Falling from Grace.

The day I was discharged.

Only my daughter came to collect me.

"Mummy, why are we moving house?"

I held my daughter close, suppressing the bitterness within. "We've grown tired of it. Mummy fancies a change of scenery."

"What about Daddy? Is he coming too?"

I stroked my daughter's head, busying myself with packing without knowing how to answer her.

The bedroom door swung open. Spotting the visitor, my daughter beamed and ran forward. "Daddy! Pick me up!"

My heart sank.

I looked up in the direction my daughter had pointed.

Ross held her, his eyes cold towards me. "Rory, what exactly are you playing at?"

I stubbornly lowered my head, continuing to stuff clothes from the bed into the suitcase. "Making room for you lot."

"Rory, go ask around. What man of my standing doesn't have women on the side?"

Staring at Ross's face—the one that once haunted my dreams—I realised he was no longer the boy he'd been.

With that thought,

I snatched our daughter from his arms.

Sent her back to her room to play with her toys.

"So you slept with my sister?!" "

After she left,

I slapped Ross hard across the face in fury.

His expression grew even colder.

"I've had enough of you! Think you're still the school beauty? Look at yourself now!"

"Flabby, sitting around the house doing nothing all day – what man could possibly find you attractive?"

No wonder he hadn't touched me in over half a year.

"Fine then. Since you despise me so much, let's get divorced. Split the assets evenly, and our daughter stays with me."

At the mention of divorce and dividing property,

Ross's expression grew even more wretched.

"I won't divorce you. You grew up without a proper family. Do you want my daughter to suffer the same fate?"

I stared at Ross in utter shock, unable to believe such words could come from his mouth.

“Rory, I finally understand why your father insisted on divorcing your mother back then.”

“Because your mother was cut from the same cloth as you.”

Indeed,

only the one you love most

knows precisely where to stab the knife for maximum pain.

I had laid bare my most vulnerable self to him,

and now he used that very vulnerability

to rip open my deepest scar with brutal force.

I could never have imagined that the man who once promised me a happy home

would use such venomous words to wound me.

"Why her?"

I voiced the question that had long troubled my heart.

Sometimes I even wonder.

If it had been another woman,

would I not feel this anguish?

"Because she's younger and prettier than you."

"And more of a slut."

I resolutely chose to move house.

Even if I couldn't divorce Ross, I couldn't bear to see him or his parents' harsh, unforgiving faces any longer.

I decided to start life anew.

My years as a housewife had left me almost disconnected from society, and I'd gained considerable weight since before my marriage.

But finding employment was the immediate priority.

Only with stable work could I secure custody of my daughter during the divorce proceedings.

Though I hadn't worked for years,

my qualifications were respectable. Had I pursued my career instead of marriage, I wouldn't have fared worse than Ross.

After a week of sending out CVs,

every response declared me unsuitable.

Had the world come to such a pass that even a master’s graduate with dual degrees in finance and computing, plus overseas study experience, couldn’t find employment?

Just as I stood perplexed,

a knock sounded at the living room door.

Opening it,

I found Ross standing before me, immaculately dressed in a suit.

“So this is where you’ve been living since leaving me?”

His tone dripped with contempt. I shot back, utterly unconcerned: "Living here is better than seeing you."

Ross glanced at me, then entered my flat with a look of utter disgust, surveying every corner from top to bottom.

"Worried I'm hiding someone in here?"

"You wouldn't dare."

Ross sat on the sofa with his legs crossed, showing me no respect whatsoever, his eyes brimming with utter contempt.

"Stop looking for work. Go back to being a housewife. Your daughter needs her mother's company."

I finally understood what had happened to all those rejected CVs. It turned out he'd been sabotaging them behind the scenes.

"Divorce! I'll grant you your wish with Sophia."

Only now did I see Ross's true colours. He'd always been this selfish, ever-considering only himself.

He didn't love me,

nor did he love Sophia.

He loved only himself.

"Sophia's far more sensible than you. She said for Jessica's sake, she'd forego any claim to the family name."

Ross’s lips curled into an uncontrollable smirk, his words dripping with praise for Sophia and contempt for me.

“I’ll find work.”

“Sir, please leave my house immediately.”

Ross hadn't expected me—who'd always been submissive and eager to please him—to tell him to get lost.

"Rory, I guarantee you won't find work in City A." Ross's tone dripped with menace.

As he left,

he confidently left one final remark:

"I'll be waiting for you to come crawling back."