Too Late, Hubby: You're Dead To Me

A semi-truck came barreling down the highway and slammed straight into Sarah Huntley. The brutal impact knocked everything around her into darkness.

Pain ripped through her entire body. Gasoline filled the car with a sharp, sickening smell, and she soon caught sight of flames nearby. The vehicle could explode at any second.

Sarah struggled to open the door, but the crash had crushed it into the frame. She pushed it again and again, yet it refused to move.

Her hands shook as she fumbled for her phone and called her husband, Shawn Harrison.

The phone kept ringing until his cold voice finally came through. "What do you want now?"

"Shawn, I need help. I was driving to the hospital to see my mother when a truck crashed into me."

Shawn cut her off before she could say anything else, "Sarah, haven't you caused enough problems already?"

Soft ballroom music played in the background as he went on. "You've been arguing with me ever since Lindsay planned this celebration. Now you're even telling me you got into a car accident? If you don't want to come, just say so."

"I'm telling you the truth, Shawn. I..."

"Shawn." A woman's voice sounded over the phone. "Don't be so hard on Sarah. It's only a small celebration. If she's busy, she doesn't need to come."

"Okay." Shawn's tone immediately softened. "Your grandfather's here. Let's go say hello to him first."

The call ended right after that.

Fire climbed higher around the car, and waves of heat pressed in on Sarah. The pain in her leg grew so intense that she nearly passed out.

Hopelessness settled over her.

She screamed for help until her throat hurt and her mind started slipping away.

Just as Sarah thought she was going to die, someone forced the damaged door open. A tall figure bent down and reached into the car.

"Shawn..." Sarah murmured. She only managed to catch a blurry glimpse of the person who rescued her before everything went black.

By the time Sarah came to again, she was lying in a hospital bed.

Every part of her body hurt, and she did not even have enough strength to open her eyes. Even so, she could hear two nurses talking close by.

"No one even knows what happened to Mrs. Harrison. She came in covered in injuries, but Mr. Harrison still went to celebrate another woman's success."

"I heard he spent a fortune on Ms. Wright's next production last night. He even gave her a diamond necklace that used to belong to Estoria's royal family. If you didn't know any better, you'd think she was the one married to him."

"What was the point of marrying a rich man if he didn't even love you? She got hurt this badly, and he still couldn't be bothered to show up. That's just sad."

Sarah waited until the nurses had left before she finally opened her eyes. Tears ran quietly down her cheeks.

She had first met Shawn in Jovaria.

Sarah had gone to a friend's birthday party when a sudden case of gastroenteritis left her doubled over in pain and covered in cold sweat. Shawn had been the one who drove her to the hospital.

After that night, Sarah exchanged contact information with him because she wanted the chance to thank him properly.

They had only known each other for three days before they started dating.

Her father had been completely against the relationship. Shawn was five years older than Sarah, and once they married, he would take her to Tolent-a place she had never lived, far from everyone and everything she knew. Her father worried that Sarah would only end up suffering if she chose to follow him there.

None of his warnings changed Sarah's mind. She had already decided that Shawn was the man she wanted to marry.

Shawn promised Sarah's father that he would take care of her for the rest of his life. To prove how serious he was, he even transferred thirty percent of his company to her without asking her for anything in return.

They got married after Sarah graduated, and she followed him back to Tolent.

The two of them bought their own house in Laurel Bay. Sarah never had to deal with the kind of difficult mother-in-law she had always heard people complain about. Shawn continued to spoil her just as much as he had while they were dating. Whenever his family pressured them about having children, he stood up for her. He also supported her decision to build her own business and never hesitated to give her all the support she needed.

For a long time, Sarah truly believed their life would stay that way. Everything began to change after Shawn's car accident. Not long afterward, everyone learned that Lindsay Wright-the woman that was caught in the accident with Shawn-was actually the Wright family's long-lost granddaughter.

Years ago, enemies of the Wright family had kidnapped Renee Wright, Lindsay's mother, and Renee had later vanished without a trace. Her parents spent years searching and eventually found Lindsay, but by then, Renee had already passed away. Unable to get their daughter back, the old couple gave Lindsay all the love they had never gotten the chance to give Renee.

Shawn's mother, Paula Harrison, had once been Renee's closest friend. Lindsay had also saved Shawn's life during the accident, which only made Paula grow even more attached to her.

After that, Shawn only appeared to spend more time at work and attend more social events. Other than that, Sarah hadn't noticed anything particularly strange.

Three months ago, Sarah's father, who worked as a college professor, had been falsely accused of academic fraud and having sexually assaulted a student. He took his own life before he had the chance to prove his innocence. The news devastated Sarah's mother so badly that she fell into a coma and never woke up.

