Chapter 157

Chapter 157
A bitter thought crossed her mind. Maybe this is how it ends.

Just when she thought hope was gone, strong arms locked around her and pulled her upward. Someone hauled her through the water and lifted her onto the deck.

Olivia collapsed onto all fours, coughing and retching, her head bowed as water spilled from her mouth. Voices called her name, but all she could hear was the ringing in her ears, a high, endless sound that drowned everything else.

She forced herself to look up.

Clayton was kneeling a few feet away, whispering words of comfort in Caroline’s ear.

It must have been the weight of her stare that made him finally look at her. When he did, he jerked to his feet, color draining from his face until it turned ghostly white.

He took a step forward, then another. The fear and regret on his face grew even more visible. Those emotions were what she had wanted to see moments ago. But now, they no longer meant anything.

Where had that fear been when she needed him?

Where had that panic been when she was drowning?

Why did he only look terrified now, when she was almost dying in front of him?

Clayton opened his mouth, but she didn’t let him utter a single word.

There was nothing left to say.

Olivia rose to her feet.

The entire pavilion watched in stunned silence as she turned her back on Clayton.

And walked away.

—

The hotel room was cold enough to make Olivia tremble even under the blanket. Her fingers fumbled, pulling it tighter around her shaking body, but it didn’t help.

Even then, the memory wouldn’t leave—her body sinking into the lake, arms thrashing, lungs burning for air. She had truly believed she would die there.

Clayton’s voice broke through the memory. He stood in front of her, hair still damp, shirt wrinkled and stained from the water.

“I’m so sorry. God, Olivia, I’m so sorry. I didn’t—”

“See me drowning?” Olivia wanted to burst into desperate tears. Her strong will stopped it from happening.

The words almost came out as a whisper, almost a sob. “Do I look invisible to you?”

“It happened so fast. I only saw Caroline drowning!”

“I was right there, Clayton.” Her voice cracked. “I was drowning right there, and you didn’t even see me.”

Olivia wondered would it make a difference if he knew she's carrying his child? Could he have chosen her and not Caroline?

“I’m really, really sorry.” He mumbled once more, his red-rimmed eyes begging for forgiveness, but her heart had gone cold from being submerged in an icy lake.

She stood up, and all the pent-up anger she'd been holding inside erupted.

"A stranger had to save me instead of you! Some man I'd never seen before in my life had to pull me out of that water while my own husband was—while you were playing hero for another woman!” The words tore from her throat. Her hands clenched into fists at her sides, nails biting into her palms.

"How could you?" The question came out as a whisper now, more devastating than her screams. "How could you just... leave me to die?! You know I couldn't swim, yet you still—"

She couldn't finish. The rage was choking her, intensified by the soul-crushing realization that even when it was between life and death, he still hadn't chosen her. And no amount of sorry could ever bring her back from that.

The door opened right on time, and a hotel staff member walked into the room, carrying Olivia's bag. Olivia took it with trembling hands.

The woman left and closed the door.

Olivia's fingers yanked it open. She reached inside and grabbed the stack of papers she'd been carrying for a really long time.

She threw them in the air.

The divorce papers scattered at his feet like large confetti.

Clayton stared down at them, frozen. Then slowly, he bent down and began picking them up one by one, the color slowly draining from his face.

When he'd gathered them all, he looked up at her with a clenched jaw. The papers crumpled slightly in his white-knuckled grip.

"What is this, Olivia?" Rage filled his voice. "What the hell is this?"

She wiped her tears with the back of her hand and looked at him, her face stripped of all human emotion.

"I'm getting a divorce, Clayton."

Clayton stared at her in silence, the corners of his eyes reddening as he inhaled sharply through his nose.

Desperation shot fiercely through his mouth. “No, Olivia. We are not getting a divorce. I'd rather die than sign these goddamn papers.”

Her gaze drifted to the wedding band on her finger, the same ring he had slipped onto her hand while standing in front of the altar. Back then, Clayton had promised to protect her. Back then, she had believed every word.

“Do you remember our wedding vows, Clayton?”

A bitter smile touched her trembling lips when he failed to answer.

“I do. I remember every single word you told me the day we got married.” Fresh tears burned behind her eyes. She blinked hard, refusing to let them fall. “You looked me straight in the eye and vowed to stand by my side in joy and in sorrow, in laughter and in tears. With every beat of your heart, you promised to love me deeply and unconditionally, and you promised to always CHOOSE ME above everyone else.”

A tear escaped despite her efforts. She wiped it away before it could roll further down her face. “You spoke those words so sincerely but time proved how you failed me.”

Clayton visibly flinched under her gaze, as though she had slapped him hard. His eyes squeezed shut for a second. When he opened them again, they were glistening with tears.

“Olivia—”

She held up a hand, stopping the words before he could finish.

It hurt so much. Every breath felt like dragging shards of broken glass into her lungs. The pain threatened to steal her voice, but she forced the words out anyway.