Chapter 1 - The Yellow Envelope
The sterile scent of antiseptic hung heavy in the quiet hospital room, mixing with the metallic tang of old blood and fear. Maya lay against the raised pillows of her bed, her breathing shallow and ragged. Her long dark hair framed a face marred by dark purple bruising, swollen cheekbones, and scraped skin. She clutched a stiff, crumpled yellow envelope to her chest like a shield. Standing over her was Ethan, his thirty-year-old frame stiff and unyielding. A thick white bandage wrapped around his head, soaking through with a faint pink stain near the temple. Fresh cuts crisscrossed his jawline, and his dark button-down shirt hung loosely over a white t-shirt, paired with dusty brown pants.
Ethan tossed the yellow envelope onto the blanket near her lap. The paper slid slightly, resting against her hospital gown.
"Divorce papers," Ethan said, his voice completely flat, devoid of warmth or hesitation. "These need your signature."
Maya looked up, her gaze locking onto his cold, distant eyes. Shock and sheer disbelief rippled across her bruised face. She let out a dry, shaky breath.
"Are you serious?" she asked, her voice cracking with profound bewilderment.
Ethan looked down at her calmly, adjusting the white bandage on his head as if he were discussing the weather rather than the destruction of their marriage.
"I almost didn't do this here," Ethan explained, his tone infuriatingly measured. "But it's time."
Tears welled instantly in Maya’s eyes, hot and heavy, fueled by a mixture of physical agony and emotional devastation.
"I almost died in that car crash, Ethan!" Maya cried out, her voice trembling with intense hurt and deep confusion. "And this is how you wake me up?!"
Ethan did not flinch. He slowly turned away from the bed, his footsteps heavy as he walked toward the closed door of the hospital room. Maya watched him leave in complete despair, her chest heaving as the monitor beside her beeped faster.
"What's the point in postponing the inevitable?" Ethan muttered over his shoulder, his hand resting on the metal doorknob. "Might as well just get it over with altogether."
May you like
He pulled the door open, stepping out into the hallway without looking back once. Maya stared at the empty doorway, her trembling fingers grazing the yellow envelope. As she pulled the flap open to look at the paperwork inside, a folded photograph slipped out from beneath the legal documents and fluttered down onto the white sheets, revealing a picture of Ethan locking arms with another woman at a downtown restaurant taken just two days before the accident.
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