As the pressure from the public and the Harrison family continued to grow, Shawn began acting differently.

He still treated Sarah as though he loved her and made sure she had everything she needed, but something about him no longer felt right.

She kept finding traces of another woman's perfume on his clothes and lipsticks on the floor of his car. He had also stopped touching her completely. Those signs had already given her the answer.

Sarah should have realized it much sooner. Shawn hadn't loved her for a long time.

In his eyes, whether she lived or died wasn't nearly as important as Lindsay's celebration.

After seven years together, Sarah knew their marriage had already come to an end.

"Oh, you're awake." A doctor walked into the room and pulled Sarah out of her thoughts.

Sarah quickly wiped the tears from her face. The sadness in her eyes had faded, leaving only emptiness behind.

Once the doctor finished examining her, his expression turned serious. "Mrs. Harrison, you were hurt pretty badly, and you've also got a mild concussion. We need to keep you here for observation. You should call a family member or a friend and ask them to stay with you."

A family member?

A bitter ache filled Sarah's chest. Her own family had already been torn apart, and Lindsay was the only person Shawn seemed to care about anymore. He probably wouldn't even care if his own wife lived or died.

Sarah was reaching for her phone to call one of her close friends when the door suddenly opened again.

A caregiver stepped into the room. "Ms. Huntley, I've been assigned to take care of you."

Sarah paused and looked at the caregiver, completely confused.

After giving a few final instructions, the doctor left the room.

Sarah was alone with the caregiver now.

She looked at the woman and asked weakly, "Who asked you to come take care of me?"

The caregiver shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I really don't know. The home care agency sent me here. Whoever hired me just said to make sure you're taken care of. They didn't give me a name."

Sarah frowned as she immediately thought of the stranger who had pulled her from the wreck.

No one else had known how bad her situation was.

Ever since Sarah moved to Tolent, Shawn had always been the only one who would do anything for her. So who could her mysterious savior be?

The more she thought about it, the worse her headache became, so Sarah decided to leave the questions alone for now. Once she had recovered, she would find the person who saved her and thank him herself.

A week later, Sarah was finally cleared to leave the hospital.

As she stepped out of her room, two familiar figures caught her attention at the other end of the hallway.

She could recognize Shawn from behind without even trying.

He stayed close to Lindsay as he helped her walk, carefully supporting her along the way. Every now and then, he leaned toward her and spoke quietly into her ear. Anyone looking at them could see how close they were.

The private hospital was unusually quiet, except for a few nurses chatting softly behind their station.

"Mr. Harrison really takes care of Ms. Wright. He's here for every checkup, and he's always so patient with her. I never would've guessed he could be like that outside the office."

"Yeah, but Mrs. Harrison was here for a whole week, and he didn't show up even once. She came in by ambulance too, and there wasn't a single family member with her."

"Then things between them must be pretty bad."

One of the nurses looked up and noticed Sarah. The others quickly followed her gaze, and the conversation stopped. They looked awkward after realizing Sarah had heard everything, so no one said another word.

Sarah didn't let anything show on her face, but the little hope she'd still been holding onto was gone.

Now she knew why.

Shawn hadn't gone a whole week without contacting her by accident. He'd been too busy giving Lindsay all of his time.

Sarah smiled bitterly and walked up to the counter. She set her bill in front of the nurses. "Since you all seem so worried about me, can you send this over to Harrison Group's finance department? Make sure they know I almost died in a car crash while Mr. Harrison was too busy looking after Ms. Wright to take care of my hospital bill."

Sarah left as soon as she finished speaking. She only wanted to get home and finally end a marriage that was already over in every way that mattered.

She was almost out of the hospital when a black sedan pulled up by the entrance.

The window came down, and Sarah found herself staring at someone she hadn't seen in years. She knew that face immediately, but after so much time apart, he almost felt like a stranger.

Jason Yates.

Sarah stopped in her tracks.

Her father had adopted Jason years ago, and the two of them had grown up together. But when Sarah chose Shawn even after Jason tried many times to stop her from marrying him, everything between them fell apart.

They hadn't seen each other since.

And now, after all those years, he was suddenly sitting right in front of her.

Sarah didn't move because she wasn't sure what to do.

"Get in," Jason said coldly.

She hesitated for a moment before reaching for the door. Sarah pulled it open and got inside.

Sarah looked down. They had been apart for so long that she couldn't think of anything to say to him.

Jason was the first to speak. "So you're not even going to say anything to the guy who saved your life?"

Sarah quickly looked at him in disbelief. "You saved me? You're the one who got me out of the car?"

"Who did you think it was? Shawn?" Jason's voice turned sharp. "If I'd left you there waiting for him, you probably wouldn't be sitting here right now. You gave up everything to marry that guy, and now he couldn't even be bothered to check if you were okay during your entire stay in the hospital."

