Hello!! It's been 4 years since my last update. Oh my god, is there any reader left? Hahahaha If you're reading this chapter, thank you!! Sorry for not updating so long, but here it is a new chapter for you. Enjoy!

Decision

Chapter 41

“I want a divorce, Taeng.”

Jessica finally managed to say, her voice trembling with sorrow.

“Divorce?” Taeng's voice wavered in disbelief as he struggled to comprehend her words. A knot of unease formed in his stomach, wondering what he had done to drive Jessica to this decision. "Why?" he whispered, his voice filled with pain. "I thought we were fine."

Jessica's voice choked as she responded, "It's just...me."

Taeng shook his head, unable to grasp the suddenness of it all. "I don't understand, Sica. Why now?"

Tears welled up in her eyes as she confessed, "Taeng, I've been contemplating this for a while."

The hurt in his voice grew as he realized the truth. "All this time, you looked different...you were thinking of leaving." He struggled to hold back his own tears. "Why, Sica? I love you so much. You said you loved me too. Why a divorce?" His voice lowered, wounded by Jessica's reluctance to provide a reason. “This isn’t you,” Taeng almost muttered to himself. “It must be me. What did I do? Am I doing anything wrong to you?”

The woman shook her head. "It's not you," she whispered, her voice on the verge of breaking. "I'm at fault, Taeng. You've done nothing wrong."

He reached out for her hands. "We can work through this, Sica. We can talk, find a way. I love you." Taeng’s voice trembled with desperation.

Jessica nodded, tears streaming down her face. "I know, Taeng. I know. That's why I can't keep hurting you.”

Taeng's frustration mounted as he tried to understand. "How can you expect me to accept this? I don't even know why you want this." He turned away, running his hands through his hair in frustration. "Is it because you don't love me anymore?" he asked, his voice filled with anguish.

"Taeng, no," Jessica protested.

"Or do you realize you never loved me at all?" Taeng's voice cracked as he voiced his deepest fears.

"No, Taeng. It's not like that. I do love you. I love you," she pleaded.

The words pierced his heart, painfully ironic. She loved him, yet she had chosen to leave him. The pain was overwhelming. "Then why?" he whispered, his voice laced with desperation.

"Please, Taeng. Don't push me," Jessica implored.

Taeng's frustration boiled over. "How can you say that when you're the one pushing me away now?" he exclaimed.

"I know. I know. I'm sorry," she uttered weakly, tears streaming down her face.

"Just stay, Sica. Just stay," Taeng pleaded, his voice breaking under the weight of his desperation. He reached out again to grasp her wrist, his fingers trembling, desperate to hold on. "I'll be fine. You don't have to worry about me. I'm okay as long as you stay by my side."

Jessica's voice quivered as she tried to pull away, her heart tearing at the seams. "Taeng..." she pleaded, her voice barely audible, her gaze averted, unable to bear the devastating pain she had inflicted.

Taeng refused to let go, his grip on her wrist tightening, as if she were his lifeline in a raging storm. "Please, look at me," he implored, his voice filled with a mixture of hope and anguish. His hand gently cupped her chin, forcing her head up to meet his gaze. "What's wrong, Sica?" he whispered, his voice heavy with concern.

"It will hurt you," she confessed, her voice choked with sorrow, her eyes searching for solace in the distance.

"You're already hurting me now," he responded, his voice cracking with the weight of his shattered heart.

His confession hung in the air, suffocating them both with its painful truth. Taeng's hand slowly released her chin, dropping to his side in defeat. His head hung low, a defeated whimper escaping his trembling lips.

"I'm sorry," she managed to whisper through her tears, her voice a fragile plea for forgiveness.

Taeng pulled back, his gaze locked on Jessica's face for one last time, etching her image into his broken heart. "Stay, Sica. Please," he begged, his voice filled with a desperate longing.

"I can't, Taeng," she repeated, her voice filled with an indescribable sorrow, her own heart torn apart seeing him beg her to stay again and again.

