But the real end came a few days later.
Jeff returned from abroad unexpectedly after a friend told him he had seen Mabel at a hotel with another man. Jeff went there himself, waited in the car, and saw her come out laughing while another man held her waist.
She froze when she saw him.
“Jeff… baby… I can explain.”
Jeff said nothing. He got into his car and drove home.
When Mabel returned to the house later, she found her bags outside the gate.
Jeff stood by the door, calm and finished.
“Please, Jeff,” she cried. “Don’t do this.”
“I know everything,” he said quietly. “Your cheating. The things you say behind my back. The way you treated my father. The way you treated everyone in this house. I’m done.”
She knelt. She begged. She cried.
But Jeff only repeated, “Go.”
And that was the end of Mabel.
That evening, Jeff found Angela sitting quietly in the living room.
“Angela,” he said softly, “I need to tell you the truth.”
She looked up.
Jeff sat beside her and took a deep breath.
“From the first day I saw you, when Mabel chased you away, something about you stayed with me. I admired you before I even knew you.”
Angela stared at him, stunned.
Then he continued.
