Chapter 4

4: 4

After that, Martin never contacted me again.

I couldn't be bothered to reach out either. I just poured myself into getting ready for life after quitting.

Messages kept popping up on my phone.

【I looked at a few places in Asheville. See if any of them fit what you need.】

【I already asked about the paperwork ahead of time. Here are the documents, take a look.】

【Barbara, don't worry. I've always been here.】

Everything churned in me at once. I told myself I wanted to stay calm, but I couldn't, no matter how I tried.

Another message popped up.

【Babe, look, Angel threw up fur again, come deal with it quick.】

【Annie's got diarrhea too, it's so gross.】

The sender was Lois.

Two videos followed right after.

One ragdoll, one golden shaded.

Those were my Annie and Angel!

In the videos, both cats had tears streaming down, their cheeks sunken, their eyes dull.

Nothing like the videos I used to see from the boarding place!

No wonder. This past year, whenever I wanted to visit the cats, Martin hadn't been as eager as before.

I sat there in silence for a full two minutes.

On her end, Lois recalled the messages right on cue.

【Ugh, sent that to the wrong person, don't get the wrong idea. That was meant for my own boyfriend.】

I couldn't hold my anger back any longer. I drove straight to Lois's place.

The door opened, and I met her taunting smile head-on.

“So you think my cats are cute? Came to see my cats?”

“Give me back my Annie and Angel!”

I raised my hand high, but in the end I didn't bring it down. I just barged past her into the apartment and carried my Annie and Angel out.

After all this time, Annie and Angel still knew me.

The moment they saw me they cried out and threw themselves into my arms, rubbing their heads slowly against me, as if they'd suffered something terrible.

Anger and guilt tangled together.

I pulled out my phone right there.

【I'm changing my flight. I'm leaving tonight.】

He was quiet for barely three seconds.

Then he replied with one word: “Okay.”

Back home, I packed my bags as fast as I could.

But the tears came anyway, and I couldn't stop them.

When we first rented this apartment, there was nothing here, just a broken-down shell.

Martin spent so much time fixing up every corner of it with his own hands.

Everything was designed around my tastes, my sense of style, and it cost him several months of his salary.

I used to think he was being too serious about it, wasting money, when it was only a temporary rental.

But he'd answered me so solemnly: “The rental's temporary. My love for you isn't.”

“Barbara, I really do want to build a life with you.”

Now, looking at every little detail in this rented place, all I felt was how bitterly ironic it was.

So I decided not to take anything at all. I just wanted to leave with the two cats as soon as possible.

But the second I opened the door, I ran into Martin, seething with rage.

His eyes were red, and he raised his hand high to strike.

“Happy now? Who gave you the right to go make trouble for Lois?!”

“I told you, Lois has severe depression. The only thing that makes her feel a little better is having a cat!”

“You abandoned the cats anyway, so what's wrong with letting Lois keep them?!”

His hand didn't come down. Instead he shoved a photo Lois had sent him in my face.

An old, worn-out picture that had clearly been passed around for years.

“Do you have any idea? Because you took Lois's cat away, she's cut her wrists now!”

“If anything happens to Lois, I'm not done with you!”

Real disappointment is when you don't even have the strength to fight.

I just stared at him blankly, then slowly pried his hand off me.

“But Annie and Angel are my cats.”

“Martin, please move. The courier company will be here any minute.”

It was only then.

Only then did Martin notice the suitcases stacked by the door.

“Barbara Gilbert, aren't you full of ideas now! I just paid Lois a little more attention because she has depression. Do you really need to run away from home over that?”

“Hauling out a few junk boxes, who are you trying to scare?”

I shook my head.

“I'm not running away from home.”

“I'm breaking up with you.”

“Martin, I've said it a thousand times.”

Martin pressed a hand to his forehead in irritation, his face full of impatience.

“Barbara Gilbert, how long are you going to keep this up?! Right now Lois is about to kill herself over losing her cats, I don't have time to waste on you! Hand Annie and Angel over, now!”

“Barbara Gilbert, can you not be so vicious?! A person's life is at stake here!”

In the struggle.

Martin shoved me to the ground.

“Barbara……”

The next moment, a dark figure rushed in and kicked Martin clear across the room.

A deep voice, low and edged with fury, cracked through the room like thunder.

“Get your hands off my girlfriend!”