Too Late, Mr. Sinclair: Your Wife Is Gone

Violet was the first to step in front of Sebastian, her face wary. "Julia, we were wrong to hold the wedding behind your back, but you can't just go around hitting people!" My eyes followed her movement and caught on the heirloom emerald bracelet around her wrist. Violet pulled her arm back on instinct. Sebastian immediately shielded her behind him. "Julia Lawson, I've already explained everything I needed to explain." I didn't answer. Lowering my gaze, I happened to see the silver ring on Ivy's hand. Sebastian followed my line of sight, a trace of guilt on his face. "These are all pieces you've already worn. Don't be so petty." The corner of my mouth curled, and a bitter, self-mocking laugh slipped out. Then I walked over to Sienna and reached for the hem of her dress. Sebastian caught my wrist, his eyes ice-cold. "What exactly are you trying to do?" The bitterness in my throat spread down into my chest, so bitter that even breathing felt hard. The emerald bracelet on Violet's wrist was what my grandmother had left me for my wedding before she died. Five years ago, Sebastian's startup failed. I sold the bracelet. Thirty thousand dollars. It became the seed money that got his company back on its feet. Afterward, Sebastian held me and said: "Julia, once I make money, I'll buy it back for you. I promise." I went looking for it many times. The jeweler said it had been sold long ago. I thought I'd never find it again. Now it was on Violet's wrist. The silver ring on Ivy's hand. It was one of the matching rings I'd dragged him to make at a jewelry workshop for our first anniversary as a couple. Later, during a fight, I threw my ring at him out of spite. I thought he would remember everything we'd shared over the years. That he would keep the ring safe. I never imagined he would turn around and give it to Ivy. And the reception dress Sienna was wearing. I had spent three months embroidering it myself. To make it perfect, I pricked my fingers more times than I could count. Back then, Sebastian had pulled me into his arms, his heart aching for me. He said he would make me the most beautiful bride in the world. Now that reception dress. Was on Sienna's body. He remembered that Ivy had just come back to the country and needed company. He remembered that Violet loved emeralds. He remembered that Sienna couldn't hold her liquor. He remembered what every one of those girls liked. The only thing he forgot was how I felt. It was as though someone had squeezed my heart in a fist and then let go, leaving nothing but a hollow chill. I wrenched my hand free of his. "Don't worry, I won't hurt them. Go on with the wedding." I went back to the reception hall. I found the wedding coordinator. "Tonight's ceremony. Please cancel it for me." The coordinator froze for a moment but asked nothing more. "Of course, Miss Lawson."

When I walked out of the hotel, Sebastian's car was parked at the curb. Sienna sat in the passenger seat, smiling and saying something to him. When she saw me, her smile faded a little. "Julia, you take the front seat. I'll walk home." Violet's voice came from the back seat. "Julia, why don't you sit back here with me?" Ivy nodded along. "We can squeeze in." Sienna fumbled with her seatbelt, but she couldn't get it undone. "Don't move." Sebastian buckled her back in, then turned to look at me. "Get a cab home." "Sienna's used to the front seat, and Vi and Ivy are used to riding with me." I clenched my fists but said nothing. A second later, Sebastian hit the gas and drove off, leaving me in a cloud of exhaust. I took a cab back to the marital home and pulled open the drawer in the master bedroom. Inside lay an overseas assignment contract from a multinational company. The signature line was still blank. This time I didn't hesitate. I signed my name. Just then, my mother called from back home in the countryside. "Julia, are the wedding plans going smoothly?" I looked at the wedding decorations on the wall that no one had taken down yet and fought back the sting in my nose. "Everything with the wedding is fine, Mom. Don't worry about me." I hung up. At some point, Sebastian had come to stand in the study doorway. The certainty in his eyes that I would never leave him had grown even stronger. "Sienna's celebrating her birthday here tomorrow, so she's staying with us tonight." I shook my head without thinking. "This is our marital home." Sebastian's voice was soft, but it left no room for refusal. "She's not a stranger. The guest room is just sitting empty anyway." Then the housekeeper knocked on the door, her tone respectful. "Sir, Miss Scott's herbal tonic is ready." The blood drained from my whole body. Two years ago, my mother's migraines kept her up all night, and her medicine called for a wild herbal tonic root. I took out all my savings and asked Sebastian to check with his business friends for me. It was the first time I had ever begged him for anything. All I got was one offhand line: "That's someone's family heirloom. I can't throw away my reputation begging for some useless thing on your behalf." My mother's illness has dragged on ever since. For me, Sebastian was powerless. But one mention from Sienna that she wasn't sleeping well, and he could trade on his reputation for an herbal tonic that cost a fortune. Sebastian unzipped a suitcase and hung Sienna's clothes in the closet. Through the gap in the door, I saw him open the cabinet and take out a pillow. My chest felt like someone had struck it hard with something blunt. I drew in a sharp, bitter breath. The pillowcase on that pillow was one my mother had sewn for me by hand, staying up late into the night. But now Sebastian had casually given it to Sienna to use. When she met my eyes, Sienna lowered her head and put on an innocent look. "Sebastian gave me the pillow. He said I haven't been sleeping well lately." "Julia, if you mind, I'll give it back to you right now." I laughed. "Good. Give me back my reception dress while you're at it." Sienna bit her lip and bent down to pick up the pillow from the bed. Her hand had barely touched it. Then she let out a soft cry. "Sebastian, there are needles in the pillow..." Sebastian's body moved faster than his reason, and he rushed straight over. He was in such a hurry that his shoulder slammed hard into me. My lower back hit the doorframe, and the pain made me gasp. But a few steps away, Sebastian was cradling the woman's palm, his face full of tenderness. "Where did it stick you?" He went into the master bedroom, dug out rubbing alcohol and iodine, and dabbed them on her fingertip, where no wound was even visible. Only after making sure Sienna was all right did he look up at me with deep suspicion and disgust. "Julia, did you do this on purpose?" With that, he tore the pillow open down the middle, and cotton scattered across the floor. A few needles fell out, tangled in the stuffing. "Apologize." He grabbed my wrist, his grip hard. "You hurt her like this. Is an apology too much to ask?" I looked at the hand gripping my wrist. This hand used to ruffle my hair and gently pat my back when I had nightmares. Now, this hand was forcing me to bow my head to his new lover. After a long silence, under his warning glare, I spoke, my voice hoarse: "Miss Scott, I'm sorry." Then I fled, humiliated. Back in the master bedroom, I took out my phone. When the flight page popped up, my hands were steady. A flight the day after tomorrow. One way.

