His Love Letters Were Lies

Daniel Hampton and I were married for ten years. For half of that time, we lived apart. When my mother fell ill, I took our son back home to care for her, while Daniel remained in Miston for work. He would fly back every week, and eventually, he collected hundreds of round trip tickets, and every single ticket had a romantic message on it. So before the holidays, I bought two tickets and decided to surprise him. Our son came with me. Then, I saw him engaged in a waltz with another woman under a street lamp. The woman tripped on his foot. They fell into the snow. And instead of pulling away, they kissed. I was going to cover my son's eyes, but he broke free, opened the car door, and charged right at them. "Daddy! Mommy Jessica! I want to have a snowball fight too!" Daniel caught our son in his arms. Then, he looked up. The moment his eyes met mine, all the colour drained from his face. Chapter 1 Betrayed The hospital called. "Ms. Zimmer, your mother unplugged the ventilator. We tried our best, but it was too late." I turned to the chauffeur. "To the airport." I could not even remember how I boarded the plane or how I got to the hospital. My mind was on autopilot. When I signed my mother's notice of death, my heart bled profusely. My mother thought her illness was dragging me down, so she chose to end her life for the sake of our little family of three. No. Soon, it would have been four. The family, however, was already on shaky ground. Daniel called me countless times. I came back home and there he was, holding his phone. "Yvonne." The disheartened look on my face must have hurt him, and he pulled me into his embrace. "I'm sorry, honey. No matter what happens, do not for a second doubt my love for you." With difficulty, I spoke. "Let's get a divorce, Daniel." He pretended not to have heard that. His arms tightened around me, and he rested his cheek against my neck. "You're so cold. Take a hot shower. Don't fall sick now. We'll pick Edward up tomorrow." He tried to sound at ease, as if he was talking about something interesting. "When we got to the airport, I realized you've taken his passport and papers. He couldn't board, so I left him there." My son was the one who proposed this Brundela trip. He wanted to surprise Daniel and told me to not leak it to him. He was very excited on the way, and he kept talking to a friend, but he refused to let me see who it was. Now I knew. The person he had been talking to was his other mother. Then, Daniel's phone rang. It was from our son, and he sounded urgent. "When are you coming back, Dad? Mommy Jessica's down with a fever, but she told me not to tell you!" Daniel comforted him and hung up. He looked conflicted. "Yvonne, I can…" I shoved him away and rushed into the bathroom to hurl. The moment his hand touched my shoulder, I recoiled. "Don't touch me!" He was shocked, and then he sighed. "Alright, I won't touch you. I know you're upset, and I don't feel great about this either. I never wanted you to get hurt." I sneered. He had hurt me the moment he betrayed me. Not the moment I found out. My eyes burned red. "Get out! Your son and his other mother are waiting for you in Brundela." Daniel's face fell, then someone rang the doorbell. It was Selina Lawson, my best friend. She was breathing heavily. "Yvonne, your mother died! How are you…" She saw Daniel, noticed the tension in the air, and shut up. Daniel frowned. Worried, he asked, "What's wrong with Veronica?" My heart sank, and I held back the sorrow. "Nothing. She had a lung infection, but it's fine now." He heaved a sigh of relief and softened up. "Why didn't you tell me?" He looked at his phone and then at me, conflicted. "I'll pick Edward up. You calm down. Veronica's bill is coming again. I'll pay for it. Don't worry about it." He was the one paying for my mother's exorbitant bills every month. Now, he was using that to threaten me to calm down. "No thanks," I said hoarsely. Resigned, he said, "Don't throw a tantrum." He then asked Selina to take care of me and left. My legs gave way. I crouched on the floor, tears splashing against the wood. I wanted to scream, yet not a sound could come. Selina immediately knelt beside me and wrapped her arms around my trembling body. That was when I finally broke. I cried until I could barely breathe. Until my stomach twisted and I started vomiting again. When I finally collected myself, it was already the dead of the night. Chapter 2 Their Past Edward sent me something. It had a watermark across the corner and had been recorded on my birthday. In the video, Edward was filming a woman in a wedding dress. Daniel stood in front of her, carefully helping her adjust the veil. "You're gorgeous, Mommy Jessica! Ten times better than my mom's wedding photo!" Daniel smiled. "I think so too." The woman gave them a look of feigned anger. "Nonsense." The last scene showed the bag on the couch. Last semester, Edward went to kindergarten in Brundela, staying with his father. The two of them came back unannounced to celebrate an early birthday with me. Edward bashfully and guiltily told me his best friend asked him to go on a camping trip. He said yes and remembered that it was on my birthday. I smiled and told him it was fine. I even packed up the handmade giraffe plushie I was so proud of and told him to give it to his friend. The plushie was hanging on that woman's bag. He and his father had been lying to me since the beginning. I tried to give him a complete family, but I was only lying to myself. The phone's wallpaper was a photo