When the Clouds Finally Break

On the day my daughter is discharged from the hospital after recovering from the flu, I run into my ex-husband, Zachary Levine, whom I have been divorced from for seven years.

He is there to pick up his wife, who has just given birth.

He looks a little surprised as his gaze moves up and down to take in my clothes, which is still stained from my child's vomit. I had no time to change out of it earlier.

"Long time no see. How have you been lately?" he asks.

I smile and say I am doing fine.

As we are about to part, he grabs my arm.

"Alyssa, our son misses you a lot. If you are having any difficulties, don't push yourself. The passcode for the house in the north of the city is still your birthday. You can go there anytime."

I politely decline, and he lets out a sigh.

"After all these years, you are still as stubborn as you were back then. Don't hate me."

I smile but say nothing. There needs to be love for there to be hate. But now, he is just a stranger to me.

I took the paperwork from the doctor, carefully folded it, and tucked it into my bag before turning to leave.

A hand suddenly grabbed my wrist.

"You're working too hard as a nurse. I just want to make it up to you…" said my ex-husband, Zachary Levine.

He had somehow caught up to me.

I frowned and immediately recoiled. "Let go!"

In the struggle, my hearing aid slipped from behind my ear and clattered onto the floor, but Zachary was faster.

He lunged down to retrieve it, and as he stood up, gripping the hearing aid, his knuckles were pale from the exertion.

His Adam's apple bobbed heavily as he spoke in a voice thick with suppressed tremors. "Your wounds… Do they still hurt?"

I coldly reclaimed the hearing aid. "We have nothing to do with each other anymore, so there's no point in asking."

But honestly, how could the wounds not hurt?

On that rainy night years ago, Zachary insisted I'd pushed Leah Hayes down the stairs. "Alyssa Hayes! Leah is your sister!

"She's a doctor, so ruining her hands is no different from ruining her life! How did you turn so vicious?"

That same night, I was cornered in a deserted alley. They broke my hands without mercy and forced me to endure 99 brutal slaps.

Even when I was losing consciousness, all I could hear was the ringing in my ears from the slaps and his cold voice on the emergency call.

"She deserves it."

Since then, the hearing in my right ear had deteriorated. There were scars on my face and hands that no amount of time could erase.

I looked away and reattached the hearing aid.

Zachary looked lost as he reached out and tried to take my bags. "You're getting off shift, aren't you? Let me take you home…"

I stopped in my tracks. Just as I was about to refuse, a familiar female voice drifted over. "Honey, what are you doing here? Our baby won't stop crying because he can't see you!"

Leah's voice was thick with the affectation of a pampered wife. When she spotted me, a flash of surprise crossed her face, followed by a practiced, beaming smile.

"It's been so long, Alyssa. Where have you been all these years? Dad and Luke have missed you so much.

"Oh, but Mom and Dad are away traveling the world. They've been head over heels for each other while you're away. I'm honestly a little jealous!

"And look! This is my son with Zach, your nephew. Doesn't he look just like Zach?"

Leah instinctively nudged the baby in her arms closer to Zachary, smiling sweetly, though her eyes were full of provocation.

Leah, my half-sister, hadn't changed at all. She was the best at hiding taunts behind honeyed words.

On my tenth birthday, Dad's mistress, Cordelia Parker, showed up at our door with the nine-year-old Leah. That confrontation triggered Mom's heart attack on the spot, and from that day on, I lost her forever.

My family fell apart, yet Dad quickly brought Leah and Cordelia into our home.

With just a few soft words, Leah took my room, threw out my childhood memories, and quietly siphoned away every drop of Dad's affection for me.

Back then, young and headstrong, I fought her head-on, only to end up losing my husband and son to her.

Zachary glanced at me and cut her off. "Alyssa's clothes are dirty, so I'll take her home. I'll have the driver take you and the baby back."

"Zach, I don't—"

"You've always been the sensible one, Leah," Zachary said, frowning.

Leah's playful pout vanished. Her expression fell as she swallowed the rest of her protest.

I didn't want to get tangled up with them any further, so I cleared my throat and said, "No need. My husband's outside waiting for me."

Zachary froze briefly, as if convinced I was lying.

"There's no need to put up a tough front with me, Alyssa. The ring on your finger is the one I gave you when we got married, isn't it?"

I violently shook off his hand and coldly warned him, "Watch your words, Mr. Levine."

With that, I turned and walked away without looking back.

He'd forgotten about tossing our wedding ring down the drain seven years ago.