Chapter 5

Since deciding to get a divorce, I hadn’t gone home and had been staying at my friend Eliana’s place.

Aaron hadn’t reached out either, as he always thought I was just throwing a tantrum, something I had done before. In the past, he could easily soothe me, but this time was different.

Jenifer stayed at my house for two days, and it wasn’t until after the weekend that they returned to work together.

On the day they went back to the office, a colleague of Aaron’s spoke up.

“A few days ago, there was a surgery that was supposed to be yours. But since we couldn’t get in touch with you, the assistant surgeon had to step in. Unfortunately, their skills weren’t on par with yours, and because of the delays, the surgery failed.”

Upon hearing this news, Aaron felt a jolt of panic.

He immediately pressed for details. “What was the patient’s name?”

“Jeremy Bennett.”

“Wait, if I remember correctly, isn’t he your father-in-law?”

As soon as the colleague’s words fell, Aaron’s face turned ashen.

“And I called you, but you didn’t answer… Wait, where are you going?”

Before his colleague could finish, Aaron had already dashed away.

He hurriedly ran to verify the information and finally learned that my father had passed away during that surgery a few days ago. He had missed it because he was away on a trip.

After receiving this devastating news, Aaron raced to Eliana’s house.

Hearing a knock at the door, Eliana went to answer it.

When she saw it was Aaron, she instinctively tried to shut the door, but he pushed his way inside with a firm shove.

Standing before me, Aaron’s eyes were bloodshot, filled with fury.

“Why didn’t you notify me that your father had an emergency surgery?” he demanded, fury and despair evident in his eyes.

I was taken aback by his sudden appearance and the intensity of his emotions.

Without thinking, I slapped him hard across the face, the sound echoing in the room. “Didn’t I call you? Didn’t your colleagues try to reach you?” I shouted, my voice trembling with suppressed tears. “You didn’t pick up!”

Snapped back to reality by my shout, Aaron began to recall that day.

He had indeed received a call. But thinking it was me being bothersome, he had let Jenifer hang up on me.

I glared at him, my eyes filled with hatred.

“If you had taken my call seriously, Dad wouldn’t have died! If you hadn’t been annoyed and turned off your phone, we could have reached you!”

My voice rose, my hands trembling with anger.

“The assistant surgeon fought hard for time, and if you had just answered my call, you would have had more than enough time to fly back from Paris. But you never gave Dad that chance…”

As I mentioned my father, the sturdy wall I had built around my heart crumbled.

Tears streamed down my face like pearls falling from a broken necklace, overwhelming me with grief.

Upon hearing this, Aaron stood frozen in place.

I could no longer contain my anger and struck his face again.

It seemed as if all his strength had drained away, and he collapsed to the ground.

Looking at his defeated form, I felt no sympathy, only hatred remained in my heart.

My friend Eliana rushed over to support me, her disdain directed at Aaron.

“You worthless man! If you hadn’t been so dismissive of Cyndi, we wouldn’t have missed the chance to save Mr. Bennett!”

“Do you know how hard these past few days have been for Cyndi? She’s managing Mr. Bennett’s funeral all on her own, bearing the burden alone, while you’re out there gallivanting and leaving everything to your wife!”

Aaron’s face had turned pale and weak.

His eyes, I noticed, were suddenly filled with tears.

I didn’t know what his tears meant.

Was he regretting that his negligence cost my father his life, or had he finally realized how indifferent he had been toward me?

No matter what it was, I had no desire to investigate further.

“Aaron, let’s get a divorce.”