of a family of three chatting happily. Tears welled in my eyes, and I laughed at myself. Fate had already veered off course from the moment it made its first decision. Even if I tried my best to fix things, it would only come apart in the end. I met Daniel when I was twenty-two. I applied for a postgrad exchange program and came to Brundela alone. I was down with a severe cold, and my whole body felt heavy. Someone snatched my backpack, and I lost my new laptop I had just bought a week ago. That laptop had a paper I had to hand in later that night. Earlier in the day, I found out my mother had broken her bone in a traffic accident, and she had been hiding that for two weeks. I could do nothing but worry. The pressure broke me. As I walked down the street, my tears would not stop coming. Then, someone called my name in Chanaean. "Yvonne Zimmer?" The guy handed me a bag of tissues. "You are Yvonne, right? My aunt's a lecturer at Ashdale U. I saw you at their Top Ten Singers event. You were the runner up, and you nearly tripped over your dress when you were going to take the award." I was stunned. "What are the odds?" He treated me to a hot meal and lent me his laptop, then he helped me finish up my paper. When the upload finally went through, I let out a breath I had not realised I was holding. A smile slowly appeared on my face. Daniel smiled too. "Not the worst day, I think?" The moment our eyes met, my heart began to race. Two months later, he confessed to me. I went back to Chanaea after the exchange program was over. He stayed back for his studies, and our long-distance relationship went on for a year. Distance and time did not hamper our love. Whenever he had time, he would come back for me. I did not want him to tire himself out. He would smile and shake his head. "It's worse when I can't see the person I miss." After I graduated, he came back for the photoshoot with me and proposed as well. "This might be quite the rush, but you're the one I want to live my life with. I want us to be bound for life." A week later, we got our marriage certificate. I had gotten a job at a multinational organization. We had the loveliest three years in Brundela. Every day, we woke up to a day where we loved each other more than before. Then, Edward came, and happiness climbed to its peak. I had serious morning sickness, however, and I could not eat anything. I hardly saw the sun, and my mood sank with it. One cloudy morning, I burst into tears. "I want to go home. I miss my mom." He booked a flight back home. I stayed in Chanaea during my pregnancy. Though my morning sickness was still torture, at least my mother was there for me. I was in a better mood, and my condition lightened up considerably. Half a month before my expected labor date, my water broke. When Daniel rushed home, Edward was already born. He felt guilty, but also moved, and he kissed me. Then, I saw the hickeys under his collarbone. He tried his best to explain and said it was just a prank that went too far during a wine-and-dine. That woman sent me a photo where they were nude and close together. Daniel was furious, and he confessed his 'mistake'. "I'm sorry. I promise it's just this once. Never again! Hit me. Yell at me! You can do anything, but please don't cry. You're breaking my heart." I cried my heart out during my recovery period, and I lost more than twenty pounds. Anyone who did not know the truth might have thought I was seriously ill. Then, before I had even fully recovered from that betrayal, my mother was diagnosed with ALS. Chapter 3 He Brought Her Home Daniel comforted me, "It's OK. I'm here. We'll take her to Brundela. They'll treat her." I clawed at him, beat him, and screamed my heart out. "Why did you do this to me?" That meltdown was another way of saying I was backing down. His eyes turned red, and he pulled me into his arms as though he had just recovered something precious he thought he had lost forever. With a trembling voice, he said, "I'm sorry. This won't happen again. I love you. I can't lose you." My mother stayed in Brundela with us for a year, but she could not get used to the place, and she always seemed down and depressed. And so, I decided to take her and Edward back to Chanaea. Daniel installed a GPS on his phone to assuage my fears. I could check his location in real time. I thought it was unnecessary. "I trust you." He shook his head. "You don't trust me. You just don't care. It's not all because of Veronica you're going home. You want to stay far away from me, don't you? You won't even let me touch you since that day." I avoided that conversation and promised I would check. He put on a dejected smile. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pushed you." After we returned to Chanaea, Daniel flew back every week to see us. For nearly a year, we maintained that fragile peace. Then one of his flights nearly crashed, and it was forced into an emergency landing. When I saw him safe and sound, my heart that had been racing for the last ten hours finally felt at ease. I went and hugged him, and he froze. "Don't leave me, Daniel." He hugged me tightly and sobbed. "I'll never leave you." We reconciled. He took a long leave of absence and stayed with us for a month. During that time, he was clingier than Edward was. Shamelessly, he said, "I know you earlier than Edward did. You're my wife first, his mother second." Then he would turn to Edward. "Who loves Mommy the most in this family?" Edward answered, "You do, Daddy!" My mother noticed me letting go of the burden, and she cheered