Behind her, the sound of Adam Jones’s approaching footsteps grew closer, and Elly Campbell’s feet moved slightly, but her body was pulled into Adam’s embrace from behind.
"Let’s remarry, okay?"
The incredibly warm hug was spacious and firm, yet it made Elly freeze in place.
In Adam’s words, there was a hint of a faint plea, a desperate plea seeking her agreement.
Adam’s voice had grown even huskier than before.
Elly, clasping her bag, trembled slightly. For some reason, a faint fear began to bud in her heart.
The terror of being neglected and ignored for three years once again invaded her mind, torturing her heart over and over.
In that moment, she deeply realized that the hurt Adam had caused her had never truly been put aside for a single moment.
All along, she had been deceiving herself, thinking if she didn’t reflect on it, she had moved on, but she forgot that whenever she thought about it, all the memories were still crystal clear, engraved deep into her bones, aching at the slightest touch.
After a long while, she spoke coldly, clearly feeling Adam stiffen.
She dared not think too much or hesitate for a moment, reached out, moved Adam’s hands from her waist, and quickly walked away.
She ignored the fleeting pain in Adam’s dull eyes, held back the sourness in her own, and repeated, "No."
Pain struck her heart wave after wave, and she bit her tongue hard to jolt herself out of this intense agony.
"That won’t happen again, Elly, I won’t ever..."
Elly quickly interrupted him, not daring to listen any further, and said faintly, "I’m leaving."
She forced herself not to look at Adam’s increasingly desperate eyes, not knowing whether she was afraid of softening or afraid of sinking deeper.
Adam, with his eyes slightly reddened, stared in disbelief at Elly’s resolute face. Although she hadn’t said anything final, she had never allowed Adam to truly realize that they were indeed divorced.
There was no room for turning back.
With those two words, she turned and left without mercy.
Adam tried to grasp her, but his hand closed on air; Elly had already closed the door, separating them into two different spaces.
Gazing at the closed door, the pain in Adam’s heart grew more intense with each passing moment.
No one had ever seen Adam Jones as forlorn as he was at that moment, like a discarded pup, lost and bewildered.
After a long time, he let out a low chuckle, lifted his hand, and buried his face in his palm. His laughter, passing through the narrow gaps between his fingers, was hoarse with desolation.
Elly Campbell left Adam Jones’s office, her slender back upright, not allowing herself to show even a hint of disarray or sorrow.
It wasn’t until she stepped into the elevator that, in that confined space where no one else could see her, she slumped, her back curving under the weight of a force suddenly drained from her, as if all her strength had been siphoned off.
She tilted her head back, blinking continuously, forcing back the tears welling up in her eyes. After a while, she straightened her back again, took a deep breath, and stepped out the moment the elevator doors opened.
Just then, she met Robert Green coming towards her, escorting two others, dragging an unfamiliar man towards the elevator.