Hannah closed her eyes in despair, all the fight draining out of her. She let the tears fall, soaking the fabric of both their shirts.


    He knows it was in the past, she thought bitterly. The man he was back then is gone. Everything has changed. What''s the point of bringing up the past?


    "Alright, stop fighting me," he murmured, his tone softening slightly. "If you show up at the hospital with red, swollen eyes, Grandma will only worry more."


    Sensing she had calmed down, Lionel finally loosened his grip.


    "I was never just ''fighting you,'' Lionel," she said, her voice trembling. "For years, you and Sandra have been inseparable. How many times have you fought with me over her? You''ve abandoned me on my birthday, on our anniversary, all to run to her side. Did you ever once stop and think that we would end up here?"


    Lionel''s expression darkened. "There were always reasons. Something happened to her; I couldn''t just ignore it."


    "Reasons,"" she repeated, her eyes red as she looked at him through a blur of tears, a bitterugh escaping her lips. "Something always just happens to her whenever we have ns. Once or twice, I could understand. But it was every single time, Lionel. Every time!"


    "You might be a fool, but I''m not! Sandra does it on purpose! She''s deliberately trying to tear us apart!"


    Over and over again, he had left her behind. Her initial outrage had slowly faded into calm eptance, and finally, into numb indifference. This year, she hadpletely forgotten their anniversary, and naturally, so had he.


    Hannah took a deep breath and wiped her tears away, her bloodshot eyes fixed on him. "Since she wants you so badly, I''ll grant her wish. Let''s get a divorce. You can go marry her, be her savior! You don''t love me anymore, so what''s the point of dragging this out?"


    Her voice rose, cracking with hysteria. "Is it because you hate me for drugging you and forcing you to marry me? Is that why you won''t let me go? Are you punishing me, torturing me? Do I have to die before you''ll finally sign the papers?"


    By the end, she was screaming, her emotionspletely unraveling as she sobbed uncontrobly. She didn''t want any of it anymore-not the man, not the pretense of a home. All she wanted was a divorce. Why was it so hard?


    Her breathing grew ragged and she gasped for air, her body going limp as she slid to the floor.


    Noticing her distress, Lionel moved to help her up, but she pped his hand away before he could touch her.


    "Don''t touch me," she hissed. "Divorce me, Lionel. If you don''t, I swear I''ll kill myself."


    To continue living like this, entangled in misery, felt worse than death. At least death would be a final release.


    Lionel''s hands clenched into fists. "Divorce, divorce! It''s the only word you know how to say anymore, isn''t it?"


    After a moment, Hannah steadied herself, using the sofa to pull her trembling body to its feet. "What else is there to talk about? Should we discuss you and Sandra stargazing, For the photo of you two holding hands that went viral?”


    A sharp, stabbing pain shot through her chest. Leaning against the wall for


    support, she slowly, painstakingly, made her way back upstairs.


    Lionel stood alone in the living room, watching her small, fragile figure disappear.


    A knot of unease tightened in his chest.


    Back in her room, Hannah stared at the empty picture frames and the bare wall where their wedding. portrait used to hang Augh that felt like a knife twisting in he heart escaped her lips.


    bet


    Lionel had been in and out of this room for days, yet he hadn''t noticed a thing And still he had the audacity to feed her those pretty lies content >


    Hah... when a man stops loving you, he can''t even be bothered to pretend anymore. His lies be so thin you can see right through them.


    The next morning, Hannah came downstairs with a small bag and found Lionel sitting at the dining table, waiting for her.