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Chapter 252
Chapter 252
Joy was livid, like a lioness, ready to pounce and tear him apart.
“You wouldn’t know, would you? Because you were off gallivanting in Emberland, having the time of your damn life!”
Curtis, loosening his tie, suddenly froze and turned around.
“What did you say?”
“What, you got wax in your ears now?”
“She was depressed?” Curtis’ gaze became clouded in the bright conference room lights, pinning her with his stare. “When?”
“When? After you left her to jet off to Emberland!” Joy continued her relentless barrage, “I don’t know what sins Anne committed in a past life to have fallen for a jerk like you. You don’t deserve to say you love her!”
But Curtis wasn’t listening. Even as she verbally lashed him, pointing fingers and spewing anger, he remained unresponsive!
He looked as shocked as if he’d been turned to stone, all stiff and motionless.
“I’m warning you. You better get your act together and divorce Leanne properly, or I…”
Before Joy could finish her threat, Curtis, the previously motionless statue, suddenly sprang into action, striding past her toward the exit.
“Hey! I wasn’t done laying into you!”
“Take your time,” Curtis replied without turning his head, “Caleb, hand her a tape recorder.” This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.
When Curtis drove back to Crystal Cove Villas, dusk had given way to night.
When he entered the code, the dim house automatically lit up.
After Leanne moved out, the house felt empty, contrasting with its usual quietness. It felt
too bleak at the time.
The lights were on, but the essence of her presence seemed to fade with each passing
moment.
Curtis walked straight in, heading to the medicine cabinet.
Leanne had kept a well-stocked first-aid kit at home, boxes, bottles, disinfectants, and saline solutions, all of which were neatly arranged and categorized.
Curtis searched through them, identifying antacids, cold medicine, and painkillers.
Some must have been for Laura to deal with rotator cuff injuries and lower back strain.
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Finally, he found some medications at the bottom, their names unfamiliar and
uncommon.
Sertraline tablets were for treating depression symptoms. The side effects included anorexia, insomnia, drowsiness, headaches, and migraines.
Mirtazapine was for treating depression with side effects like discomfort, abdominal pain, vomiting, and anorexia.
Fluoxetine was for depression, including side effects like headaches, sleep disturbances,
and anorexia.
He also found Quetiapine, Venlafaxine, and Duloxetine. All these medications were opened but not finished. The variety she tried indicated the struggles she endured.
Curtis was struck by a memory of their first anniversary when he returned from a trip to Starlake City.
She was taking medication that morning, and when he asked if she was sick, she said it was just a cold.
That explained why she had lost so much weight in just six months.
No wonder she seemed so distant, like she didn’t want to talk with him. He thought she was just being aloof.
The late surge of empathy choked Curtis like a high tide at night, nearly suffocating him.
The medication box in his hand crumpled from his grip.
Outside, the night had fully settled, darkness flooding the spacious and silent villa, bending Curtis’ tall frame and shoulders under its weight.
Why didn’t he ask more questions that day or show more concern?
Why did he walk away so easily?
How did she manage through those days?
In what depths of pain must she have been, for someone who tried so hard to live well for her parents, to say, “I wish I were dead”?
Leanne…
Her name clenched around his heart like an iron fist, suffocating him and halting the
blood flow in his veins.
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