(Flora's POV)
I lose to him again.
I thought I could be heartless, but when I see him fall to the ground, I turn around.
I call a taxi and take him to the hospital.
The doctor tells me he will be fine, so I quietly leave his ward.
At the hospital gate I meet Cody Wilson, Leo's father.
"Flora Mana, are you here to visit Leo too? Come back with me and rest for a while." He is delighted to see me.
I am very frustrated.
I know I can't hide the divorce anymore.
The most important thing that keeps me going in this marriage is the kindness Cody has always shown me.
Cody is my mother's first love and he treats me like his daughter. Even though Leo's mother, Caitlyn Christian, hates me, smears me and makes things difficult for me, Cody always helps me out and never believes Caitlyn's slander against me.
Now I have to tell such an elder the worst news.
"Cody, I'm leaving."
"Why? What's so urgent?" He is puzzled.
In his eyes, I'm still the housewife who loves Leo Wilson with all her heart.
For a woman devoted to her family, what is more important than her hospitalized husband?
But I'm not that kind of woman anymore.
I face Cody calmly, my tone cautious.
"Cody, Leo and I are getting divorced. I'm sorry."
"What? Are you kidding me?" Cody can't believe it.
But he reads from my sad face that I am serious.
"Haven't you been getting along very well?" He asks me.
"Sorry, I lied, and Leo hasn't been home for three years. He has never seen me, and he doesn't even know what I look like. I...I can't take it anymore."
I'm really worth nothing.
Even now I'm still not telling the truth. It wasn't the three-year wait that made me give up, but the embarrassment Leo gave me when we first met three years later.
Cody looks shocked.
I have been disguising. I told all the elders that Leo and I lived happily, but he was so busy with work that I had to visit them alone.
I don't want our elders to put pressure on Leo, and I don't want him to be forced to see me.
Unexpectedly, the last thing I got was his divorce notice.
"Wait, how dare he do this to you? I have to get justice for you!" Cody says, and takes out his phone to call Leo.
"Please don't, he was in a coma just now..."
Before I can finish my sentence, Leo answers the phone.
His voice comes clearly into my ears.
"Dad, what's the matter?"
"You're going to divorce Flora Mana, isn't that a big deal?" Cody is angry.
Leo's voice cools. "That woman must have said something to you. But I've decided that this month, no, I'm going to divorce her within this week."
He's going to divorce me, and he can't even wait a month.
I'm feeling even sadder.
But I deserve it.
I shouldn't have taken him from the parking lot to the hospital.
Cody is furious.
He scolds, "You're a jerk! Have you forgotten that Flora and Ada used all their money to help you through the crisis?"
"So she's just my creditor and not my wife. I'm ready to pay her with interest. I won't owe Flora and Ada a penny!"
"Is this a money issue? What about your relationship? Flora has been married to you for three years, but you haven't come home once!"
"I gave her three years of freedom, and I paid her on time every month. I didn't care how she spent my money, and what men she dated."
Leo sounds determined.
His words are piercing my heart.
In his eyes, I am a woman who sows discord, spends money indiscriminately, and hooks up with others.
It's time to end it all. He has caused me enough pain.
Cody is almost out of breath by Leo.
"Don't go too far! You've let me down! You're just like your mother!"
Cody flushes and faints suddenly.
Fortunately we are in the hospital. I quickly call someone to rescue Cody.
In the ward, Cody is unconscious in his oxygen mask, and I watch him guiltily.
He came to visit Leo and was hospitalized because I told him about the divorce.
Suddenly, footsteps come from outside the ward.
I quickly hide behind the curtains to avoid meeting Leo.
I hear Caitlyn Christian's voice.
"Just when I went to buy flowers, you had an argument with your dad. Don't you know he has high blood pressure? Why anger him?"
"Sorry, Dad suddenly heard from Flora Mana that I was getting a divorce. He was disappointed no matter how I explained it," Leo says.
He takes his slander against me as an explanation.
"You're divorcing Flora Mana?" Caitlyn sounds surprised and delighted.
"Yes."
"Well done. The bitch is a troublemaker like her mother. She must have said something to your dad, so your dad was in a coma. If she's here, I must tear her mouth apart!" Caitlyn is outraged.
I hide behind the curtains, sad and scared.
They actually think it is all my fault and are going to hurt me.
Then I hear Leo's voice, "Mom, calm down. Once Flora and I divorce, we'll have nothing to do with her family."
"That's fine, but she has to be punished for your dad's hospitalization. Before you divorce, you must gather evidence of her affair and show it in court. She won't take a penny from you! I want her and her mother to beg on the street!" Caitlyn says viciously.
"Okay."
Hiding behind the curtains, I feel the bone-chilling coldness.