Early the next morning, the living room had been decorated for a birthday party. I had just stepped out of the master bedroom. "Julia, try the cake the three of us made ourselves!" Sienna came toward me holding a plate. "I'm not eating that." "Oh, Julia, don't be so polite with us!" She took a step forward, and the cake suddenly tipped. Sickly-sweet frosting mixed with peanut butter smeared all over my face. Allergic to peanuts, I instinctively wiped at my face. Sienna let out a scream. Her whole body tipped backward, and she toppled down the stairs. "Julia, why did you push me?" I froze where I stood, my nose so clogged with peanut butter I couldn't breathe. "Julia!" "Why did you push Sienna?!" Violet shoved me aside, rushed down the stairs, and crouched to help Sienna up. Sebastian swept Sienna into his arms and asked urgently, "Are you hurt? It's my fault for not protecting you." The scene was all too familiar. Years ago, after my first accidental miscarriage, he had held me just like that, covered in blood, his voice breaking with every word: "Are you hurt? It's all my fault for not protecting you!" The same words, the same man. Only now, the person Sebastian loved was no longer me. Sebastian looked at the cake on the floor, and his face darkened. "I can't just stand by and watch you keep doing such vicious things!" Again. Once again, he hadn't listened to my explanation before deciding I had set them up on purpose. My eyes stung red. "It wasn't me..." A flicker of hesitation crossed Sebastian's eyes. The next second, Sienna looked at the smashed cake, tears welling in her eyes. "It's not Julia's fault. I didn't hold the cake steady. What a waste..." Something vicious flashed in Ivy's eyes. "Sienna got up early to make that cake with her own hands. We can't let it go to waste!" "Why don't we have Julia eat what's on the floor?" My voice shook. "Are you all insane?!" I instinctively looked at Sebastian and said quickly, "Sebastian, I'm allergic to peanuts!" Sebastian strode over and grabbed my chin. "Julia, it's just a little peanut butter. You're not that fragile." He picked up the dusty peanut cake from the floor and forced it into my mouth. "Today is Sienna's birthday. She made this cake especially as a surprise for us." "You can't throw her kindness back in her face." Cake mixed with peanut butter was shoved down my throat. I struggled with everything I had, but I couldn't break his grip. A crushing sense of suffocation rose up, and my throat began to swell. Breathing grew hard, and red hives broke out all over my body. "You bastard, let go of me!" With every ounce of strength I had, I crawled to the drawer and pulled it open. It was full of Sienna's makeup. "Where's... my allergy medicine?" Sebastian was about to step forward. Violet and Ivy covered their mouths and laughed: "Aren't you being a little dramatic?" "That's not how you fake a peanut allergy. I was allergic to mangoes as a kid and nothing ever happened to me." I was in so much pain my voice had changed, my hand pressed to my chest. "Sebastian, I can't breathe." The pity in Sebastian's eyes gave way to anger. Then he looked down at me in my wretched state and said with disgust: "Why is it that you can't breathe right now, of all times? How did I never notice before how much you love to put on a show?" The anger and suspicion in his eyes jolted me. Back when I had accidentally eaten a peanut cake Sebastian gave me and almost died from the allergy, he had been so panicked he cried, his eyes full of heartache. "Why are you suffering like this? Julia, what do I do?" But now, he probably wished he could watch me suffocate to death with his own eyes. I collapsed on the floor, my throat burning as if it were on fire. Just then, Violet and Ivy cried out. "Sebastian, Sienna's bleeding!" Sebastian frantically swept her up into his arms and left without even stopping to close the door. I watched their backs as they went. The last trace of warmth in my heart turned to hatred. The terrified housekeeper rummaged through my bag before she finally found my backup allergy medicine. That night, holding on with the last of my strength, I sold the marital home at the lowest price. Then I dragged my suitcase onto the plane without looking back.