Jayson rushed back home and found Sidney packing her bags. Half of the closet was already emptied.
He stood by the door, his body tense, watching Sidney stuff her things into the suitcase.
"What are you doing?"
"Don't you have eyes to see?"
"Where are you planning to go?"
"It's none of your business!" Sidney dragged the packed suitcase shut.
Jayson rushed over, grabbing the handle of her suitcase with a firm grip. In a moment of frustration, he yanked it from her hands, his anger bubbling over. Without a second thought, he hurled the suitcase out the door, the thud of it hitting the floor echoing through the room. The air between them crackled with tension, thick with the weight of unsaid words, as if a single spark could ignite everything.
"Say it clearly, why do you want a divorce? Why are you moving out?"
Sidney looked up at him, her eyes burning with frustration. "Because I can't stand living here anymore!" she snapped. "I just want to live like a normal person!"
"Anything you want, I can do it!" he yelled.
"You can't! You can't even grant my wish to be an ordinary person!" Sidney shouted back.
"What do you mean by 'normal person'?" Jayson took a deep breath, gritting his teeth as he asked patiently.
"I want to go out when I want, wear whatever I want, look as messy as I want without trying to impress anyone. I want to walk down the street without anyone staring at me, have a normal relationship, live in a small house, have a kid, chase after them all day, change diapers, figure out if I've gone over budget on groceries this month!"
Sidney blurted it all out in one breath, still panting as she finished.
"What's so difficult about that?" he asked, confused.
"It's not difficult, but as your wife, I have to have six bodyguards following me around. I can't dress too cheaply, I can't make a fool of myself, and I'm always at risk of being kidnapped or silenced! You're always fooling around at the club, with a bunch of women sticking to you like flies, rubbing all over you. I hate the smell of your cigarettes! Your alcohol! Your perfume!" Sidney yelled uncontrollably.
"Are you sure? Jobs here aren't as easy to find as in A City." "...Have you thought this through? After you leave here, where will you go?" he frowned, his eyes full of sadness, though he tried hard to hide it from her.
"I'll figure it out on my own!" She refused to look at him again, not a single glance.
Jayson wanted to say something angry, but he knew Sidney wasn't being rational. He couldn't let himself fall into that irrationality, or it would lead to an irreversible outcome for both of them.
"We can still have children. Once you're fully recovered, we can have a baby right away," he said urgently, chasing after her.
"I don't want him to grow up in this environment! Like you!"
Those words struck Jayson's heart deeply. He glared at Sidney, his fists clenched at his sides, taking a deep breath. He turned and slammed the door shut, locking it. Sidney rushed over to open the door, but Jayson grabbed the handle tightly from the other side, shouting at the butler to bring a lock.
The butler didn't dare refuse, and Sidney heard the sound of a heavy lock being latched onto the door handle.
Sidney kicked the door, her breath coming in sharp gasps as she screamed, cursing Jayson under her breath. Her whole body shook with fury, the sound of her anger reverberating through the room.
"You're disgusting! Pathetic! Shameless! Do you think you can keep me locked up? I'm calling the police!"
Sidney grabbed the phone and called the police, but after ten minutes, no officers showed up. She knew it was Jayson's doing. Furious, she kicked the door again, but heard no sound from outside.
Sidney gave up on struggling and decided to protest in another way.
Every meal was brought to her by Jayson, but she refused to eat, using starvation as a form of protest.
After two whole days, Jayson surrendered. He couldn't bear to see her hungry or unhappy. In those two days, he had thought carefully. If being married to him was so painful, and if they could never go back to how things were, why force her to stay? He was just wasting her time and making her hate him more.
He unlocked the master bedroom door and went into the study, closing the door behind him. Soon, he heard the sound of Sidney dragging her suitcase, and then her footsteps leaving the house and walking out the front door.
He stood by the second-floor window, watching her figure grow more distant. The scent of her long hair seemed to linger in his nose, her clear voice still echoing in his ears. But now, she had left without even looking back, decisively walking away.
She didn't have a shred of longing for him.
He found it hard to accept this reality. He watched Sidney leave the community, not stopping until she disappeared from sight. He gave a self-deprecating smile. Who really loved more in this relationship?
Why did he feel his heart was being torn apart, while she felt this was her liberation?
He admitted that he had gone too far in Bali. Deandre's death and the death of their child would forever be a scar in Sidney's heart, especially since that man had claimed to be his biological father.
He didn't care whether what Deandre said was true or not. Ever since he could remember, he had always known Finnegan as his father, and he wasn't about to let a single statement change that fact. In his heart, he only acknowledged Finnegan.
Jayson collapsed into a chair, rubbing his forehead as a headache surged through him. He opened a drawer and swallowed a pill.
In the days that followed, Jayson resumed his normal life as if nothing had happened, though he came home even less frequently.
During this time, he stayed at the club, surrounded by people and activity, which helped him momentarily forget certain things.
Those around him all noticed that he had changed.
In the first few days after Sidney left, he drank himself into oblivion, practically soaking in alcohol. Kayley tried to take advantage of his vulnerability, staying by his side day and night, drinking with him and offering herself to him. But no matter how drunk Jayson got, he never crossed the line—he only drank.
After a few days of heavy drinking, he returned to his usual routine as if nothing had happened. However, she noticed that Jayson had quit smoking.
He gave away his entire collection of cigars and repeatedly declined offers during social gatherings, saying he had quit smoking for health reasons.
His car and his person no longer carried his signature cologne. One day, while a cleaner was preparing toiletries for Jayson, she muttered about how much body wash he was using. Kayley took a closer look and realized he had switched to a new brand—a pink, affordable one popular with women.
In that moment, everything became clear to her.
Even though Sidney had left, her presence lingered here—in Jayson's heart.
She let out a bitter laugh. She couldn't understand how Sidney could have such a powerful hold, even after being gone for months.
Jayson still wore his wedding ring on his left ring finger.
Even though he had received divorce papers from Sidney with no return address.
He tucked the papers into a drawer—not to avoid or deliberate over them, but because they bore Sidney's delicate handwriting. It was the first time he had seen her writing.
Sidney's wedding ring lay atop the papers.
It wasn't until over six months into their marriage that he realized, to his dismay, he didn't even have a single photo of her.
He immediately remembered the profile Esteban had shown him when introducing Sidney, with a small headshot attached.
He rummaged through his belongings, found it, and tore the headshot off. Looking at the shy smile in Sidney's photo, he couldn't help but smile himself.
He had thought about looking for her, but he worried she'd be unhappy to see him. And so, he kept putting it off—for three months.
