Vows Beneath The Moon Clown Chapter 02
The manager at Luna Park called me into the office and fired me on the spot.
“You damaged the park’s image. Today’s pay is gone. Cleaning and repairing the moon-clown suit will cost five hundred dollars. You’ll cover it yourself.”
I stared at the compensation form, my hands still shaking.
A full day’s part-time work paid one hundred dollars.
Five hundred dollars was half a month of my father’s chemotherapy money.
The manager looked at me with disgust.
“Of all people, you had to offend someone from the De Luca family. One word from their lawyer and you’ll lose every decent job you can find.”
I did not argue.
After signing the form, I walked out, and Adrian called.
I stared at the screen for a long time before answering.
His first sentence was, “Ava, you were completely out of control today.”
I stood in the shadow near the back door, holding the mascot head.
“I was out of control?”
“You attacked someone in public. Do you know Veronica could sue you? She is only holding back because of me.”
I laughed.
“So I should thank her?”
The line went silent for a few seconds.
Then his voice softened.
“I was going to find a chance to tell you.”
“Tell me what?”
I asked him, “Tell me you weren’t afraid of intimacy, you were just disgusted by me and wanted to save your body for another woman? Or tell me that I slept in the guest room for five years while you had a three-year-old daughter with someone else?”
Adrian’s breath caught.
“Do you have to make it sound so ugly?”
“Ugly?”
I gripped my phone.
“On the first night after our wedding, you screamed and hid from me, and I comforted you every way I could. You said my closeness triggered your trauma, so I gave you the master bedroom and slept in the study.”
“When you had nightmares at midnight, I stood outside your door until dawn and didn’t dare go in to hold you.”
“You said therapy was expensive, so I saved on food and clothes to send you money.”
“When my father and stepmother called me useless, when my friends laughed at me for living like a widow, I still said it was all my fault.”
“And what happened? You put my ring on her hand and my mother’s keepsake around your daughter’s neck.”
“Adrian, what were these five years to you?”
His voice turned cold.
“Ava, we were never right for each other.”
It felt as if a knife had been driven into my chest.
Not right for each other.
Those words erased everything I had given.
I asked quietly, “Then why didn’t you divorce me?”
He said nothing.
I understood.
Because I was useful.
He needed a quiet, obedient wife to block the Blackwood family’s pressure and preserve the illusion of a normal marriage.
“We can divorce,” he finally said. “But not now.”
“Why?”
“Veronica is running for a seat on the Mafia Commission. There can’t be a scandal now. The child is about to enter a private kindergarten, and her paperwork can’t be disturbed.”
He sounded entirely justified.
As if I was supposed to keep serving as their cover.
“So I still have to help you hide it?”
“Ava, don’t be so sharp. I can compensate you.”
My heart went cold.
“How?”
“The small apartment in South Brooklyn is yours. I’ll give you another one million dollars. You formally apologize to Veronica, sign a gag agreement, and promise not to bother us again.”
I laughed from anger.
“One million dollars to buy five years of my life?”
His tone grew impatient.
“You make only three thousand a month. Your father is still in chemo, and your brother is in grad school. One million is more than enough for you.”
He had calculated my hardship perfectly.
And because he had, he was certain I would lower my head.
I said, “I don’t want money. I want a divorce.”
“Are you sure?”
He sneered.
“I’ve already had the Luna Park surveillance saved. If Veronica sues, you won’t get a cent, and you may end up with a criminal record.”
I looked toward the harsh sunlight in the distance.
“Let her sue.”
Not long after I hung up, my father called.
The moment the call connected, he started shouting.
“Ava, have you lost your mind? Adrian is such a good man and you still want a divorce?”
I leaned against the wall, exhausted.
“Dad, he cheated. He has a child.”
The other end paused.
Then he lowered his voice.
“Adrian told me. He has psychological problems. As his wife, can’t you be more tolerant?”
I could hardly believe what I heard.
“He has a child with another woman, and you want me to tolerate it?”
“Isn’t that because you were useless?”
My father grew agitated.
“If you could make him happy, would he have gone to someone else? Besides, the De Lucas’ lawyer promised to help me get a specialist and arrange an internship for your brother. Don’t be ungrateful.”
I went cold all over.
“You knew?”
He faltered.
“Not exactly. Adrian only just told me. Ava, what is a little grievance for a woman? If the marriage can continue, let it continue.”
So my dignity mattered less to them than an appointment with a specialist.
“Dad, am I really your daughter?”
He flew into embarrassment and anger.
“Don’t use that to block me. I still need treatment, and your brother’s future matters. If you offend the De Lucas’ lawyer completely, our whole family will suffer.”
Suddenly, I felt calm.
“Then from now on, pretend you never had this daughter.”
After hanging up, I sat by the road for a long time.
My phone screen went dark and reflected my pale face.
At that moment, the last soft place in my heart died.