The Mistress Runs Away

It was Anna, a colleague from work. As soon as she heard the reluctant voice, she came to her senses as if she had been splashed with cold water.

“Can I come in?”

“Uh…yes.”

Rowena looked down at her hands as she answered vaguely. In the meantime, Anna came into the room quickly and looked around with a puzzled look on her face.

“Oh my god! We’re on the same shift, so I thought we’d go together… Did you have some kind of robbery at your house? Or a debt collector?”

Rowena managed to rise to her feet, stumbling for a moment. She thought of the dawn that was carved deep in her heart.

On the surface, Anna sounded concerned, but her eyes were not worried; they were full of curiosity and a hint of anticipation. Rowena averted her gaze at sight, Anna wasn’t a bad person, but she knew that she secretly talked bad about her behind her back. She didn’t want to get close, but she couldn’t kick out someone who visited her.

“Neither did happen. I was just looking for something.”

―Did you love me even for once?

―Not at all.

She remembered the chilling feeling of injustice.

Then a sober realization came to her.

It had been five years. Even if she was in a foreign place, it was more than enough time to find her if he had tried to do so. And even if the reason for the divorce was really his wife’s infertility like the newspaper had said, it wasn’t his problem. He could just remarry another woman.

“Ha….ha….ha………”

“Rebecca?”

Anna furrowed her brow and looked at Rowena, who started laughing like she was out of breath.

“Are you all right?’

“Yeah, I’m fine….”

What was she afraid of?

She felt so ashamed and embarrassed of herself. Rowena took a deep breath, then opened her briefcase and organized her clothes on hangers.

It was then that an old pouch came into Anna’s eyes. Looking at her face, she reached out and peered inside… A ring!

Anna’s eyes opened wide, and she gently moved to make the glass fall off the table.

“Oh my God! I’m sorry!”

“It’s okay. Please don’t move. You might get hurt. I’ll get the broom.”

While Rowena went to get the broom and threw the shards in the trash, Anna took the ring and put it in her pocket, then suggested with a smirk.

“I’m sorry, I’ll help you tidy up. Where do you want me to put this? And these?”

She was holding the old pouch she had taken out earlier and a pile of discolored letters. Picking up the scattered clothes, Rowena paused and said.

“Put them both in the bag, please.”

Her heart skipped a beat at the mention of the article in the newspaper earlier. Still, Rowena’s routine once again flowed as usual.

The only thing that had changed was that, along with Damian’s Christmas present, she took on more work to get a better place to live. That naturally led to Damian sleeping at Harriet’s house more frequently.

Unlike Rowena, who was ashamed, Harriet was more than happy to help, except for her concern that Rowena might be pushing herself too hard.

Despite the slight difference in age, Lawrence and Rosaline loved Damian very much and followed him around, to the point that they didn’t even fight. Which you would expect, for the most part, between friends. But of course, that didn’t mean they didn’t fight at all.

The twins, each holding an arm of the doll, fought.

“It’s mine! It’s mine!”

“No, it’s mine!”

“I told you not to fight. Lawrence! Rosaline!”

Harriet, who was folding the laundry, placed her hands on her hips. Tears welled up in the twins’ eyes at the harsh voice. Rosaline, who had always been brazen, was about to go to her bed with a frown full of heartache on her face. Damian, who had caught a glimpse of the situation, entered the twin’s room and came out carrying a fairy tale book the size of his own body.

“Auntie! Please read us a book.”

At the same time, the twins’ attention, which had been fixed on the doll, shifted to the book.

Noticing Damian’s intentions, Harriet smiled and sat down on the couch.

“Shall we?”

“Me too, me too!”

“I want to hear it too!”

Lawrence and Rosaline, who immediately threw down the doll, sat on both sides of Damian and Harriet. Towards the end of the fairy tale, the children began to rub their sleepy eyes. Harriet carried the children to their beds one by one and patted the children lightly on the back.

When she turned around to make sure that all three were sound asleep, a low voice came from below.