Illana's energy had been sapped like one's body by the living mud of the backcountry jungle. Just as the woman was about to open the car door to put her suitcase in, Illana's body suddenly collapsed and ended up sitting on the basement floor right next to her car.
She didn't get up immediately but was silent for a while, then cried again, as if it wasn't enough—Mark had robbed Illana of her pleasure.
Whoever she was, she would have been very hurt if she had been suddenly separated because of another woman—their marriage had never had any significant problems, so this was quite a blow.
"I want to stop, I want to stop. I want to forget. This memory is too evil to be left for too long." Illana was still crying. Fortunately, the basement was very empty of people.
Two other cars appeared, their drivers filling the space opposite Illana's car. Even though she noticed several people getting out of the two vehicles, Illana had no intention of moving, and she continued to cry—deliberately showing her life difficulties to anyone in this place.
"I'm sorry, Miss. What happened to you to be like this? Can I help?" The hoarse voice sounded quite hypnotizing, making Illana pause.
She heard many loafers tapping around her but hadn't realized that someone had turned to approach the woman out of pity.
"I—" Illana plans wiped the tears from her face, then looked up, astonished at the appearance of someone in prison for almost a year. "Uncle, Uncle Lucas?"
"You—" The man was more surprised. He helped Illana up as he took stock of her condition. "What happened to you, Illana? Where's Mark?"
"Uncle's out of prison?" Illana's thoughts about Mark were quickly distracted as another question popped.
Lucas nodded. "Yes, a month ago, but I've only come out to the public recently. So, where's your husband?" He frowned when he found Illana's large suitcase. "Why is there a suitcase there? Did you take them away?"
Illana didn't reply, she opened the car door and tried to lift the suitcase. Seeing Illana struggling made Lucas quickly take over the suitcase and put it in the trunk of the car.
"Thank you," Illana said with a small smile, certainly not enough to erase the sadness on her face.
"You're going away? On vacation?"
Illana shook her head. "I'm going back to my old apartment."
"Why, what's going on? I've been asking questions since the beginning, but you've dodged them without answering. My nephew hurt you, huh?"
Illana gripped the car door, even though Uncle Lucas had seen how she cried in this place, but it wasn't easy to start opening up to others even though Lucas was the youngest brother of Steve Griggori, Mark's father.
"You'll know the answer if you meet Mark, Uncle. I have to go now."
Lucas had no intention of insisting; he let Illana enter the car, but the woman managed to leave a significant curiosity in Lucas' head.
***
Not being able to go to 'Cinnamon' made Illana call her secretary to postpone all scheduled meetings at the office today. She couldn't possibly put on a sad face or act like she was okay because what happened was not an ordinary illness.
"Thank you very much, Nora. I'll be back tomorrow, and you don't have to worry about my condition." She took a breath, her chest still tight, and many wads of tissues scattered on the floor. "I'm fine."
Having had enough, Illana ended her call to Nora, and she fell silent to daydream.
Before her marriage to Mark, Illana lived in this apartment, even though her family had a big house. Since starting her first job, Illana had announced that she should try to live independently, and it was very effective in emphasizing Illana's 'independent woman' character.
Her focus was interrupted when she heard the bell from the main door, and she frowned at the oddity.
"Who would look for me in this place? Doesn't everyone know that I live with Mark?"
Curiosity got the better of her as she went to meet whoever was outside the door of her apartment unit, and Illana was almost surprised to find Uncle Lucas' tall, athletic body standing there.
"Uncle? What are you doing here?" Illana didn't even remember if she had mentioned moving into this apartment a few hours ago to the 180centi tall man in front of her.
"Looking for you."
"Looking for me?" The woman was getting more and more confused. "But, what is it?"
"Can you let me in now, Illana?"
As Lucas entered, he sat on the living room sofa while Illana stood by the door with her arms folded across her chest.
"I've seen it, Illana. It might as well sum up the problem between you and Mark."
We were hearing that changed Illana's expression. It became sad again.
"I was surprised to learn that Deborah was there. Hasn't their relationship been over for a while?" He snorted as he recalled this morning's strange moment. "Damn it, Mark confirmed that you guys are divorced today. What kind of joke did I hear? Although I wanted to punch him in the face, I kept restraining myself to interact with the nephew, who hadn't seen each other for a long time."
"Mark is right, Uncle. We have indeed divorced. She has already signed the divorce documents I gave him. We stopped continuing the sacred relationship."
Suddenly, Lucas moved, and his expression changed. He was surprised because he still doubted the information.
"You guys are divorced, huh? You gave up on your marriage because of Deborah?" Lucas' question seemed to mock Illana, making the woman take two steps closer with her eyes rounded in annoyance.
"I did it because your nephew had no intention of fighting for it, Uncle! Stop judging if you don't know anything." She turned around, standing with her back to Lucas. "It doesn't matter if I'm deeply hurt or broken now. At least I saved myself early from this disaster."
Lucas snorted, realizing his mistake of putting too much pressure on other people's relationships.
"Sorry, Illana. I was getting emotional over this silliness, but it's funny to realize that some people in my family are traitors. Steve betrayed his brother, so I had to go to jail, and then my nephew betrayed his marriage, too. I hate all of this."
"What does that mean?" Illana was interested in the first topic. "What does it mean that my ex-father-in-law betrayed his brother?"
"When you hear this, please don't tell anyone because my confidant is still investigating." He touched Illana's shoulder as he looked at her without blinking. "The reason I've only emerged after a month out of prison is because I went into hiding on purpose, my good friend paid a hefty fine and bribe to get me out after he found irregularities in my case, and someone sabotaged the whole thing from the start, Illana. My biological brother was evil enough to put his brother in jail."
"You're sure that he's the culprit?"
Lucas nodded without hesitation. "I'd rather trust someone who has my back during a difficult time like this than a family member who doesn't care about me."
"I'm saddened to hear facts as bad as this."
"Listen to this, Illana. Mark threw away a diamond but got back something less valuable. I'm sure he will regret his every decision in the future."
Illana's eyes glazed over again after hearing such a complimentary sentence. "No, I don't know how or if I'm at fault, but Mark probably doesn't see me as someone precious because if he felt that his wife mattered that much, he would never have done such a terrible thing, Uncle Lucas."
***