I couldn't stay in this house anymore.
I was too tired to argue with Vivienne. I felt completely drained, as if after a complete defeat, there was no will left to fight.
The absurdity of it all was that, as I sat on the sofa listening to them share their feelings, I thought about smashing the house down, or barging into the room to yell at Aldric, or even grabbing a knife to kill him and then end my own life.
But my body's first instinct, driven by self-preservation, was to flee.
I went downstairs, and Cedric was still there, leaning against his car and smoking. The smoke obscured his face, only the red tip of the cigarette flickering in and out of view. When he saw me, he extinguished the cigarette without asking any questions, dutifully doing his job as though he were just the driver I hired.
"Where to?"
I curled up in the backseat, too exhausted to think. "Anywhere, just not here."
---
Aldric stood by the window, watching Yamilet leave. He fiddled with his black lacquered lighter, staring at the flickering flame with increasing irritation.
The car slowly disappeared from view, and the streetlights cast long, lonely shadows on the empty road. Aldric's mind wandered.
Did Yamilet drink? Her driving was always terrible—was she going to be alright?
He couldn't stop worrying. He grabbed his suit jacket and made his way downstairs, but Vivienne stopped him. "I know you're worried about her. I had the driver take her home."
"She's in a bad mood right now. You'll just end up arguing." Vivienne was aware of her place. She knew she could never compare to Yamilet.
They had depended on each other for so many years. If Yamilet wanted to fight, her deeply rooted emotions could easily overshadow Aldric's passing whims.
But Yamilet was too foolish, too proud.
She wouldn't bend, wouldn't lower her head, never learned how to soften her voice and speak honestly.
She's great. Someone like Aldric doesn't deserve her.
Vivienne wrapped her arms around Aldric's waist, resting her cheek against his back. "Tonight, will you stay with me, just for the last time?" she asked, her voice soft, almost teary, holding back a smile. "After this, I won't bother you again. Won't you give me one last goodbye?"
Aldric stopped in his tracks. He was truly afraid of Yamilet's emotional outbursts. Over the past year, their fights had almost always been about Vivienne.
He had never had any substantial relationship with Vivienne.
But because she resembled Yamilet, he couldn't help but feel protective of her. Yet, Yamilet always exploded over the smallest details.
Eventually, he started to feel... distant when he looked at Yamilet's angry, harsh face. It was as though the Yamilet who once blushed, her eyes filled with him, had died within the body that now stood before him. And so, his affection inevitably started drifting toward Vivienne, whose face, though different, held a similar soul.
The smoke from his cigarette curled into the wind, trailing behind him, while Aldric allowed Vivienne to hold him. As for whether Yamilet would leave tonight, or where she would go, he wasn't concerned.
For seven years, her world had revolved around him. She had severed ties with her family when they eloped, and she had nowhere to go in the city.
She couldn't return home. Once he figured things out, he would go to comfort her. Ten years of feelings couldn't be broken over something so trivial.
