Filed to story: My Husband Regrets Divorcing Me (Audrey & Cornell)
“Ouch! Let me go!” Audrey cried while glaring at him.
Pained by the coldness in her stare, Cornell held her hand tighter and offered, “Let me drive you home.”
“No, thank you,” Audrey refused without a second thought.
When the taxi driver saw the standoff, he picked up another passenger and drove off.
Audrey was fuming. Sadly, she was unable to break free from Cornell’s grasp, so she eventually stopped struggling.
Cornell mistook her calm for a sign of hope. Though a glimmer of hope rose in his heart, he acted tough.
“Do you want me to carry you in my arms, or will you come along without a fuss?”
Audrey was too mad to say a word. Before she could react, Cornell had swept her up into his car and buckled her in.
However, she, quick as a flash, unbuckled the seat belt and Lunged for the door.
Cornell had seen through her and immediately locked the door from his side.
Seething, Audrey turned to him and demanded through gritted teeth, “Unlock the door.”
“I’ll drive you home,” Cornell insisted.
“Didn’t you hear me? I said, unlock the door!” Audrey, with her patience wearing thin, took out her phone and dialed the police right there.
“Audrey!” Cornell reached out to stop her. He never expected she would actually call the police on him.
With his face drained of color and his voice laced with sorrow, he relented.
“Fine. But there’s something I want to say to you first.
After that, you can do as you please.”
Audrey just stared at him in response.
“”Audrey, I only saved Cecilia that day to pay off my debt. She once saved my life, after all. I had no idea you’d get hurt. If I had known, I never would have gone after her,” Cornell explained in a hoarse voice.
Audrey remained expressionless. She was neither sad, touched, nor angry.
“Are you done? Can I go now?”
Her words struck Cornell like a thunderbolt, and pain radiated through his chest.
“Do you really despise me so much you can’t stand seeing me?”
“What do you think, Cornell?” Audrey scoffed.
“Every time I see you, I’m reminded of how you left me in the parking lot to save another woman and how you ignored me when I begged you to save my baby.”
Audrey tried, with all her might, to keep her emotions in check.
She was through with him. She felt neither love nor resentment toward him. Just nothing.
Cornell’s face went as white as a sheet at her every word. Moreover, he felt as if a sharp blade was lodged in his chest, rendering him breathless.
Though he had agreed to get a divorce because she threatened him with her life, he did not know how to face her for now.
As she prepared to exit the car, Audrey looked at his pale face and said with a faint smile, “Take care. Let this be our last goodbye.”
Her smile was sincere and not forced. It was as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She felt no need for drawn-out goodbyes.
After all, she wanted nothing but for their paths never to cross again.
To her disappointment, she might see Cornell again. The terms of their divorce required discretion to keep it from Kyler.
As long as Kyler wanted to see her, she would pay him a visit. It was inevitable for her and Cornell to see each other, even if she tried her best to avoid him.
Meanwhile, Cornell was left grappling with his emotions. The smile Audrey wore was unbearable to him. It was a silent reminder of all he had lost.
As he watched her receding figure, a bitter taste filled his mouth.
But then, slowly, darkness overtook his sight. Before he knew it, he slumped over in the car, unconscious.
But before he lost consciousness, he saw Audrey look back at him.
Cornell was somehow relieved. At last, she had cast a glance his way.
But the truth was, Audrey did not turn around. It was just his imagination.
When Cornell’s eyes fluttered open, he found himself staring at the white ceiling of a hospital room. Matteo had brought him here.
Cornell had not slept for days. With exhaustion taking its toll on him and his surge of anger, he vomited blood and passed out.
“Has she come by?” Cornell asked. The first thing he thought of when he woke up was Audrey.
Of course, Matteo knew very well who Cornell was talking about. He could not help but be flustered as Cornell stared at him expectantly.
Regardless, he had no choice but to speak the truth.
“No, Mr. Clement.”
“But did you tell her I’m here?” Cornell queried with a flicker of hope in his eyes.
“Yes, I’ve called her.”
“And what did she say?”
Matteo recalled what Audrey had said and recounted it to Cornell verbatim.
“She said, ‘Isn’t he in the hospital? Why call me? I’m not a doctor. You’d be better off calling Luis. And, Cornell and I are divorced. There’s no need to update me on his condition. ‘”
Matteo reported everything to Cornell without sparing any details.
After a long, deafening silence, Cornell bellowed, “Leave!”
The door clicked shut behind Matteo, but the sounds of distress from within the room reached him nonetheless.
He sighed deeply and mused on the perils of love. From what he had witnessed, he vowed to avoid marriage himself.
Meanwhile, after returning to her house in Crystal Bay, Audrey did not go out for a whole week.
The hospital had not been a place of rest for her. But now that the divorce was over and she was in her own space, she surrendered to sleep. She indulged in a carefree lifestyle, eating just once a day, and spent most of the past three days sleeping.
As the days slipped by, Audrey turned her attention to unresolved matters. She reached out to Cara and informed the latter she could no longer work for her studio.
Cara tried to persuade Audrey to reconsider. Audrey, however, remained steadfast. It was not that she did not want to, but because she figured it was impractical for her to work, given her injured right hand.
Her hand’s recovery remained a question mark. A designer was supposed to pour time and energy into her crafts. Sadly, her right hand might just fall short of what the job demanded.
Upon learning of Audrey’s injured hand, Cara expressed her understanding and assured Audrey that the door would always remain open for her.
In the following days, Audrey, unwilling to be idle, began searching for jobs online. She narrowed her options to two potential paths: a translation service and a renowned educational institution.
Both fields seemed accessible to her in her current condition.
Upon hearing of Audrey’s divorce, Nicole reached out. Nicole expressed her frustration of being previously barred from visiting Audrey by Cornell’s overzealous bodyguards.
Once Nicole learned from a doctor acquainted with her that Audrey had been discharged, she called Audrey at once.
Audrey said she wanted to just stay home and take a _ rest.
Nevertheless, a week later, Nicole arrived at her doorstep, determined to whisk Audrey away to celebrate.
The celebration venue was, of course, in the bar.
Nicole indulged in her usual fare. Audrey, feeling more like herself again, joined in with a selection of cocktails.
Several drinks deep, Nicole’s emotions spilled over. She clung to Audrey and cried, “How could you even think of jumping off a building for that jerk? He’s not worth your life!”
When Nicole recalled the doctor’s alarming update, she felt her heart lurch with fear.
To ease Nicole’s distress, Audrey shared the truth.
“I didn’t intend to jump. It was just the quickest route to divorce I could think of.
I figured if Cornell didn’t relent, I’d find another way. Thankfully, he gave in to the divorce without it coming to that.”
“Really?” Nicole, with her eyes wide open, continued to complain, “Do you realize how terrified I was when the doctor told me you were about to jump? You scared the shit out of me.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t do anything stupid. He’s not worth it,” Audrey assured her.