A Heart Gone With the Wind

Percy, however, looked a little puzzled as I'd never been this gracious before.

Taylor never liked bringing me around his friends, and Percy had even helped cover for him when he hung out with Yvonne.

Each time I found out, I'd cause a scene right in front of everyone, making things awkward and leaving Taylor even more annoyed with me.

Beatrice sensed the tension and hurriedly linked her arm through mine to lead me to the table. I followed her and handed her the gift I'd prepared.

She hadn't done anything wrong to me, and I couldn't ruin her birthday.

During dinner, I noticed all the dishes were spicy. I forced down a few bites, even though they upset my stomach. When the discomfort grew worse, I got up and went to the restroom.

Taylor glanced at me but quickly looked away.

By the time I returned, I overheard him questioning Percy.

"I told you Yvonne can't have seafood. Why'd you order seafood chowder?"

Percy said nothing. Beatrice responded instead, "I ordered it for Faith. She can't eat spicy food. How was I supposed to know Yvonne would have it for herself?"

There was a hint of frustration in her voice.

It reminded me of the first time I had dinner with this group.

At that time, I'd told Taylor many times I couldn't eat spicy food, but his friends hadn't believed me. They ordered only spicy dishes and pressured me to eat.

I had looked to Taylor for help, but he hadn't reacted at all. Worse still, he had told me, "Faith, they're my friends. Don't ruin the mood."

After that meal, my stomach condition flared up so badly that I ended up hospitalized for a week. Instead of comforting me, Taylor had blamed me for insisting on attending the dinner in the first place.

I entered the room and saw the seafood chowder in front of Yvonne, while Taylor looked visibly displeased. I apologized to Beatrice, picked up my handbag, and left right away.

When I got home, I was surprised to see Taylor had come back too.

I stared at him in disbelief. It was the first time he'd ever left Yvonne to come after me.

He looked furious as he reprimanded, "Faith, what's wrong with you? It's Percy's girlfriend's birthday, and you stormed off without a word. Who do you think you are, making everyone uncomfortable?"

I looked at him, my gaze filled with mixed emotions.

To Taylor, my feelings—my happiness, sadness, anger—were always supposed to take a back seat to everyone else. He had never truly cared about me.

Seeing that I was not responding, Taylor raised his hand as if he was about to hit me. But instead, he knocked over a vase on the table.

The shards were scattered across the floor, some cutting into my leg and making me flinch.

"Fine, if this is how you want to be. If you think I can't do anything about you, let's get a divorce!"

He had brought up divorce many times before.

Be it because I'd peeked at his phone, anytime I got upset over Yvonne, or if I did something that didn't please him, he would threaten me with divorce.

And every time, I'd immediately apologize with tears. I would completely strip myself of dignity just to beg him not to leave me.

But now, looking into Taylor's increasingly unfamiliar eyes, I smiled and said, "Okay. Let's get a divorce."