, Emma had already gone through the place once before. Most of her clothes, handbags, and jewelry were gone—sold or given away. All that remained were some leftover skincare products, a handful of books, and a few odds and ends she hadn’t bothered to take.

“It’s fine,” Theodore said quietly. “It’s not your fault. I should have been more clear.” He drew in a breath. “We’re done here. Let’s move everything out.”

He had the movers take the boxes to a hotel—his temporary home for now.

Afterwards, he returned to the house and emptied the safe: the gold bars he packed away as they were, along with all the property deeds, storing them in a suitcase he took to his car.

There were a few other things in the safe as well, but he tossed those straight into the trash.

For two days in a row, Emma received massive bank transfers—Theodore’s entire savings, sent directly to her.

On the day the second deposit landed, she was packing up her own things, slowly but surely.

Her brother had booked her ticket; according to his schedule, there were only a few days left. Soon, she’d leave with her brother and grandmother, heading back to her aunt’s home.