“I know Grandma Gloria asked you to help the Williamses, but…” Skylar’s voice faltered as she glanced at Joe.
Joe raised an eyebrow, his gaze questioning. Was she implying that the Williamses deserved better treatment than they had received? Though he believed Jeffrey wasn’t fit for anything, he would still honor her request if that was the condition for their marriage agreement.
“I hope you’ll stop helping them,” Skylar continued, her voice dropping to a near whisper as she lowered her gaze, afraid the malice in her eyes might give her away.
Joe was momentarily taken aback, but he didn’t press her for more details. Instead, he simply acknowledged her words with a quiet, “Oh?”
With a quick glance at his watch, Joe looked down at the documents she had signed. “Let’s go.”
“Alright.”
The courthouse was eerily quiet, and in no time, they had their marriage certificate. It all felt surreal to Skylar as she held it in her hands, still trying to come to terms with the gravity of what she had just done.
Joe’s voice broke her thoughts. “Let’s exchange numbers. I’ll send you my address. You should move in with me in two days.”
Skylar didn’t have the chance to refuse before he was already turning away. She had planned to stay with Grandma Gloria, but now she had no choice but to comply. Living with Joe wasn’t something she had ever considered—but it would certainly keep up the illusion of a happy marriage for Gloria’s sake.
Skylar glanced at her phone. It was 3:30 p.m., and she still had time to head back to the Williams Residence to gather her belongings. She wouldn’t set foot in that house again unless it was to retrieve something of value—like the gifts Viola had given her.
As she walked, her phone buzzed with an incoming call. Without checking the caller ID, she answered swiftly.
“Hello?”
“Babe, Maisy called me earlier,” Christopher’s voice came through the line, smooth but filled with concern. “She said you got into a fight with Jeffrey and Sadie at the hospital over the blood transfusion. I think it was inappropriate to do that. You’re going to upset them, and Maisy needs your blood too. If you leave them now, your relationship with them will get even worse. Where are you? I’ll come find you, and we can go apologize together. Let’s go to the hospital first thing in the morning. And hey, after your donation, how about we watch a movie together?”
Skylar’s grip on the phone tightened. She had loved Christopher with all her heart—unwaveringly so—from high school all the way through college. He had promised her the world, claiming she was his one true love. But after everything, after the accident, and seeing his betrayal, Skylar had come to understand that men’s promises were nothing but empty words.
She was done.
Christopher’s voice took on a slightly irritated tone. “Babe? Are you there? Did I lose you? Should I text you on WhatsApp instead?”
Skylar took a deep breath before answering, her voice cold and final. “I’m breaking up with you, dumbass.”
Before he could respond, she hung up. Her phone buzzed incessantly with notifications from him, but she ignored them all. She hadn’t blocked him yet—she wasn’t ready for that. Not yet.
By the time Skylar arrived at the Williams Residence, Jeffrey, Sadie, and Maisy were still stuck in traffic. She figured they wouldn’t be back for at least 30 more minutes.
She didn’t have much to pack. One suitcase would be enough to hold everything she needed. As she made her way through the house, her eyes landed on an antique painting hanging in a corner of the living room.
It had been a gift for Sadie’s birthday, a present Skylar had spent three months restoring. But Sadie hadn’t even appreciated it. She had directed the maid to hang it in the least visible spot, as though it was nothing more than a trinket.
Skylar had offered to explain the painting’s origin and significance, but Sadie had been impatient, quickly moving on to the designer bag Maisy had given her. It stung—her sincerity had been met with indifference.
With a bitter resolve, Skylar crossed the room and carefully took down the painting, rolling it up gently before placing it in her suitcase. It wasn’t much, but it was a symbol of what she was leaving behind.
When Jeffrey and the others returned, they noticed Skylar was gone. Sadie frowned and asked, “Lucy, has Skylar come back?”
The maid, Lucy Sanders, hurriedly replied, “Ms. Skylar returned about half an hour ago, then left again with a suitcase.”
“Left with a suitcase?” Sadie screeched.
“Yes, Mrs. Williams.” Lucy nodded, confused.
Maisy, who had been expecting a contrite Skylar to come crawling back, was stunned. Hadn’t Christopher promised to deal with her? “Did she run away?” she asked, unsure of what was going on.
Jeffrey, furious, grumbled, “If she’s got the nerve to leave, then she shouldn’t come back! How dare she! I’ll cancel her credit card right now!”
Sadie, her irritation growing, decided to check Skylar’s room. When she opened the door, her eyes scanned the empty, sparse room with a sense of unease. Something felt wrong.
“I’ll go check her room,” Sadie muttered, already heading upstairs.
Maisy hesitated before speaking. “Mom, I think I’ll leave. I don’t think Skylar wants to see me at home. She’ll come back once I’m gone.”
Sadie snapped out of her thoughts and smiled tightly at her daughter. “Just imagine if she were as sensible as you. Don’t waste any more time on her. She can go wherever she likes.”
Maisy grinned, oblivious to the tension growing around them. “Skylar grew up in the countryside. She’s lacking basic manners because of her adoptive mother, who only graduated middle school.”
Sadie’s patience snapped at the mention of Skylar’s past. “Skylar should know better by now. She’s been in college for years. The truth is, she’s just an ungrateful brat.”
Sadie shook her head in annoyance. “Don’t worry about her. Let’s go eat.”
As Skylar sat in the back of the cab, the bustling streets outside blurred by the movement, everything felt like a dream. She had really been reborn, and her life was about to change forever.
The driver, noticing her distracted expression, glanced at her through the rearview mirror. “Miss, your phone’s been ringing a lot.”
Skylar glanced down at her phone, seeing the constant stream of notifications. Christopher, still trying to reach her, had spammed her on WhatsApp.
“It’s fine. Just scammers,” she muttered, brushing it off. She could imagine the chaos on the other end of the line. But the thought of Christopher’s reaction—his passionate pursuit of Maisy—only made her grip the phone tighter. She could almost see the image of him with her, and the anger surged.
The phone buzzed again. This time, the caller ID showed it was Joe.
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