"WHHHYYY???" His grip tightened again, his voice tearing through the air, carrying all the pain and confusion he couldn't contain.

"I am really sorry, Taeng," Jessica whispered, her voice barely above a whisper. She reached out, pulling him into a tight embrace. "I'm sorry."

"What is it, Sica? Just tell me now. Please," Taeng pleaded, his hands gripping hers tightly, his eyes begging for answers.

There was a heavy silence, the weight of their words hanging in the air. Jessica sniffled, wiping her tears, trying to gather her strength. "I... I am pregnant, Taeng," she finally confessed, her voice filled with a profound sadness. "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry."

Taeng's grip loosened as if he had been struck by lightning, his body recoiling, as if her words had pierced through his soul. "Y-you're kidding, right?" he stammered, his voice laced with disbelief.

The flood of heartbreaking apologies that followed only confirmed the devastating truth. Taeng stumbled backward, his eyes wide with shock, his mind struggling to comprehend the magnitude of the revelation. "But how? We..." He trailed off, the realization hitting him like a tidal wave. "It's that man, isn't it? It's him, right?"

Jessica couldn't bring herself to answer directly, but her guilt-ridden expression spoke volumes, shattering the remnants of their love and trust. Taeng's voice trembled with a mix of pain and self-blame. "You even said you were on your period. And I'm so dumb for believing it. I guess I'm really stupid, huh?"

"I'm really sorry, Taeng," Jessica murmured, taking a tentative step towards him, her own heart breaking as she witnessed the devastation she had caused. "I never wanted to hurt you."

But the words offered no solace, no remedy for the irreversible damage that had been inflicted upon their relationship. In the desolate silence that followed, their souls wept for the love they had lost, forever tainted by the heartbreaking revelation.

"Leave," he commanded, his voice torn apart by agony.

Jessica froze, her heart sinking as she met his anguished gaze.

"Leave! Just leave!" he implored, his voice laced with a simmering anger that threatened to consume them both. His words cracked and splintered, a reflection of the shattered fragments of his heart.

"Taeng..." she pleaded, her voice quivering with sorrow.

"No!" Taeng's scream pierced the air, a wounded soul lashing out in unbearable pain. The word crackled, frayed around the edges as his throat closed and his cheeks heated. Everything just hurts. "Just go away! I don't want to hear anything anymore! Leave me alone!" He turned away, suppressing the churning sickness threatening to consume him and turned his mouth vile. He wrapped his arms tightly around himself, desperate to contain the violent tremors coursing through his body.

Jessica approached him, her hand reaching out to touch his quivering shoulders. And it’s only then that Taeng acknowledged that he was on the verge of breaking down. He recoiled, pushing her away with a force born of shattered trust and wounded pride.

"JUST GO!" He screamed once more, the sound reverberating painfully in his own ears, a testament to the intensity of his pain. And he looked at her. She stood there, trembling and drenched in tears, a mirror image of his own disarrayed state. But he felt numb, overwhelmed by a torrent of emotions that threatened to drown him whole.

He rose from his position, his movements mechanical as he grabbed his phone and coat, his eyes fixed on an invisible horizon. With a swift, purposeful stride, he exited their once-shared bedroom.

The door slammed shut, the resounding echo a final punctuation to their shattered bond. "Taeng, no," she wailed, her voice barely a whisper, lost in a sea of desolation. "I'm sorry."

The weight of her decision crashed upon her, her body crumbling beneath the weight of her own misery. Collapsing onto the carpet, her vision blurred by tears, she stared into the void. "Am I doing the right thing?"

She wrapped her arms tightly around her knees, a feeble attempt to anchor herself in a world that now felt hollow. The emptiness of the house enveloped her, a haunting reminder of Taeng's absence. Loud sobs erupted from her, echoing through the empty spaces as she realized she would have to become accustomed to this suffocating loneliness once the divorce became inevitable.

Yet, she knew it was her decision. So, she swallowed the hollowness that threatened to devour her and pressed her head into her knees, her cries reverberating through the empty chambers of their broken home.

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