Sarah gripped her clothes tightly. Shame washed over her, and she couldn't bring herself to look at him.

She tried to answer, but nothing came out at first. Several seconds passed before she finally said, "Thank you."

The formal way she said it only seemed to hurt him more.

"That's seriously all you're going to say?" Jason kept his eyes on her. "Sarah, have you even looked at yourself lately? What happened to the confident woman I grew up with? Marriage promised you happiness, but somehow you ended up like this..."

He almost called her a bitter wife, but he stopped himself before the words came out.

"Just look at yourself. You're nothing like you used to be, and Shawn doesn't even seem to care, does he?" he said, unable to hide his frustration anymore.

Sarah said nothing.

She had married the wrong man. No matter how miserable her life had become, she knew that choice had been hers.

Jason noticed the defeated look on her face, and his anger slowly faded. Seeing her like that hurt too much for him to keep scolding her.

He let out a quiet sigh before speaking in a softer voice. "It's been years, Sarah. After all that time, all I get is a distant thank-you? We were so close, weren't we?"

The way he spoke felt so familiar that Sarah could only stare at him.

For a few seconds, it almost felt like they were back in school. Whenever Sarah skipped classes and Jason caught her sneaking out to hang out with her friends, he would give her a serious lecture. Still, once he had finished scolding her, he would always help cover for her before their parents found out.

Even after all those years, Jason was still the same protective brother she remembered.

A dull ache spread through Sarah's chest, and the tightness in her throat refused to ease. It took her a while before she finally managed to say his name. "Jason..."

The moment she said it, she could no longer hold herself together.

Sarah had been forcing herself to stay strong ever since the tragedy with her parents. When she later went through something terrible herself, Shawn hadn't been there to comfort or protect her. He had only doubted her and blamed her with words that cut even deeper.

She hadn't even given herself the chance to break down. Now, everything she'd forced herself to keep inside finally came rushing out.

Jason pulled her close and held her in his arms. He rubbed her back gently and comforted her the same way he used to when they were young.

Sarah leaned into him and cried without making a sound.

It took a while before she finally calmed down. She wiped her face and straightened herself in the seat.

Sarah took the tissue Jason handed her before asking, "Did you find the person who took me before the accident?"

"Yeah. We found him, but he killed himself before we could get anything out of him."

Sarah looked at him in shock.

"But there's something else," Jason said seriously. "Your dad didn't choose to jump. I think the people who took you might've had something to do with his death too. I'm still looking into it."

Sarah's heart began pounding hard in her chest.

After her father died, Shawn had told her that the pressure had become too much for him. According to him, her father had fallen into a deep depression because of the accusations against him and eventually taken his own life.

But what Jason had just told her changed everything. There was a chance her father's death hadn't been a suicide at all.

Sarah's breaths came faster, and her hands curled tightly into fists. Whatever the truth was, she needed to find it.

Jason and Sarah barely spoke during the drive. By the time they got close to Laurel Bay, Sarah finally said, "You can stop here."

She pointed toward a house around five hundred meters away. "I'll walk from here."

The last thing she wanted was for Shawn to see Jason dropping her off because she knew it would only lead to another argument.

Jason didn't question her. He slowed the car and pulled over.

"Let me see your phone." Jason held out his hand. Sarah only stared at him, so he added, "I need some way to reach you. How else am I supposed to tell you if I find anything new about your dad?"

Sarah nodded and passed him her phone.

Jason added his number to her contacts. While he was doing it, he noticed someone saved under "Honey." He couldn't resist changing the name before giving the phone back.

Just as Sarah reached for the door, Jason spoke again. "And if something happens, don't deal with it by yourself. Call me."

"I will." Sarah gave him a small smile before walking toward the house.

She had almost reached the entrance when her phone started ringing.

The call came from the overseas specialist hospital she had spent months trying to contact. She had submitted the treatment application three months earlier.

"Ms. Huntley," the staff member said warmly. "I have some good news. Your mother's application for treatment in our facility has been approved. The doctor in charge will be coming to Tolent next week to meet with her and do a full medical assessment. Once that's done, we'll decide when she should be transferred, and the new treatment based on her condition will also be discussed."

For the first time in a long while, Sarah felt a small spark of hope return.

She was so relieved that she could barely contain her excitement. "Thank you so much. Is there any chance I could get the doctor's contact information? I'd really like to talk to him about my mother's condition before he gets here."

"I'm sorry, Ms. Huntley, but we are not allowed to share the doctor's travel details or contact information," the staff member said politely. "He'll get in touch with you himself once he arrives in Tolent, so please wait for his call."

Sarah didn't insist. She thanked the staff member once more before ending the call.

