1
The night was unusually quiet when Darius felt a weight shift on his bed.
He felt a warm and soft body got closed to him, someone was putting down his pajama pants. Darius blinked his eyes open, adjusting to the darkness, only to find a woman moving closer to him.
"Lydia? Is it you?" Darius whispered, a mix of surprise and cautious hope lacing his voice.
"Shh," she hushed him, with her fingers pressing against his mouth. "Don't talk."
A soft grunt escaped from the woman’s mouth, Darius could feel the abnormal smell, she was drunk.
But the familiar voice made Darius sighed with relief. With the movements of Lydia, he felt a special emotion.
It has been 3 years since they got married, but they were together as more than just strangers under the same roof.
Because he was the husband chosen by the grandfather of Lydia, so she didn’t even looked at him properly in the last 3 years!
But tonight, finally she came to his room, finished the thing they should have done at the wedding day! No matter what is the reason, Darius felt so happy!
2 hours later, Darius was finally exhausted, he laid beside Lydia, listening to the extremely fast heart beating of her.
If this was a dream, he would prefer never wake up.
Darius hugged the woman tightly and obsessively, “Lydia...I...I really...”
He had not finished that three words “I love you” when Lydia interrupted with her unconscious whisper.
“Howard...”
Darius stunned, Howard...she must be speaking Howard Cooper, the name of her first love.
Years ago, Lydia had been in a terrible accident. By chance, Darius had saved her, but the doctor said she may be a vegetable person in the rest of her life.
Knowing her situation, Howard Cooper, her boyfriend went abroad right away. But Darius decided to take care of her, and then, there was a miracle.
Lydia recovered, and her grandfather decided that she should marry Darius, the man who gave her new life. But Darius knew she was not willing to accept him.
In the past years Darius has been always trying to be a good husband. He was just an orphan, and he knew Lydia didn’t like him, so he decided to endure all these on his own.
But why...why would she have to trample his last piece of his self-respect?
The night was so long, Darius didn’t know when he felt asleep.
---
The next morning.
Darius slowly opened his eyes as the morning light filled the room. His hand reached out instinctively to the other side of the bed, feeling only emptiness where Lydia had been.
"Lydia..." he said softly to himself, disappointment welling up inside. He ran his hands over the cold sheets, as if trying to cling to the fading memories of the previous night.
"I thought maybe this time...but it was just another dream." Darius sighed and sat up, running a hand through his disheveled hair. He replayed the previous night in his mind, remembering Lydia's touch and the happiness he had dared to feel, and also the depression.
"Why do you keep giving me hope, only to take it away?" he asked the empty room, as if Lydia could hear. "Three years of this...I'm tired of waking up alone."
Shaking his head, Darius pushed back the lingering sadness and swung his legs over the side of the bed. "No use dwelling on it now. Maybe today..."
He stood up and walked slowly to the kitchen, running through possible scenarios in his head. "I'll make her breakfast, a peace offering. And I'll be gentle, not push too hard. Just try to talk..."
As he began cooking, Darius continued his internal dialogue. "Come on Lydia, give me a chance. Let me in...I just want to understand." He sighed again. "I hope this time is different. Please, let this time be different."
A few moments later, Lydia entered the kitchen, barely glancing at the breakfast spread. Darius, who had grown up an orphan only to be adopted by a mean couple, had learned early on to find solace in small acts of kindness, like preparing someone's favorite meal. He looked up hopefully at Lydia, only to be met with her stony expression.
"Lydia, I made your favorite," he said gently. "Please, eat with me."
But Lydia looked at him clenching his teeth, she said with anger and regrets, “Do you think you could be my husband by sleeping with me when I’m drunk? Not a chance, Darius, you make me disgusting!”
Darius was stunned for a second, he forced a wry smile and said, “Is that how you think of me, Lydia? In your eyes, I’m just a rat, taking advantages from you when you were drunk?”
Lydia sneered, there was a strong and obvious disgust in her eyes, “Then what kind of person you are, Darius? You cheated my grandfather with your sweet words, forced me to marry you. Now you think you’re the innocent one?”
“You know what? You’re not worthy to compare yourself to Howard, you’re just petty person!”
Speaking of that, Lydia threw a stack of papers on the table, “I want a divorce, Darius.”
Darius's breath caught in his throat. "What... A divorce?"
"Yes, I want a divorce," she confirmed, her voice devoid of emotion.
"But last night...all these 3 years meant something to me. Did it mean nothing to you?" Darius asked, the memory of how he had saved her from a car accident flooding back. He remembered the long nights of her recovery, how he had cared for her when her own boyfriend had abandoned her.
Lydia's eyes flashed with annoyance. "It was a mistake. I'd had too much to drink."
"After three years of nothing, you just expect me to forget?" Darius couldn’t keep the hurt from his voice.
"Keep your voice down," Lydia snapped, her glare cold. "It's time we ended this charade."
Darius clenched the edge of the table, fighting back tears. "I tried, Lydia. God knows I tried to be a good husband. But you've never let me in. How am I supposed to just give up now?"
"Your pathetic attempts at winning my affection are tiresome," she spat. "I don't love you and I never will. Sign the papers so we can both move on with our lives."
The callousness of her words cut deep. Darius took a shaky breath, trying to process his shattered hopes. In a broken voice, he whispered, "All I wanted was your happiness. If this is what you truly want...I have no choice."
Feeling his world crumble, Darius sought one last glimmer of hope. "But what about last night?" he asked, his voice laced with desperation.
Lydia met his plea with a frosty, indifferent stare. "Like I said, it was a mistake," she declared emotionlessly. "You need to forget it, or I’ll tell the police you harassed me!"
Without another word, she turned on her heel and left for her room, leaving Darius standing alone, engulfed in a silence that was now suffocating.
He watched as she walked away. Then, he tilted hid head back to force the tears back. Her words where like knives that stabbed him right in the chest.
He looked at the food he'd put his heart into making. They had gone cold.
Darius slumped into a chair, his mind racing. The weight of their conversation pressed down on him, making it hard to breathe. He had poured everything into this marriage, but it was clear he had never managed to melt Lydia's icy heart.
"Maybe it's time."
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