\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 4\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 4\u00a0<\/p>\n
The next morning, I went to the jewelry store and ran right into them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2013\u00a0<\/p>\n
The sales clerk was showing them gold bracelets while Vera rested her fingers on Gabriel\u2019s hand, smiling sweetly. \u201cI want this one the heaviest\u00a0<\/p>\n
one. It\u2019s gorgeous.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Another clerk glanced at my faded jacket with obvious disdain.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMa\u2019am, we don\u2019t buy back old jewelry here. If you\u2019re looking to sell, try the pawn shop at the end of the alley.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cold sweat broke out in my palms as I gripped the wooden box. When Gabriel turned around, the smile on his face froze instantly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vera had already linked arms with him and walked over, showing off the gold bracelet on her wrist. \u201cOh, so sorry! I was going to pick one out for you too, but I didn\u2019t want you to think it was too expensive.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gabriel avoided my eyes and said stiffly: \u201cI had a good month commission-wise. I was actually planning to\u2026 buy you a gold ring.\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t bother.\u201d I clutched the box tighter and turned to leave. \u201cYou two take your time shopping.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
F\u00a0<\/p>\n
I went to an old established pawn shop instead and sold all the jewelry from the wooden box, putting every cent into my own bank account.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Walking past a print shop, I made three copies of divorce papers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After reading through the agreement, a breeze crept in through the window cracks, making me shiver, but it also blew away the last trace of\u00a0<\/p>\n
attachment I had.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Back at our tiny rental, the small table was set with delicious food \u2013 all my favorite comfort foods.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gabriel was wearing the apron I\u2019d mended for him, just bringing the last plate of honey glazed chicken to the table.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When he saw me come in, he immediately rushed over to take my bag. \u201cWhat took you so long? The food\u2019s getting cold.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
After I put the baby to sleep, I quietly sat at the table and picked up my fork.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gabriel placed a piece of chicken in my bowl, his voice unusually warm.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe company\u2019s sending me on a business trip next week. I\u2019ll be gone about two weeks, but I\u2019ll bring you back something nice.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then he pulled a small jewelry box from the drawer. Inside was a silver cross necklace,\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI bought this for the kid. This month\u2019s bonus wasn\u2019t much, so it\u2019ll have to do for now. Once I get promoted to department manager at year-end, I\u2019ll get the baby a gold one right away and buy you a gold ring too.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gabriel sounded so sincere. If I hadn\u2019t caught him buying Vera the most expensive gold bracelet in the store this morning, I might have actually believed this belated show of affection.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked up at him, my fork frozen mid-air.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIs the company really sending you on business, or are you going on vacation with Vera?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gabriel\u2019s soup spoon crashed onto the table with a loud clang, his face instantly darkening.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat the hell are you talking about? It\u2019s just a business trip \u2013 why are you dragging Vera into this?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
09:59\u00a0<\/p>\n
You Thought Cilantro Was Just a Flavor? It\u2019s Actually My FU, Cheater!\u00a0<\/p>\n
9.6%\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 4\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re sitting at home all day with nothing to do, so your mind\u2019s going to weird places!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He grabbed his jacket from the chair and stormed out, slamming the old wooden door so hard it shook the whole place.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stared at the gradually cooling food on the table, then pulled out the divorce papers from the drawer. Carefully, I signed my name at the bottom and placed the agreement under his regular coffee mug.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After packing up all my things, I held my baby and got on the bus back to my hometown.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Two weeks later, Gabriel came home humming a tune, carrying a bag with duty-free shop logos.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHoney, I\u2019m back!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The empty room echoed only with the sound of wind blowing the curtains.\u00a0<\/p>\n
All my clothes had vanished from the closet, the baby\u2019s crib was gone too, leaving just faint impressions on the mattress.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gabriel\u2019s shopping bag hit the floor with a thud. He immediately pulled out his phone to call me, but the calls wouldn\u2019t go through.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Suddenly, he spotted the divorce papers under his coffee mug, and his whole hand started shaking uncontrollably.\u00a0<\/p>\n
09:59\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2713 (0)\u00a0<\/p>\n
(0)\u00a0<\/p>\n
You Thought Cilantro Was Just a Flavor? It\u2019s Actually My FU, Cheater! by Mark Twain 13 \u00a0 Chapter 4\u00a0 Chapter […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cilantro-taste-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20263"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20263\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}