Chapter 15

For a moment, Eric was rendered speechless.

He turned it over in his head again, Chloe’s words, if he really heard it right.

But it was. She said that. Chloe had just asked for a divorce.

“What do you mean di…vorce.”

Eric spoke slowly.

His expression showed how greatly shaken he was, but Chloe didn’t notice.

“Yes. I’ve already prepared the documents.”

And she handed the finely folded divorce papers to Eric.

As though the folded papers had been opened and closed several times, the edges of the documents were wrinkled.

This was proof enough that she had been holding onto these for a long time.

As he noticed this, Eric’s expression became more stiff and his breaths came short.

“I’ve already signed them. All that’s needed is your signature, then we can submit these to the Supreme Court.”

Chloe explained what she had already prepared.

Yes, if these documents would be submitted, the divorce would be approved after the ruling. It wouldn’t take long.

It was unlikely that he would object to the divorce, just as he left her earlier without any hesitations. She thought that he might even be happy.

So there shouldn’t be any complications with the divorce. Chloe thought so.

But then…

“Wife. You must have gone crazy.”

Eric gritted his teeth and said this. His grey eyes flashed with an unsettling rage.

“You wouldn’t say this if you were in the right mind.”

Seeing Eric act like this, Chloe gulped dryly.

She didn’t expect Eric to react this way. Her hand trembled while she was still holding the divorce papers.

“I am of my right mind.”

Contrary to his claims, her voice was clear.

It was the same intelligent, clear voice that he knew, and at this Eric grew more agitated.

“If you really are, then how could you possibly bring up divorce in front of me?”

“Why can’t I?”

Chloe’s chest tightened, but she straightened her posture and lifted her chin.

She couldn’t understand Eric. Why was he angry? Wasn’t this divorce beneficial to him? But why…

Oh, was it perhaps because of the money? Was he mad because he couldn’t get back the money that he had spent on her family once they were divorced?

As expected, it was because of the money. Chloe finally understood why he was reacting in this way.

“I’ll pay back the money that was borrowed. Somehow.”

Whether she would borrow that money from the royal family, or if she must steal it from her mother’s safe, she would somehow pay him back in full.

Today, Chloe had such a bold thought. That she’d go crazy if she didn’t do this.

“If you give me just a little time, I’ll prepare it, so—”

“It’s not the money!”

On the other hand, Eric felt like he was going crazy, too.

He hated it when something as lowly as money matters would come out of Chloe’s noble lips.

“How many times do I have to spell it out for you that I don’t need it! It’s not something that you should stick your nose into!”

“How can I not care?!”

As she shouted back, Chloe was also surprised at herself for doing so. She took in a deep breath, rubbing her chest.

“I continue to live like this because of the money that you say I shouldn’t care about, and I endure it every day, so how could I not care while I’m still alive…”

What Chloe was going to say was that she was always conscious of these money matters, but she was never given the right to do so.

“…Endure, you say.”

But Eric didn’t accept it. No, he couldn’t.

In the first place, this marriage only happened because of money. Because of that money, Chloe had no choice but to be swept away into this marriage.

As such, they faced the other, each standing over their own path, running endlessly and believing that one day they would cross paths.

However, as they ran, they found that their paths were parallel. There was no chance for them to intersect.

That’s why they could only blame the other person. They each did not understand. They didn’t even want to understand.

This may have been their biggest problem.

“Wife.”

Eric took a step closer to Chloe.

“Chloe Aslan.”

And she slowly raised her head, her eyes meeting with Eric’s.

He looked into her eyes like that, his reflection shaking. What he saw was a rat trembling in the rain.

Did he look human? Was he living like a human?

He asked himself, but there was no answer. He didn’t think there would ever be an answer.

“You’ll forever have the name Aslan.”

Eric snatched the documents in Chloe’s hand.

“Divorce, or anything like it.”

And tore the documents in half.

“We can’t do that. Never.”

“F*ck!”

Eric bit hard on his lower lip as he roughly loosened his tie. After opening a bottle, he poured some liquor into a glass.

Chkk. He lit a cigar and sprawled on the sofa.

’Divorce. Let’s get divorced.’

Why?

This question echoed in his head. Why? Why did Chloe bring up divorce with him? Did he do something wrong?

He scoured his memories, but nothing came up. He had behaved as best as he could towards her.