up a lot. She shed tears of joy. Everything felt like it had gotten back on the right track. The wound in my heart was still there, but it had become a tender scar. As long as no one touched it, it did not hurt. Then, Daniel cheated again. Once again, he tore that wound open. The man who once nearly cried when he saw me in a wedding gown was helping another woman wear a veil. I could not sleep that night, and my eyes were hurting a little from getting too dry. On my way to the funeral parlor, Daniel sent me a text that said he had landed. I thought this was laughable. He had to text two women every time this happened. It was Christmas Eve three days later. Daniel and Edward came home. Daniel was in the lead, and he opened up the box that had flight tickets inside, but it was empty. His hand froze, but then he placed his latest ticket inside. "I'll come home, honey. We'll be a proper family. We'll never be separated." Edward whooped and cheered and came running in to make an announcement. "Mommy Jessica's back too, Mom! She can't celebrate Christmas in Brundela alone! Dad said we're a family. We'll celebrate it together!" Behind him was that woman, Jessica Jameson. She was in a beige cashmere coat, and she was beautiful. That woman stepped forth and placed a paper bag on the entryway's cabinet. "I'm sorry for this sudden visit, Yvonne. Daniel told me you've gone through a lot." Then her gaze settled on my pale, exhausted face. Concern appeared in her eyes. "I brought some calming oil. I hope it'll help with your sleep." Edward held her hand tightly as if she was some rare treasure. My blood ran cold, and my stomach churned. "You brought her back to our home, Daniel?" But I laughed before he could answer. Then, I picked up the papers I had already prepared and held them out to him. "Let's get divorced." Chapter 4 Apparent Death "Calm down. Listen to me, Yvonne." Daniel tried to hold me, but I flung his hand away. "Jessica's parents are gone. She'd be spending Christmas at the hotel alone, and Edward didn't want that." He frowned and asked Edward to go back to his room. Edward did not move. "I'm fine with the divorce. I'm staying with Dad." He noticed Jessica fidgeting, so he quickly hugged her leg and glared at me. "Don't go, Mommy Jessica! Mom, you can't yell at her!" "Edward Hampton!" Daniel snapped his name sharply. Edward flinched. Then, he shot me a dark look before Daniel took him into the bedroom. My heart had already been hurting for so long that the pain was beginning to turn numb. Ever since Edward returned from Brundela in autumn, something about him had been different. He often seemed distracted. Whenever I asked what was wrong, he refused to tell me. Daniel comforted me and talked to Edward, then the boy apologized. He looked like he had gone back to normal, but I could feel that he was keeping his distance from me. I tried to figure out the reason, but him having a new mother was not even on the list. The air itself turned tense. Daniel said solemnly, "I won't get that divorce. You're the most important person in my life, and I love you the most." "I don't love you anymore, Daniel." He scoffed. "Don't say anything you'll regret. You said the same thing last time, but you still couldn't leave me." That stabbed my already battered and sliced up heart. I inhaled sharply and clutched my throbbing belly, and I shivered uncontrollably. He looked heartbroken for me, and he grabbed my arms. "That wasn't what I meant. I've barely slept these last few days, so I wasn't thinking before I spoke. What I meant was I couldn't live without you. No one can replace you." I sneered. Even at this point, he did not promise he would cut off all ties with that woman. He brought her home instead. He was serious about her, and he could not let her go. I should bless them. I picked up the papers again. Frustrated, he grabbed my wrists. "Do you want this signed, or do you want your mother to live?" That was another bloody stab at my heart. I clenched my teeth. "I want that divorce." He breathed heavily, and the veins in his forehead throbbed. "Then, you'll have to pay me back the money I spent on treating your mother. I know you're sad. Veronica just died, and you're not thinking right. Take your time. We'll talk after the holidays." He turned and summoned Edward. Then, they left, leaving me broken. Daniel ordered a delivery for me on Christmas Eve. He and my mother loved it, but I was allergic to it. Their little family of four were having dinner at the top floor of a hotel. Jessica held an ultrasound image over her stomach. Daniel and Edward kissed her cheeks. They beamed, their eyes filled with happiness. Edward then sent me a photo of Daniel sleeping on that woman's lap. His face had doodles of black circles and cat whiskers all over it. He 'kindly' texted me, "Mommy Jessica has a baby girl in her belly. Dad said we'll be together forever. Merry Christmas!" The world turned silent all of a sudden. My mind was buzzing with the sight of their happiness. Then, I made a call. "Pick me up." I stepped over the divorce papers. Daniel refused to end our marriage. Fine. Once I died, the marriage would dissolve itself. … Daniel was asleep for more than ten hours, and he woke up with a start. Then the phone on his nightstand buzzed. It was happening just like the dream told him it would, and his heart began to thump. He saw the name on the screen—Honey. His heart sank. A man's voice spoke. "Are you Yvonne Zimmer's family? Someone found her phone at the beach. They saw her drowning herself in the sea.