Tears Of A Wife novel Chapter 18

She laughed and I did, too. She's already beside me so I could freely observe her. I can clearly see the glints of happiness in her face as she looked at me. One of things I'm afraid to lose once she knows the truth.

I know she'll be hurt. Everyone in both of our families will be hurt. My greatest fear is seeing Dad in pain. It wounds me to see him hurt. Right now, I'm already sad for the people who wished us a good marriage, so as long as I could, I will hide the truth. I will hide it for my heart that still fights.

"You're silent. Do you have a problem with your husband?"

"Not really. I just thought of something sad," I answered and returned my focus onto what I was doing.

"If you have problems here, you can always tell me about it. Even if Atlas is my son, I won't let him do whatever he wants. Especially if he hurts you. I will really cut his ego!"

"No! It's not Atlas. It's my patient," I said gently.

"Well, I'll just call him upstairs."

"Okay, Ma." I glanced at her briefly.

When she finally got out of my line of vision, I puffed out a breath. I tried hard to ignore everything and moved faster. Like usual, I'll just let everything slowly vanish.

When I finished preparing the table was the time Atlas and his mother arrived. He looked like he just finished taking a bath because of his wet hair. His eyes instantly went to me.

"Good morning," he greeted. He walked towards me and held my arm. I felt how he gently kissed my head. A gentle kiss of deceit.

"Morning," I replied. "Let's eat." I smiled at Atlas who's now beside me. He nodded and assisted me to my seat. He took care of me like I was a queen that needed to be served.

We silently ate our breakfast. Atlas' mother sometimes try to bring the topic of having a child which the both of us answered with uncertainty. I shrugged at how Atlas took care of me because I knew that he only did those things because we're in front of his mother.

"I'll wash the dishes, Olive. You and Atlas should get dressed up and buy some Christmas decorations. I think you're the only house who had no decorations around the village. Don't you have money to buy some?" she said after we finished eating.

I glanced at Atlas beside me. Truth is, inside those ten years, I never experienced buying Christmas decors. I spent my Christmas with my dad and sometimes we travel to Europe. Sometimes I end up drowning myself in liquor with Mom in her mausoleum. Atlas and I were never with each other to greet Christmas.

"Do we need that, Ma? The important thing is the essence of Christmas, not material things." He scratched his head.

I smiled. "He's right, Ma."

When we finally got inside Atlas' car, that was the only time we breathed all tue burden. Both of us were silent as we drove to the mall. The short drive felt longer because of the tension between us.

"Did you plan all these?" he asked when we stopped at a big mall in Metro.

My forehead creased as my gaze fixated on him. "What do you mean?"

"This!" he firmly said while staring at me intently. "Did you talk to my mother for this?" he added.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Atlas. I'm not that desperate to be able to do that!" I defended myself.

"Really, Olive?"

"Believe what you want to believe, Atlas. I'll go out," I said before opening the car's door and going out.

I let out a heavy sigh. I even tapped my chest to calm myself. I felt like if I stayed there longer, my tears would just eventually burst out. It was just a simple sentence, but it can drown me in sadness. It's like a dagger that stabbed me without any warning.