Who's Crying Now, Ex-Husband?

Chapter 297

A heavy night blanketed the world.

On the empty stretch of highway, a lone service station glowed-its lights a bright oasis in the darkness. Clusters of cars were already parked outside, and people moved in and out, lending the place a surprising liveliness for such a late hour.

Soon, a black SUV pulled up.

Archie hopped out, hustled inside, and returned minutes later with a thermos full of hot water and a bag of takeout.

"Dinner and medicine, Mila."

"...Thanks."

Mila didn't bother correcting him about calling her "Mila" anymore. She'd realized by now that Archie was the type to do as he pleased-he might promise to change, but would always slip back into old habits the next minute. Honestly, she was too tired to care. Let him call her whatever he wanted; it wasn't worth the trouble.

An uneasy silence settled inside the car.

Midway through eating, Mila noticed Archie kept glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. After the third or fourth time, she couldn't hold it in any longer.

"What's up?" she asked. "Do I have something on my face?"

scratched his nose, hesitant, but finally blurted out, "Mila, when we were driving earlier... did you have

face when she woke up-so shaken, so upset-had

it. She brushed him off. "Yeah. Bad dream. Ghosts

"Huh?"

"Don't worry, Mila. I'm tough. No ghost would dare mess with us while I'm

but smile at him—so earnest, so young, still clinging to

in thick blankets they'd bought from a village shop, and tried to

on the backseat, but no matter how

...

nineteen, her hope-filled vision of love was shattered-torn

worlds, their backgrounds, their social classes, was

night replaying Lysander's words in her mind, letting them gnaw at her until her grades slipped, dropping her several places in the class rankings. Suddenly, her scholarship

old life? Why she'd worked so hard to

most people. She

catch her if she fell. She'd fled a suffocating home, clawed her way into Northpoint, scraped by on part-time jobs-each

life was through the knowledge and opportunities Northpoint

with a knack for it. She'd won competitions, earned awards. If she could just keep up her grades, land a

when she was financially secure could she

just wanted a normal life.