It's Finally Time to Let Go

Ever since I catch Wren Sinclair cheating on me, every day when she comes home, I'll pin her down by the entryway, pull off her skirt, and spray high-concentration alcohol all over her private area to disinfect it. Knowing she's in the wrong, Wren always cooperates with me, her eyes red as she gently tells me to stop. But today, she comes home nearly two hours late. When I smell men's cologne on her, I lose it again, grabbing her collar. "You were only half an hour late last time, and you slept with a man. Now you're two hours late. Tell me! How many men was it this time? Four?" Wren apologizes to me for the 29th time, but when I push her away again, she finally snaps. She raises the back of her hand, still bruised from the IV, and screams, "Enough! You don't even care that I'm practically dying from this fever. How much longer are you going to keep this up? "Yes, I got drunk and slept with another man once. Do you think you're holier than me? No wonder you were dragged into an alley when you were 16, stripped naked, and abused! Theo, a paranoid, crazy man like you, deserves everything you get!" The spray bottle falls from my hand and shatters at my feet. The smell of alcohol hits me, and I can't get a word out. She looks so fed up with me, and suddenly, I feel tired. It's fine. I'm done with this relationship anyway. Chapter 1 For a moment, there was only silence between us. The door was still ajar, so Wren Sinclair's two teammates who had brought her home stood awkwardly behind her, trying to smooth things over. One of them said, "Theo, Wren is really out of it because of the fever. She didn't mean to snap at you. Besides, not everyone can put up with you spraying them with alcohol like that every day. Just let it go." "Yeah, she has already… cut things off with that man." Just hearing about it made my stomach churn. When I was 16, my stepbrother, Damon Parton, and a few girls dragged me into a dark alley. They stripped me, and camera flashes went off all around me. Wren was 18 then. She showed up with a few people and drove them off by smashing them with bricks. Then she took off her school jacket and wrapped it around my trembling body. Her cries were even louder than mine as she told me not to be scared and that she would kill anyone who harmed me. After that nightmare, I could barely stand being intimate with Wren after we got married. Whenever she touched me, my whole body would shake. Back then, Wren would hug me, gently kissing my forehead. "Theo, don't be scared. It's okay. I'll wait for you, no matter how long it takes." I had always thought Wren was the light in my dark life. Until six months ago, when her stomach problems flared up. I went to the base late at night to bring Wren some medicine and saw her pinning the new male counselor down on the couch, kissing him as she buried her face against his neck and breathed hard with a kind of frenzy she had never shown me. The man's undershirt was hanging from Wren's uniform, the one she wore with pride. When she realized I had caught them, she knelt in front of me with tears in her eyes and swore she had only mistaken him for me because she was drunk. For 12 years, I had always thought she was the one who pulled me out of hell. I never imagined that she would be the one who pushed me into another. As I came back to my senses, Wren seemed to collect herself too. She stepped forward, wanting to hold my hand as regret flashed across her face. "Theo, I'm sorry. I was just angry and didn't mean what I said. I really do have a fever. My head hurts so much…" I stepped back, avoiding her hand. "Go get some rest." Wren's hand froze in mid-air. Her brows furrowed, and she looked uneasy. She still wanted to come closer. "Theo, I can explain…" "I'm tired." I cut her off, then walked into the guest bedroom, locking the door. I heard her two teammates help Wren into the master bedroom and quietly tell her that since I hadn't made a scene, it meant that I had let it go. Let it go? I leaned against the door and slowly slid down to the floor. No, it wasn't something I could just forget. I was just done holding on to a relationship that was already falling apart. Chapter 2 The morning after, I headed out with the thermos while Wren was still fast asleep. Even though our marriage was already falling apart, I still went to Hazelby Hospital, where my mother-in-law, Lydia Brown, had been hospitalized for over six months with severe kidney failure. I had been staying up night after night to take care of her. I figured I could treat it as the last thing I did for her as her son-in-law, and maybe it would also bring my 12 years with Wren to an end. I pushed open the door to Lydia's room to find her praising me in front of another patient's family. Lydia gushed, "Theo has been taking care of me through all this. He's been more devoted than any son could be." When she saw me, her face lit up, and she quickly told me to sit down. I poured the soup I'd stayed up all night making and handed it to her. Then I told her, "Lydia, drink it while it's hot. Wren had a fever last night, so I'll have to go back to take care of her." Lydia