“Yes. So please don’t tell Mom and Dad about
today. I don’t want them to misunderstand
Emily. If you keep quiet, I’ll do anything.”
He’d bought these to appease me for Emily’s
sake. I saw the tag: “Parrot Toys.”
My heart sank. These were from their
shopping trip for Coco.
“Anything?” I feigned cheer, wiping my tears.
He nodded. I showed him the divorce papers,
hiding the content, revealing only the
signature line.
“Sign this promise.”
He frowned. “What promise?”
“A promise you’ll never leave me.”
I’d done this before. He signed without
hesitation.
I put the papers away, feeling lighter. Mark.
had been my savior. Now. I’d free him.
Г
We’d met young. My family was okay, but
after my parents‘ divorce, I lived with my dad
and his new wife, feeling like an outsider.
In school, everyone had matching class
jackets. Mine was a knock–off. Kids laughed.
Mark ripped his jacket, stood beside me, and
retrieved my dignity.
“Is a knock–off funny? Not everyone cares
about this stuff. Her jacket is just like mine.”
Later, my stepmom got pregnant. My dad,
wanting to get rid of me, locked me in the
house when a fire started. Mark saved me.
My dad went to jail, my stepmom vanished.
Mark paid my tuition, keeping me in school.
He was always there in my darkest hours,
making me believe I was special.
Now, I knew better.
“Mom and Dad want us for dinner. If you’re
okay, let’s go.”
At their door, Mark’s phone rang. It was
Emily.
“Emily’s scared to cook after today. I’ll make
her something.”
After dinner with his parents, as I was leaving,
Mark’s mom frowned at her phone.
“He’s with Emily again!”
She showed me a picture Emily posted: Mark
く
cooking dinner.
“Sarah, you said he was at work. You knew,
didn’t you? That girl’s married, and she’s still clinging to Mark! What has she done to him?”
His parents had learned about Emily’s
marriage and disapproved. They feared
Mark’s reaction if he found out.
I knew, and it’s why I hadn’t divorced him. I
thought I was protecting him. He resented me
for eight years because of it.
Not this time.
“Sarah, we’re so sorry. We thought once you
were married, Mark would forget Emily. After
all, he used to…”
I smiled.
“Mark helped me out of pity. I misread him.
We’re both unhappy. It’s best to end it.”
“End it?” They stared.
“We signed divorce papers. I’m leaving soon.
Please don’t tell him. I don’t want him making
another regrettable decision.”
Mark’s cold eyes in the time machine haunted
- me. We’d been together for over a decade. I’d
never felt so distant from him.
I went home. Later, my door was kicked open.
Mark’s furious face loomed.
“Sarah, you promised not to tell! You want
Emily dead!”
<
“Because of you, Mom and Dad went to her
place! They argued, and Coco flew away!”
Coco was lost? I clenched my fists. Had I
changed nothing?
“Sarah, Coco’s like Emily’s child. Now you’re
pregnant, you should understand how it feels
to lose a child!”
“If Coco doesn’t come back, we should
terminate your pregnancy. I don’t want Emily
to be upset seeing it.”
His words chilled me. I knew the pain of loss.
He didn’t.
“I’ll find Coco.”
He sneered.
Г
“You should. It’s your fault. Stop pretending
to care. You’re not a good person.”
As I searched near Emily’s building, lights
shone upstairs. Two figures embraced on the
balcony.
The cold gnawed at my post–surgery
weakness. My head spun, but I kept
searching. Finding Coco meant I’d owe Mark
nothing.
At dawn, I found Coco shivering in the
bushes, tied to a shrub.
Carrying him upstairs, I saw Mark wiping
Emily’s mouth. He froze, then took Coco.
“Emily, it’s Coco!”
L
Emily took the bird, then cried as Mark looked
at me.
“Mark, Coco’s not well. He was out all night.
He’ll die! Let’s take him to the vet.”
Mark hesitated, seeing my pallor.
I leaned against the doorframe. “Go. I’ll get
home.”
