Open Marriage, Broken Promises: When Love Turns to Ashes novel Chapter 60

The color drained from my face instantly as I turned toward the voice.

Not far off, surrounded by a crowd of reporters, Sean was glaring at me, his eyes bloodshot.

"Emily, come home with me. I won't blame you."

He looked worse than before, his face more haggard. The man who once cared so much about his appearance now seemed disheveled, unshaven, his clothes rumpled.

He staggered toward me, his face pale, and suddenly fell to his knees in front of me.

"Emily, I know I was wrong. I don't mind that you aborted our child, or that you left home. I don't even mind your affair. Please just come home with me."

I couldn't help but laugh at how pathetic he seemed.

His words were full of self-pity, yet every sentence subtly blamed me.

Saying these things in front of the media, he knew exactly what the consequences would be. But he didn't care. He just wanted to perform his "deep love" in front of the cameras.

I suppressed the disgust rising in my chest and said coldly, "I can't give up on the divorce. Stop pestering me. Can't we just part with some dignity?"

Sean clearly didn't expect me to be so harsh with him. His face went ashen.

His trembling hands reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring, trying to slip it onto my finger.

"Emily, don't be so cruel to me. I love you!"

Alex immediately pushed him aside, standing in front of me protectively.

"Sean, if you really loved Emily, you wouldn't keep forcing her."

Sean's eyes, filled with rage, locked onto Alex as he sneered.

"You're nothing but a male mistress, aren't you?"

"I'm the only one who truly loves Emily! No one else has the right to be with her! Even if Emily has cheated, I'll love her forever. I won't betray her!"

Some reporters were moved to tears by his words.

But then, a figure suddenly stumbled forward, collapsing into Sean's arms.

"Sean, you promised you'd marry me!"

Lily, her eyes swollen, cried out to the cameras.

"You said that as long as I had your child, you'd divorce Emily! Why did you lie to me?"

"Why did you make me the target of online harassment? I never meant to seduce you! Why did you push me to this point?"

"Why did you make me break up with my boyfriend and be with you?"

The reporters, sensing something was off with Lily, immediately turned their cameras on her.

I didn't want to watch any longer. I grabbed Alex's arm and tried to leave.

Sean tried to follow, but Lily clung to him desperately.

He looked at her in disgust, then shoved her away.

But Lily wasn't going to let him go so easily. She dug her nails into his neck, screaming.

"Sean, give me back my baby!"

"You can't be with that slut Emily! Either divorce her, or you'll go to jail!"

Sean looked at me as I walked away, his eyes bloodshot. He slapped Lily across the face with all his strength.

"What right do you have to insult my Emily? Slut!"

"Stop pretending to be innocent. You were the one who climbed into my bed first!"

"You're the one who's trash! Why don't you just die already? I'm with you because you're cheap and don't want money!"

Lily covered her red, swollen face, dazed, and stared at him.

Suddenly, she forced a bitter smile, then turned and ran toward the ocean.

A wave rolled over her, and she disappeared from sight.

Her last words to the world were.

"Sean, may you never find peace."

He looked at me cautiously.

"Emily, have you forgiven me?"

I didn't say anything. Instead, I handed him the divorce papers.

His eyes dimmed instantly. He smiled bitterly and signed them.

"Emily, is this your New Year's gift to me, freedom?"

I took the papers and replied coldly, "No, this is something I took for myself."

I turned to leave, but his hand suddenly grabbed my sleeve.

I looked down and saw that his scars had healed, leaving behind a disfigured mark on his once-beautiful hand, just like my marriage with him.

Sean had started crying, and at that moment, I knew it was over for our marriage.

"If it wasn't for Lily, would we have ended up like this?"

I didn't stop walking, just kept moving forward.

"This world doesn't have ‘what ifs.'"

As I walked out of the prison gates, the New Year countdown had already begun.

I closed my eyes and silently counted down.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

I opened my eyes, and the sky was filled with vibrant fireworks, their colorful light reflecting on my face.

I smiled to myself, thinking.

"Happy New Year, Emily."

A new year meant a new life.

From now on, my world will be full of light, and everything will fall into place.