Carlton's words echoed in Stacy's ears as she sat cold in her bathtub shivering badly, submerging her head in the tub of water like it would take away her pain and wipe away her reality.
Her heart viciously ached with so much pain that it threatened to suffocate her, and she sobbed incessantly because she just couldn't understand why he suddenly wanted a divorce.
The hurtful words, "We should go our separate ways," haunted her throughout the night so much that she couldn't sleep.
Her mind traveled back to the message she had received on her phone again and again, as she froze the more she remembered how his cruel words had set her off into an explosive state.
'Why? Why did he want a divorce now? Was Carlton seeing another lady? Was that why he wanted a divorce?' her head conjured different kinds of thoughts and scenarios, as she cried harder the more the thoughts came to her mind.
But then again, Stacy tried to encourage herself that Carlton wasn't someone like that. Though he didn't love her, he had never had eyes for other women either. She wanted to believe that she was just overthinking it.
'But still, he was asking for a divorce!' her head reminded her and her breath became shallow and erratic again, as she struggled to swallow the tears that were provoked by her thoughts again. Her chest tightened and constricted in pain, as she hit it hard to stop it from hurting.
She cried the entire night and managed to stand up from her bed the next day with a puffy face, as she stood in front of the mirror to examine the damage her excessive crying had done to her face.
'How would the maids not gossip again now, when she had cried her eyes out now?' Stacy worried as she pressed her red cheeks with her hand. She couldn't let them see any flaw in her.
She dressed up in a gorgeous gown like any other day, and wore the perfect make-up which concealed the bags under her eyes. Stepping out of her room, her lips stretched into a huge smile as she sauntered to his room, which was at the other side of the large hallway that led to their room.
Disappointment glinted in her eyes when she realized that he had left home so early, without eating breakfast after she opened his door. She hesitated for a few minutes before going downstairs, in fear of what the maids might gossip about after observing like spies.
She couldn't make them see that she was breaking, and that there was a crack somewhere in her marriage. However, the untouched anniversary food and cake already gave room for them to talk.
"Breath, Stacy. They cannot see you break," she whispered to herself, as she walked to the kitchen to choose the food that would be prepared for Carlton by the chefs, with extra care put into the preparation of each meal.
She ordered the food be packed and delivered to his office an hour later, with a handwritten note from her attached to it; Have a great day ahead.
'She had to act like nothing had happened between them the previous day. She had to. For her peace of mind.'
With nothing much to do, Stacy remained indoors all day extremely bored and more tired than usual. She was trying hard not to think or cry, and sat down at the mansion library reading random books. But it was extremely hard because it was hard for her not to think about what ensued between her and Carlton.
His phone remained unreachable after she tried calling him several times again, and ended up leaving a few texts for him. He didn't reply to her messages even if it showed that he was active, and she felt like she was losing her mind in fear that he might be ghosting her.
Suddenly, she remembered a way to get out of her pain.