He Believed His Ex More Than He Believed Me Chapter 05
I sat nearby and pinched a dead leaf from a sunflower. I had bought the plant when I left the hospital three years earlier.
Nolan had steadied me while I took my time choosing it, saying our home needed something bright.
Now it stood beside the open edge of the balcony, its leaves dry and curled.
I watered it every day, but it continued to die.
Vanessa followed my gaze and smiled. “Plants have to adapt to open environments too.
“You can’t overprotect everything.”
“She’s right,” Nolan said.
I nodded. “She is.”
That evening, I cleaned the home office. A document envelope had been left partly open, revealing the corner of a corporate letterhead.
Inside, I found a three-year transfer agreement Nolan had already signed. His destination was Denver.
Beneath it lay a plane ticket to Denver for the same day.
The passenger was Vanessa.
At the bottom was a separation settlement: the condo, $150,000, and no further obligations once his caregiver role ended.
I sat at the desk and read every page.
My supposed recovery was merely preparation for his departure. He wanted me to look normal so he could leave believing I no longer needed him.
Nolan called from outside the office. “I’m working late tonight, so I won’t be home.”
I returned the papers to their original place. “Okay.”
He seemed pleased by my calm answer. “Go to bed early.
“Don’t wait up.”
“I won’t.”
After the front door locked, I walked to the balcony and touched the sunflower’s brittle leaves. The veins crumbled beneath my fingers.
I retrieved the phone Nolan had hidden on top of a cabinet. A thin crack ran across the screen.
In the Notes app, I slowly typed:
“Your stomach medicine is in the second drawer on the left. Don’t take it on an empty stomach.”
“You’re allergic to mango. Next time you buy a cake, remember to check more than the frosting.”
“Your knee aches when it rains. Turn up the heat.”
“Don’t overwater the sunflower on the balcony. Water didn’t kill it.
“The roots were already rotten.”
I paused, then continued.
“Nolan, I used to think that if I took the impact of that car for you, I could protect us from every disaster.”
“But people get tired.”
“You’re finally free.”
“Just as you wanted, I’m cured too.”
“At the moment of my death, my mind is clear. I am completely normal.”
At three in the morning, the wind tore across the balcony.
I placed my slippers neatly beside the open edge and left my phone next to them with the note on its screen.
For three years, a steel barrier had protected me. Two weeks earlier, Nolan had removed it.
He had said there was nothing to fear once the balcony was open.
Leaning against the wall, I stepped barefoot onto the freezing ledge. The city lights seemed impossibly far below.
My phone vibrated.
Nolan had sent two texts.
[I booked a flight for tomorrow afternoon. Vanessa and I are going to Denver.]
[There’s an agreement on the desk. Since you’re better now, Noelle, let’s end this with some dignity.]
I read the messages and turned off the screen.
The wind caught my nightgown. I stepped forward and fell.
At Ashford International Airport, the boarding call for Denver repeated over the speakers. Nolan stared at his phone, but my message thread remained unanswered.
His brows drew together as a vague uneasiness grew stronger. Vanessa nudged him.
“We need to board.”