was drinking the soup when the phone on the small table, which was playing a show, suddenly rang. It was a video call, and the name "Xavier" flashed across the screen. With both hands still messy from the soup, Lydia couldn't grab the phone. She nodded toward it with her chin. "Theo, answer the call for me. I think it's Wren's cousin." I didn't think too much of it and answered the video call. The moment I saw that familiar face, my expression froze. It was Xavier Garner, the same man Wren had slept with while drunk six years ago. He was holding a little boy who looked about three years old. The boy, Leo Garner, smiled at the camera and called out sweetly, "Grandma, look at the car Mommy bought me!" Xavier started complaining, "Lydia, Wren got drunk here last night and came down with a fever, so I let her sleep a little longer. Did that crazy man lash out at her just because she went home late?" The room fell deathly silent. Lydia's hands trembled as the piping hot soup splashed over her blanket. She ignored her scalded hand and rushed over to me, trying to grab the phone. "Theo, I can explain…" I stepped back, staring at the child on the screen who looked so much like Wren that I could feel a chill run through my whole body. "Her cousin? That is Wren's cousin?" Lydia sighed and finally stopped pretending. She took my hand, her voice full of concern and helplessness. "Theo, don't blame Wren for hiding this from you. Xavier has put up with so much over the past four years. He's never once asked her to publicly acknowledge him." Four years ago? My head buzzed, and my insides twisted. The pain made it hard to breathe. So, Xavier wasn't just a one-time mistake caused by Wren getting drunk six months ago. Lydia gently patted the back of my hand and spoke in a low voice. "I watched you grow up. I care about you, but you have to think about Wren. Because of what you've been through, sometimes you won't sleep with Wren for a long time. She's a young, healthy woman in the prime of her life, and she works so hard every day. "You can't expect her to live like a nun for the rest of her life and never have children just because of your issues, can you? Xavier agreed to let Leo be your godson. You'll still be Wren's husband. "Nothing has to change. Xavier won't interfere with the two of you. Isn't that great?" My legs gave out, and I collapsed into the chair behind me. I didn't hear a single word Lydia said after that. Memories and the truth tore through my mind, ripping me apart. Four years. Every time Wren went out of town for a rescue mission, she'd stay on a voice call with me all night. She knew I didn't feel safe alone and was afraid of the dark, and hearing her breathe over the phone was enough to help me fall asleep. Once, Wren ran into danger at a disaster site. Even though it meant risking her life to find a backup battery, she still made sure to stay on the phone with me and check in all night. But who would've thought that what I had believed was the deepest kind of love was nothing but a lie? No wonder, four years ago, Wren told me she had to leave for a secret mission and disappeared for an entire year. Apparently, the so-called secret mission was just her sleeping with another man and having his child. Was Xavier lying beside her during all those all-night calls she made just to calm me down? Was Leo sleeping right next to her then? She had been lying there with another man and their child while comforting me over the phone, treating me like some clueless fool. The absurdity of it all hit me all at once. I stood up and stumbled out into the hall without saying another word to Lydia. If the perfect life everyone saw had no place for me, then I could just give up my place as her husband. Chapter 3 The next day, I took time off from work and stayed home to pack my luggage. I didn't have much, so I just took a few changes of clothes and my personal documents. Suddenly, the doorbell rang. I opened the door, thinking it was the delivery man arriving with the divorce papers, but froze when I saw Xavier standing outside. He was wearing an expensive cashmere coat, one hand holding onto the boy from the video. I held onto the doorknob so tightly that my knuckles turned white. Xavier looked me over and smirked when he saw how pale I was. "Theo, aren't you going to let me in? I didn't get to explain everything on the call, so I brought Leo here to see you." He nudged Leo forward. "Leo's about to start preschool. Wren feels bad that he doesn't have a complete family. She said Leo is part of the Sinclair family and wants me to officially move in with Leo." Leo's resemblance to Wren made my stomach turn. I pointed at the elevator and yelled, "Get the hell out of here! Take your bastard with you!" I moved to slam the door shut, not wanting to look at either of them, but Xavier quickly stuck his hand in the gap and stopped. He leaned in and laughed mockingly. "Theo, who are you trying to impress with that holier-than-thou act? You really think Wren loves you? She told me she has to take sleeping pills whenever she shares a bed with you, just so she can stomach it. "All she can think about is the