Chapter 17

hapter 17 +25 BONUS Karen covered her beating heart with a short laugh. “Mum, what are you saying? You must’ve heard wrong. I didn’t say that. I said, ‘now that Thalassa is out of the way”-”

“That is not any better!” Her mother cut her off sharply. “Why would you even say something like that? And don’t you try to treat me like an idiot because I know what I heard. You said, ‘now that we’ve managed to get Thalassa out of the way.” Who’s ‘we, Karen? Who were you talking to on the phone?”

“It was just a friend,” Karen said, clutching her phone tightly in her hand as she feared her mother would snatch it away.

“It always struck me as so strange what they were accusing Thalassa of. In all the years she came to our house, she never stole a single thing from us. I still find it hard to believe that she could do what they are accusing her of.”

She paused, narrowing her eyes at her daughter. “Was it you, Karen? Did you have a hand in destroying Thalassa’s life?”

f me?”

“Mum!” Karen said it in horror. “I am your daughter! How can you even think something like that Her mother pursed her lips sadly.

“I know you’ve always been in love with Kris, but he never noticed you. also know that it really affected you when he and Thalassa got together, but remember, it’s not her fault T that Kris never noticed you.”

Karen felt pained, as if her own mother were mocking her. She gritted out, “Mum, Thalassa is not the innocent girl we all thought she was. Believe me, I also refused to believe what they were accusing her of until she tried to make me lie for her again. That was when I realized that she was truly guilty. She’s not the angel you think she is, Mum.”

She paused, staring at her mother. “Tell me something, Mum, If it were true that I had something to do with the divorce between Kris and Thalassa, would you have really told Kris the truth?”

“Of course,” her mother answered without a thought..

“But, Murn, I am your daughter!”

your-

Her mother smiled sadly. “I also considered Thalassa a daughter. She was such a good person, always wishing the best for others. And the two of you had such a beautiful friendship. I hope you didn’t let feelings for Kris cause you to ruin her life in such a way. Otherwise, that would be unforgivable.” With that, her mother turned and left the room, leaving Karen fuming with anger.

In Luisa’s room, she had been unable to stop crying. Thalassa didn’t try to console her; she just held her in a hug until her sobs gradually turned to hiccups When Luisa finally calmed down, she pulled out of the hug and wryly said, “Thanks for offering your shoulder for me to cry on”

“Don’t worry about it” Thalassa gave her a small, reassuring smile. “Do you feel better now?”

Luisa shrugged. “More or less, I suppose.”

Chapter 17 “The pain will ease soon.” Thalassa said.

“You say that because you’ve experienced it, haven’t you? I guess both of us have such sh**

Thalassa nodded.

Luisa continued, “Lassa, when are you going to trust me enough to tell me what truly happened ex-husband?”

Thalassa stiffened, having known that it would come sooner or later. Luisa had once asked her about it, but Thalassa had refused to talk about it. However, she finally felt ready to talk.

1 was framed by my mother-in-law,” she said.

Luisa’s eyes widened. “You mean all the accusations against you in the media were all because of your mother-in-law?”

Thalassa nodded. “Yes. She sent me to deliver some documents but told me not to open them. Like a fool, I didn’t open them because I was so eager for her acceptance. I didn’t know I was holding incriminating ‘evidence’ against me.”

“Oh God, that’s so messed up. But why would she do something like that to you?”

“Because she always thought I wasn’t good enough for her son, Kris.”

“Kris believed her. That’s why he divorced you,” Luisa said insightfully, not needing to be told. “But was his trust in you so little that he just threw away your happy marriage?”

“Happy marriage?” Thalassa let out a bitter chuckle.

Luisa hesitated. “Why do you say it like that? Weren’t you happy in your marriage?”

Thalassa told her everything. How Kris suddenly changed after their marriage and turned into a monster who loved to hurt her and make her cry with his biting words and lack of affection.

The only time he’d shown her any affection was when they made love. No, not love-sex. Kris had never made love to her during their one-year marriage. He’d only had sex with her. He never cuddled her even once.

Every time after they were done having sex, he would leave the bed and rush into the bathroom, staying there for several minutes. It’d confused her so much until she walked into the bathroom one day to find him furiously scrubbing his skin with a sponge, as if he felt disgusted with himself for sleeping with someone like her.

“And that wasn’t the only thing.” Thalassa said.

She continued, telling Luisa about how she was treated like a slave in her own husband’s house. Kris’s family had subjected her to so much verbal abuse and humiliation, Looking back, Thalassa felt so disappointed with herself that she had endured all of that for a marriage that never worked.

“And what did Kris do about it?” Luisa asked Thalassa smiled bitterly. “Nothing.”

Whenever she told him about what his family was putting her through, he would call her a liar. At first, she’d thought that he truly didn’t see it, but now, looking back, she realizes that he did.

He saw his family torturing and humiliating her, but he never did anything about it.

“It was as if he was punishing me,” she whispered.

“For what?” Luisa prompted.

“He never told me. I never knew why he changed so much. But I thought that things were going to change when I found out that I was pregnant.”

Thalassa froze, realizing she’d said too much.

Luisa’s eyes widened. “You are pregnant?”

Thalassa’s heart squeezed painfully as she responded. “No, not anymore “I’m so sorry. You lost your baby?”

Suddenly, a hard look took over Thalassa’s face. “No, I didn’t lose my baby. He was killed. They sent someone to attack me on the day I signed the divorce papers, and they succeeded in killing my baby.” Luisa had been shocked by everything she was hearing but this stunned her. She had more questions to ask, but she could see how pained Thalassa was, so she decided not to pry any further.

Outside the room, behind the door, Zeke stood with his hands balled into tight fists, his teeth clenched tightly.

He’d been eavesdropping and had heard everything Thalassa had told Luisa. He couldn’t believe how much those people had put her through Now he finally understood why she was so cold and aloof.

He suddenly felt a strong urge to protect her. To take her far away and make sure nobody ever harms her again.

Raising his hand, he knocked gently. When Luisa called for him to come in, he did so.

“I just wanted to see how you girls were doing.”

“We’re fine,” Luisa answered, even though he could see the solemn looks on both of their faces.

“Hmm,” he sighed. Thalassa, can we talk?”

“I’ll leave you two alone,” Luisa said and got up, leaving the room.

“First of all, I want to apologize to you again for what happened earlier with that bastard. I should’ve done more to protect you from him.”

“It’s okay, and it wasn’t your duty,” she pointed out.

She wasn’t going to get hung up on it. In just three days, they would be leaving to go back to New York, and she was going to continue her life in Baltimore.

Chapter 17 +25 BONUS Zeke was biting his lip. He usually did that when he had something on his mind but was finding it hard to say.

“What else did you want to say, Zeke?”

He swallowed before revealing. “Thalassa, I want you to come to New York with us.”

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