She said she didn’t like staying in the capital, so he let her stay in the north and left her enough servants.

She didn’t seem to like being with him, so he tried to stay as far away as he could from her.

He helped her household sincerely because she seemed to be worried about their finances.

He did everything for her!

But why… Divorce…

It was frustrating. He felt so terribly betrayed.

Chloe’s actions were unfair towards him.

He never thought she would do something like this to him.

Was it that disgusting to be married to a lowborn like him?

Was she tired of him now?

These thoughts constantly rushed in.

All of them were thoughts that made him feel like he was about to lose his mind.

He wanted to go back and ask Chloe. Why does she want to divorce him?

However, it was clear that Chloe wouldn’t answer.

She was someone who was good at hiding her thoughts, and she always kept her composure so as not to reveal her emotions on her face. It was impossible to even guess.

“Huu…”

Eric hunched forward, his face in his hands.

His right foot, the prosthetic one, creaked as though it was asking to be greased.

It hurt. It hurt so much. He didn’t know why it was hurting so much.

Bang!

He pulled out the prosthetic leg and threw it to the wall. And what he saw left in its place was a cut-off ankle.

But despite that, the pain did not go away.

It kept hurting. He didn’t know where it was hurting. The pain did not go away.

It might never go away.

A few days passed just like that.

The house was quiet.

As if no one was inside.

Andrea, who was there to serve Chloe, did not say anything. And Chloe herself wasn’t talkative in the first place, so the room was silent.

The same was true of the hallway. It wasn’t bustling because there were no other servants, so only wind passed by. The only sound that could be heard was the gentle raindrops that drummed over the roof.

Chloe despised this silence. It was suffocating. It felt like she was submerged underneath a dark, vast pool of water, barely inhaling oxygen given by sparse air bubbles.

Fortunately, today was the day of the ball. Andrea was busy preparing Chloe.

Chloe chose the dress she bought with Eric.

It was the pink robe la francaise dress with a redingote gown underneath, accompanied by a beige hat. The hat was embellished with purple ribbons and pink carnations.

Chloe stared at the carnations attached to the hat in her hands. In flower language, it meant passionate love. It didn’t match the current situation at all…

At one time, she thought that she would be able to love passionately. And when it was decided that she was to wed Eric, she was so happy to be reunited with her first love.

If she knew that it would turn out this way, if she knew that it would end in vain like this…

‘If I knew, would anything even have changed?’

Her father would still push her to get married, even if she tried to refuse. It was clear that her words would be ignored.

She would still be married either way. And she would live this life once more. The only difference would be that she’d know how miserable of a life it would be.

It had always been like this. She was never allowed to live her life properly.

She always walked on a path that was dictated by someone else, urged to march forward until her feet would bleed.

Then eventually, even if she couldn’t walk anymore, she wasn’t allowed to sit down to rest because she would be punished.

What could she do?

She couldn’t breathe.

Chloe unknowingly broke a fingernail. She couldn’t continue like this. She couldn’t live like this anymore.

She didn’t know how to live, but she knew that she couldn’t do this anymore.

A few days ago when she brought up the divorce to Eric, she was wondering if she should say that their time as a couple was limited anyway. If she said that she had a terminal illness, would he have signed the papers?

However, it was unlikely that this would happen. She knew that he would only get mad again, and Chloe was frightened of his anger. His anger had always been terrifying. Like her father’s.

So she hid the truth about her illness.

Even if she talked about it anyway…

‘I’m dying.’

Was it necessary to reveal her condition?

It wouldn’t be bad to die alone somewhere else after the divorce, once she had left.

So, without her husband knowing whether she was still alive or not…

Chloe chuckled bitterly.

Then, her eyes turned towards the calendar hanging on the wall.

‘Birthday…’

There wasn’t much time left.

After glancing at the calendar, Chloe averted her gaze and smiled.

It was so foolish of a thought that, after bringing up divorce with him, she still had some hope that her husband would celebrate her birthday with her.

That’s right. It’s always been this way.

She would be alone during her birthday. She would go out alone, walk around alone, eat something delicious alone, buy a gift for herself alone… Then she would come back.

If she could try doing these things alone this year, perhaps it was something that she could be proud about.

Chloe smiled a little as she vowed to do all these. After a very long time, there was a sincere smile in her lips.