The emptiness in Sarah's eyes slowly faded. In its place came a certainty she hadn't felt in a long time.

Her mother finally had a real chance to get better. Sarah knew she couldn't keep wasting her days on a marriage that had already fallen apart.

Her mother was the only family she had left now.

From that moment on, she wanted to put her time and attention into helping her mother recover.

The news gave her something to hold on to, and even her steps felt easier as she continued toward the house.

Shawn sat in the living room with his phone in hand. As soon as Sarah came in, he put it down and frowned at her.

He didn't seem to notice how weak or pale she was. Instead, he snapped, "You're finally back. You disappeared for a whole week because of one celebration dinner? Sarah, do you really have to make such a big deal out of everything?"

Sarah looked at him and almost wanted to laugh. After everything that had happened, he still believed she'd stayed away because she was upset over Lindsay's celebration party.

She'd swallowed her anger and disappointment for far too long, and she was done holding it in. Still, when she spoke, her voice was surprisingly calm. "Shawn, I can't do this anymore. I want a divorce."

Shawn clearly hadn't seen that coming. He stared at her for a second before his expression hardened. "Divorce? Are you serious right now? You're ready to end our marriage over something this small?"

"Small?" Sarah gave a bitter laugh as tears gathered in her eyes. "I almost died, Shawn, and somehow Lindsay's celebration still mattered more to you than I did..."

If Shawn had paid even a little attention, he would've noticed something was wrong when he went to the hospital with Lindsay that day. Sarah had been lying in that same hospital for an entire week.

Then footsteps came from nearby. Lindsay appeared in an apron and looked at Sarah as though she had no idea anything was wrong.

Under the living room lights, the diamond necklace around Lindsay's neck caught Sarah's eye immediately.

Lindsay quickly walked over and said in an injured tone, "Sarah, you're finally back. You used to come celebrate with me every time I won something at school, even when you were busy. But this time, you didn't come at all. That banquet meant a lot to me, so yeah, it hurt."

Sarah had personally sponsored Lindsay through college. Back then, the two of them had been so close that they almost felt like sisters. Sarah had taken care of everything for her, from school fees to everyday expenses.

After Lindsay graduated, Sarah had even used her connections to help her get a job at Harrison Group as Shawn's assistant.

She had never imagined that helping Lindsay would eventually bring her this close to Shawn.

"Did I do something to you?" Lindsay looked at Sarah with tears gathering in her eyes. "Why do you hate me so much now?"

Sarah gave a dry laugh and didn't bother pretending to be nice. "You should be happy I didn't show up. And stop acting like you don't know why."

"That's enough, Sarah," Shawn said sharply. "Lindsay's been worried about you all week. She came here today just to cook for you, and this is how you talk to her? At least have the decency to apologize."

Sarah looked at the man who had once stood up for her without hesitation. Now, he was asking her to say sorry to another woman, and whatever warmth she still had left for him disappeared.

She gave him a cold smile. "If she's that important to you, then fine. I'll get out of the way. Then you two won't have to keep pretending I'm the problem."

Lindsay felt a rush of satisfaction, but she immediately covered it with a worried expression. "Shawn, Sarah, please stop fighting because of me. If I caused all this, then blame me. Sarah, if you're really that angry, just hit me."

As Lindsay reached for Sarah's hand, Sarah pulled her wrist away and shoved her off. "Don't touch me."

A second later, Lindsay staggered back and fell to the floor with a cry of pain.

Lindsay grabbed her injured leg as tears spilled down her cheeks. "My leg... God, it hurts..."

Shawn reacted without thinking and shoved Sarah aside.

He crouched beside Lindsay and carefully checked her leg. Then he turned toward Sarah, who had fallen to the floor. Disappointment filled his face. "Sarah, what the hell were you thinking? When did you start acting like this? Her leg only just healed."

Six months earlier, Shawn and Lindsay had gotten into a car accident while they were away on a business trip. Lindsay had saved him during the crash and nearly lost her leg because of it.

"I don't even know you anymore," Shawn hissed.

He didn't even look at Sarah again. He lifted Lindsay into his arms and carried her out of the house.

Sarah pressed her lips together as pain pulsed through the leg she'd injured in her own car accident. Still, that barely registered compared to what she felt in her chest.

Her leg was hurting so badly, she stayed on the floor and watched them disappear through the door. For a long time, Sarah didn't move. Eventually, the pain in her body and the ache inside her faded into a dull numbness.

Using the floor for support, Sarah slowly got back on her feet. She went upstairs and took out the divorce papers she'd prepared a long time ago, signed them and then placed them neatly on the table.

Once her bags were packed, Sarah looked around the house one final time. She had spent seven years there, but whatever happiness the place once held had already disappeared.

Sarah finally looked away, opened the door, and left.