After saying that coldly, he turned around, grabbed a pillow, and went to the guest room.
When Clara came out of the shower, she immediately saw the empty space on the bed.
Her heart went cold.
Now he wasn't even willing to sleep in the same bed as her.
Anger surged in Clara's heart. She grabbed her quilt and threw it outside the bedroom door, slamming the door shut.
The next morning, the quilt she had thrown out was gone. The guest room door was ajar, and inside, everything was folded neatly.
Rhys had already left.
Clara went back to her own parents' home.
Unlike Rhys's home, Clara's family was a typical working-class household located in an ordinary old apartment complex within the older suburbs.
Just as she walked up to the third floor, before she could even take out her keys, the smell of meat drifted out through the cracks in the door.
The door opened first.
"I said the footsteps sounded like Clara, and you didn't believe me!"
Clara's mom, wearing an apron, saw Clara and smiled until her eyes were slits. "My darling, why are you back today? Is it cold outside?"
Sunlight spilled into the room. The TV was playing a drama, and sizzling sounds of stir-frying came from the kitchen.
The smell of home was the best comfort for the soul.
Clara forced down the bellyful of grievance and bitterness, put on a smile, and pounced to hug her mom.
"Mom, what are you cooking? I could smell it from downstairs. I'm starving!"
"Your dad went to the market to buy meat in the morning. You have a good nose; you came back just as I started stewing it."
Clara's mom took her bag and looked behind her.
Her gaze swept around the empty stairwell, and her smile faded slightly.
"Where's Rhys? He didn't come back with you?"
Clara paused while changing her shoes.
"He's... busy."
She straightened up and lied effortlessly. "You know how they are. The closer it gets to the holidays, the busier they are. All leave is canceled. He hasn't been home for two days."
A lie told a thousand times becomes the truth to the liar.


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