“Camelia, why are you saying these things?
Do you mean all these nine years with me were just to repay a debt?
Do you really think I’d believe such a poor lie?”
No! Of course he wouldn’t believe it.
If she didn’t love him,
Why would she ask for his kiss on her cheek every morning before he left?
Why would she cry her eyes out when he had surgery, stubbornly waiting outside the operating room, refusing to leave no matter who tried to convince her?
She had loved him deeply.
So deeply that anyone with eyes could see how devoted she was to him.
But what had he done in return?
The more loving and accommodating she was, the more recklessly he trampled on her dignity.
He forgot that hearts are made of flesh.
When pain becomes too much, numbness follows, and gradually, self–respect returns–no more wasting love on someone undeserving.
Forcing a smile uglier than crying, Mukesh stared at Camelia with bloodshot eyes:
“Camelia, I truly didn’t know Elowen’s presence would hurt you this much. She and I, it was just a drunken one–night stand. I only brought her home out of moral responsibility.
After she has the baby, I’ll help her emigrate and leave. Would that work?”
She firmly shook her head:
“Mukesh, I don’t care what relationship you have with Elowen.
All you need to know is that I have a new life here now. I’m not going back with you, so please just leave.”
“What new life! You!…”
In his agitated state, sleep–deprived for two days and having lost too much blood from the tattoo, Mukesh couldn’t finish his sentence before the world spun around him, and he collapsed into darkness.
When he regained consciousness, it was already eleven at night.
11:11
5.2%
Cleared for Departure: So Is My Love
Chapter 7
Seeing a glass of water left by a servant at his bedside, Mukesh misunderstood, and with barely cooled by the despite his weakness, desperate to find Camelia.
But when he reached the rooftop terrace, climbing the spiral staircase with a cold sweat,
What he saw was Elijah and Camelia locked in a passionate embrace
His heart seized with sharp pain!
Mukesh lunged forward with a pale face, grabbing Elijah’s collar and demanding through danched text
“What are you doing to Camelia?”
At this point, Mukesh could no longer delude himself that Elijah was merely Camelia’s childhood sweetheart
“Who gave you permission to touch my wife?!”
Elijah laughed at this:
“Your wife? Mukesh, did you ever truly treasure Camelia as your wife?”
“You-”
Before Mukesh could continue, the hot–tempered Elijah swung his fist, connecting with Mukesh’s left cheek!
“Willibert, if Camelia weren’t so kind–hearted, I would’ve thrown your worthless carcass outside to feed the wolves long aga
“Let me make this clear–Camelia is my fiancée now. No matter how shamelessly you harass her, she won’t give you a seccond glance.”
Hearing this, Mukesh lowered his retaliatory fist in shock, looking at Camelia in disbelief:
“Is what he’s saying true?
Camelia, we’ve been apart for less than a month, and you’ve already accepted someone else’s proposal?”
She didn’t tell Mukesh that on the very day she learned about Elowen’s pregnancy, she had already accepted Elijah’s earnest proposal over a video call from across the ocean.
She simply leaned lazily against Elijah’s broad shoulder, giving Mukesh a half–smile and a small nod.
Mukesh’s voice trembled with incredulity:
“Camelia, have you lost your mind?
You’re my wife. I never agreed to a divorce, yet you turn around and throw yourself at another man.
How dare you do this to me?”
11:11
