Chapter 3

One hour later, Selena arrived at the hospital. As soon as she reached the door of the ward, she saw Edmund carefully wiping Claire's face. His movements were gentle as if he were handling the most fragile thing in the world. His usually unfeeling eyes held a rare trace of tenderness. For a moment, Selena thought she saw Herman. He used to treat her the same way—gentle, affectionate, his eyes filled with love. She couldn't help but call out, "Herman…" Edmund suddenly looked up and asked in a low voice, "Who are you calling?" Selena snapped out of her daze and quickly shook her head. She masked her emotions by placing the thermal flask on the table. "No one. Here's the seafood risotto. Also, there's a document from the company that needs your signature. Once you sign it, I'll drop it off on my way back." As she spoke, she took a file from her bag. She opened it and handed it to him. In response, Edmund frowned instinctively. If there was a document that he needed to sign, why hadn't his secretary contacted him about it? He was about to check the contents when Selena reached out, attempting to stop him. Just then, Claire suddenly clung to his arm and swayed it like a spoiled little girl. "I'm hungry, Edmund. Hurry up and sign it so that I can eat. Can you do that for me, please?" Upon hearing this, Edmund didn't hesitate any longer. He hurriedly signed his name and turned to grab the thermal flask from the table. Selena looked at the signed divorce papers in her hands and let out a breath of relief. Just as she turned to leave, Edmund suddenly spoke up. "Wait." Her body stiffened. "Go back and pack your things. Move to the guest room. Claire will take the master bedroom." Selena's tense heart gradually eased when she realized that was all he had to say. She was about to leave anyway, so she naturally didn't care where she slept at night. "Alright, I got it. If there's nothing else, I'll go home and pack now." For some reason, even though Edmund got the answer he wanted, a weird and inexplicable feeling arose in his heart. But in the end, he said nothing as he watched Selena leave. While waiting for the elevator, Selena overheard two nurses talking in hushed voices. "When Mr. Gilead rushed in carrying Ms. Jewitt, I thought something serious had happened. Even the head of ER was called over. But it turned out to be just a small cut! If they had come any later, it would have already healed." "You don't understand. What was that saying again? The highest form of love is feeling pain for the one you love…" Selena's expression remained stoic the entire time even though the man they spoke of—the one who cherished another woman deeply—was her husband of five years. But at the last sentence, her expression faltered slightly. Instinctively, she raised a hand to touch the wound on her forehead. If Herman were still here, he would have been heartbroken at the sight of it. Back at the Gilead residence, Selena went straight upstairs to pack her things. Even after living there for five years, she only had a few possessions. In fact, most of her belongings were duplicates of things that Claire owned. She carefully sorted through them. In the end, she donated anything of value by contacting the relevant institutes. Then, she stuffed the rest into trash bags. After she was done, she went to a hair salon and cut off the waist-length hair that she'd been keeping for the past five years. She had grown it out, worn white dresses, and styled herself like Claire—all to please Edmund. Now, in the little time she had left, she just wanted to be herself again. By sunset, Selena returned home. When Edmund saw her, he froze for a moment and frowned deeply. "Why did you cut your hair? I told you before that you don't look good with short hair. Go and get extensions." Was it really because short hair didn't suit her, or was it because she didn't resemble Claire when her hair was short? Of course, Selena knew the answer. But before she could respond, a voice came from the dressing room. "Edmund, my hair is stuck in the zipper. Can you help me with it?" Before Claire even finished her sentence, Edmund walked over without hesitation. Selena swallowed her rejection to get hair extensions that had been on the tip of her tongue. Back in her room, she took a shower and was about to rest when a knock sounded at the door. Claire smiled sweetly as she said, "Ms. Crawford, you haven't eaten yet, have you? Edmund made a lot of my favorite dishes. Come join us." Selena was stunned for a moment. In their five years of marriage, she had never known that Edmund could cook. She smiled derisively and replied, "It's okay. I'm not hungry. You two enjoy." She turned to go back inside, but Claire suddenly grabbed her arm. "Stop pretending, Selena. You've been dying of jealousy, haven't you? You've spent five years groveling at Edmund's feet like a dog, but he never loved you."