Chapter 4

Clara's POV

I didn't go straight home.

I found a 24-hour diner down the street, ordered two cold beers, and sat alone in a booth, drinking.

My left ear still throbbed with a dull, biting pain. I downed bottle after bottle until the glasses on the table blurred into double vision, only then bracing myself against the booth to stand up.

I nearly lost my balance paying the tab. The owner asked if I needed a cab called, but I waved him off, stumbling into the night toward the house.

It was well past midnight when I got back. The moment the front door pushed open, the living room was ablaze with light.

Jeremy and Evelyn were both sitting on the sofa, looking like they had been waiting for hours.

Jeremy shot up first, planting himself right at the base of the stairs to block my way up. "Where the hell have you been? Coming back this late? Who were you with?!"

His voice boomed so loud it sent a violent ring through my left ear.

Evelyn didn't move an inch. Clutched in her hands was a ceramic teacup. She dropped a single, flat question: "Are you genuinely trying to get a divorce, or are you just throwing another temper tantrum?"

I looked past Jeremy straight at Evelyn, letting out a faint smirk. "It's real. I'm divorcing him."

Evelyn's face instantly hardened. "Fine. As long as you've thought it through."

She set her cup down, turned, and walked into her bedroom, slamming the door shut behind her with a heavy thud.

One side of my face was swollen, and the blood on my shirt collar had dried into a crusty, dark brown ring. From the moment I stepped through that door, neither of them had spared a single glance at my face.

Before turning the doorknob, I had still harbored a pathetic sliver of hope, thinking someone might just ask me what happened.

Now, it was just the two of us left in the living room.

Jeremy glared at me for several long seconds before letting out a cold, venomous sneer. "No wonder you're so desperate for a divorce. You found yourself a side piece, didn't you?"

I turned my face away, refusing to waste breath arguing with him.

The quieter I stayed, the more furious he became.

He reached out, grabbed my left ear in a brutal grip, and yanked my face violently toward him, forcing my eyes to meet his. "Speak! Who is he?!"

His fingers clamped down directly over the fresh stitches. A blinding wave of agony tore through my entire body, and tears instantly flooded my eyes.

That ear had five fresh stitches put in only a few hours ago, hidden beneath my hair where he couldn't see.

Seeing that I refused to speak, he tightened his grip even harder. "Talk to me! Are you mute?! I asked you who he is!"

The sound of the sutures ripping apart was faint, but I heard every single thread snap.

Warm blood cascaded down my neck, soaking straight into my collar.

I bit down hard on my lip, refusing to let out a single whimper, glaring straight into his eyes.

I wanted to scream from the excruciating pain, but I refused to give him the satisfaction of hearing it.

All he cared about tonight was dragging out the name of another man. As for how my ear got torn open in the first place, he hadn't asked a single question.

Suddenly, Jeremy let go. He looked down at his own hand, completely coated in fresh red blood.

The collar of my cream-colored knit sweater was rapidly turning a deep, wet crimson.

Panic flashed across his face. He reached out, his hand trembling as he tried to touch my ear. "You... why didn't you say something earlier..."

I shoved him back with every ounce of strength I had left, my fingernails raking across his face, carving several deep, bloody gouges down his cheek.

Caught off guard, Jeremy stumbled backward, his lower back slamming into the sofa armrest.

"Don't touch me."

I clamped a hand over my ear, blood seeping through my fingers, splashing drop by drop onto the hardwood floor.

Bracing myself against the wall, I dragged myself up the stairs step by agonizing step, with only one thought left in my mind: I wouldn't spend another night under this roof.

In the middle of the night, a violent fever took over.

I drifted in and out of consciousness, burning up, my left ear pulsing with unbearable agony.

I tried to sit up to pour a glass of water. The moment I pushed myself off the mattress, the room spun black, and I collapsed onto the floor.