way those women had you pinned beneath them back then whenever she touches you." He looked into my eyes and moved closer. "She said you're so dirty that I'm the only one she wants. I'm the only one who can make her feel anything." The last thread holding me together finally snapped. I'd spent 12 years trying to heal from the nightmare I'd lived through, and Wren had actually turned it into bedroom gossip and shared it with her lover. "How dare you bring that up?!" I snapped and slapped Xavier across the face as hard as I could. The sharp crack rang through the entryway. The blow sent Xavier stumbling as his forehead slammed hard into the corner of the shoe cabinet by the door. Blood instantly ran down his face. Leo burst into tears. Clutching his bleeding forehead, Xavier scrambled backward. "You psycho! You're fucking crazy! Just you wait!" Then he scooped up Leo and staggered into the elevator. I slid down the doorframe and sat on the floor. I closed my eyes, feeling a little coolness settle into my hair. I knew what I had to do. I took the health checkup report from under the coffee table, the one that showed I'd finally overcome my fear, and ripped it up. It was supposed to be a surprise for Wren, but now it just felt like a slap to my pride. Half an hour later, the lawyer brought over the paperwork. I signed it and placed the divorce papers right in the middle of the coffee table. The rain was coming down hard, with thunder rumbling in the distance. With my suitcase in hand, I got ready to leave. The front door flew open, and Wren came straight at me, a vein bulging in her forehead. "Theo! Where the hell did you take Leo?" Chapter 4 Wren had both hands around my throat. I struggled to breathe as I tried to pull them away. "W-What are you talking about?" Wren shoved me aside angrily and kicked at the coffee table. "Xavier told me everything! You attacked him like a lunatic earlier! He'd just taken Leo to the pharmacy to get his wound treated, and the next thing he knew, Leo was gone!" "Who else would kidnap a kid if not you?!" Amidst my violent coughing fit, I stared at the furious woman before me in disbelief. "I didn't even leave the house! Wren, are you crazy?" "You're the crazy one!" Wren's eyes were bloodshot as she growled at me. "You've been spraying me with alcohol every day for the past six months. Your mind is twisted. Now, you're even going after an innocent kid too! Call back the people you hired. Now!" I gritted my teeth and backed away. "I told you, I haven't seen him! If you can't take it, then divorce me!" I turned toward the table to grab the divorce papers. Wren suddenly grabbed me by the back of my collar. "You're not going anywhere today until you tell me where Leo is!" Years of intense training had left her frighteningly strong. One hard tug tore my shirt open, sending the buttons flying across the floor, and my upper body was immediately exposed to the cold air. She dragged me toward the bathroom. I panicked and tried to break free. "Wren, what the hell are you doing? Let go of me!" For one awful second, the hands of those women in the alley felt exactly like Wren's. "I'm going to knock some sense into you since you won't tell me where Leo is." Wren kicked the bathroom door open and threw me into the cold bathtub. Then she turned on the shower, and freezing water came crashing down over my head. I choked on the water and struggled to get out. "Help…" Wren yanked the belt from around her waist, pulled my hands behind my back, and tied them tight to the metal bar on the side of the tub. I thrashed around in the icy water, my whole body trembling uncontrollably as Wren turned and grabbed the large bottle of rubbing alcohol from under the sink. She twisted off the cap and poured the sharp-smelling liquid over my head. "You love using alcohol to torture me, right? Tell me! Where is Leo?" The strong smell of alcohol hit me so hard I could barely breathe, and my eyes burned from the fumes. But Wren didn't care. She grabbed my head and forced me under the water. I choked, barely able to make a sound. My stomach, which had always given me problems, cramped up hard. "Ouch…" A sharp, stabbing pain tore through my stomach. Then a bloody, metallic sweetness rushed up my throat. I coughed up a mouthful of blood, and after all the struggling and hitting against the tub, I felt something warm spreading beneath me. The warmth mixed with the cold bathwater, staining it bright red. I just stared at it. The pain was so bad I forgot to struggle. Just then, Wren's phone, which she'd tossed onto the sink, rang. The police officer's helpless voice came through the phone. "Hi, Ms. Sinclair, your kid isn't missing. He went up to the top floor of the mall by himself to play on the slides. When we found him, he was eating ice cream. "You lost track of your own kid, then made us chase around investigating a kidnapping and murder that never happened. Aren't you just wasting our time?" For a moment, the only sound in the bathroom was the water spraying from the shower. The phone and the bottle slipped from Wren's hands and hit the floor at the same time. She turned toward me, her face pale.