\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 5\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 5\u00a0<\/p>\n
On the third day back in my hometown, I stood under the old oak tree at the village entrance holding my baby, looking at the distant mountains. For the first time, I felt truly at peace.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Grandma\u2019s old house was run-down, but with some cleaning it was livable. I put the baby in a wicker basket and started clearing the dust-covered furniture.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When Aunt Martha from the village walked by, she peeked into the basket.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cElena, honey, what\u2019s going on here\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGot divorced.\u201d I wiped the sweat from my forehead, surprised by how calm I sounded.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Aunt Martha opened her mouth like she wanted to say something, but finally just sighed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you need anything, just ask. Nobody in this village is gonna let you and the baby struggle.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I nodded, feeling warmth spread through my chest. Nobody here would ask why I got divorced, nobody would look at me with pity or judgment, and nobody would tell me women should just grit their teeth and bear it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On the fifth evening, I was hanging diapers in the yard when I suddenly heard urgent footsteps.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gabriel appeared at the gate, his hair a mess and his eyes bloodshot like he hadn\u2019t slept in days.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cElena!\u201d He pushed through the gate and rushed in\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2013\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHow could you just disappear like that? The baby\u2019s so young \u2013 have you thought about what this means?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t turn around, just kept hanging the diaper in my hands. \u201cWhat this means? Like what?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat can a woman do on her own with a baby?\u201d His voice was panicked \u201cCome back home. Let\u2019s talk this through. We can work everything\u00a0<\/p>\n
out.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned to face him, my voice as calm as if I was talking about the weather.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s nothing to work out. Sign the papers and we\u2019ll make it official.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gabriel\u2019s face went white as a sheet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re serious about this?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMore serious than you ever were about Vera.\u201d I picked up my baby from his basket as he started to wake up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need to leave. You\u2019re not welcome here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gabriel rushed over trying to hold the baby, but I stepped back. \u201cDon\u2019t touch him.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s My son!\u201d Gabriel\u2019s voice cracked. \u201cYou can\u2019t stop me from seeing him!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYour son?\u201d I laughed bitterly. \u201cFrom pregnancy to birth, when did you ever treat him like your son? Did you hold him once in the hospital? Did you even give him a name?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gabriel opened his mouth but couldn\u2019t get any words out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
09:59\u00a0<\/p>\n
You Thought Cilantro Was Just a Flavor? It\u2019s Actually My FU. Cheater!\u00a0<\/p>\n
10.4%\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 5\u00a0<\/p>\n
Old Pete from the village heard the commotion and walked over, frowning when he saw Gabriel \u201cWho are you? What\u2019s your business in our\u00a0<\/p>\n
village?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m Elena\u2019s husband.\u201d Gabriel rushed to explain.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHusband?\u201d Pete looked him up and down.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cElena said she got divorced. So what husband? You here to start trouble? \u2018Cause we don\u2019t put up with that kind of nonsense around here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
A few more neighbors gradually gathered around, all looking at Gabriel suspiciously.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gabriel realized he was in a bad spot and softened his tone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cElena, I know I messed up. I really know I was wrong. Come back with me. I swear I\u2019ll never let you down again.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Looking at the panic in his eyes, I felt absolutely nothing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This man I\u2019d once been willing to sacrifice everything for was now just a stranger putting on a fake show to save face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGabriel, you know what?\u201d I gently rubbed my baby\u2019s back. \u201cI used to think if I just tried hard enough, if I just held on long enough, someday I\u2019d earn your love.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNow I finally get it. Your heart was never with me. All my effort was just a one-woman show.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The sun was setting, casting orange light across the yard and stretching our shadows long across the ground.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gabriel just stood there, opening his mouth but unable to say anything.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He finally understood that once some things are lost, they can never be found again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2661 (0)\u00a0<\/p>\n
(0)<\/p>\n
You Thought Cilantro Was Just a Flavor? It\u2019s Actually My FU, Cheater! by Mark Twain 14 \u00a0 Chapter 5\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-20264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cilantro-taste-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20264","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=20264"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20264\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}