No More Yielding Chapter 06
His heart felt as if it were being crushed by a giant, invisible hand, the pain so agonizing that even his breaths tasted of blood.
Arthur returned to the officers’ housing compound like a walking corpse.
He pushed the door open.
Greeting him was a deathly silence.
The house was terrifyingly clean.
There was no sight of my busy figure, nor of Isabella with her head bowed over her drawings.
He rushed into the bedroom.
Not a single piece of clothing belonging to me or Isabella was left in the closet.
In the bathroom, our toiletries had been completely cleared out.
He stumbled into Isabella’s room.
The bookcase was empty; the drawing board was gone.
Only the architectural blueprints that Isla had trampled and torn that day lay quietly in the corner.
He walked over slowly, but his gaze fell on the inside of the closet.
There, several deep scratch marks marred the wood.
They were clawed out by Isabella in agony and despair during a thunderstorm night when her claustrophobia acted up.
The blood from her broken nails still remained on the wooden board, now dried and blackened.
Arthur reached out with a trembling hand, tracing those bloodstains.
Large tears fell heavily without warning.
Finally, he walked into his own study.
Right in the center of the desk lay a signed document.
Divorce Agreement.
Beside it, a removed wedding ring sat quietly.
There were no lengthy farewell notes, no hysterical accusations.
Only a clean, decisive severing of ties.
Arthur clenched the wedding ring tightly, digging its sharp platinum edge into his palm.
Blood dripped down.
He finally understood that the “fine” Isabella had spoken.
Was not a compromise, but an eternal farewell.