Chapter 1048

He wasn’t leaving this fight empty-handed, he reminded himself. He had two sons. And he finally understood how much hell Teresa went through when they were married.

The one thing that still ate at him was never hearing Teresa say she loved him. After everything, he was terrified to say it himself. He was terrified that she’d look him in the eye and tell him she didn’t feel the same.

Now all he could do was sit around and wait. He had no idea how much more of this he could handle. Missing Teresa was tearing him apart from the inside.

Suddenly, Jonathan’s phone buzzed. He spotted that number he knew by heart, and his eyes got huge. For a heartbeat, he was certain his mind was playing tricks on him.

Once it hit him that he wasn’t dreaming, he answered. “Hello?”

“It’s me.” Teresa’s voice was a raw, hoarse whisper. She was curled up in bed, silent tears tracking down her temples and into her pillow. “Happy New Year.”

“Happy New Year,” Jonathan said. “Have you been drinking?”

“Just a little with Miriam, I’m not drunk…” Teresa mumbled, following it with a wet sniffle. “I swear… I’m not drunk. I’m totally, one hundred percent sober.”

Jonathan’s brow knitted with worry. He thought, ‘Sober? She sounds completely hammered. Why’s she doing this to herself?’

“You called just to wish me Happy New Year?” he said.

The silence stretched on for so long he thought she’d fallen asleep. “Teresa?” he murmured, his voice low. “You still there?”

“Yeah, I’m here,” Teresa said. She sniffled and mumbled something so quiet it was barely a sound.

Jonathan couldn’t quite make it out. “What? What did you just say?”

But then, she went silent again. He waited for what felt like forever before whispering, “Teresa?”

Next thing he knew, her voice came through all thick with tears. “I’m sorry.” Now it was Jonathan’s turn to shut up.

“I’m sorry…” Teresa continued, her voice breaking. “I didn’t mean to block your number. I’m sorry.” Her tears had soaked half the pillow, leaving two dark, damp spots where her head rested. “I’m sorry…”

‘That’s enough,’ Jonathan thought. The iron wall he’d built around his heart was crumbling to dust. ‘Just hearing her say sorry is enough. At least she still feels bad about it. She knows she should apologize.'

Jonathan decided he wasn’t gonna push for anything else. Punishing Teresa was just punishing himself tenfold.

Her sobs got louder through the phone. Jonathan could hear Teresa completely falling apart now.

“Please,” she begged. “Just come back to see Mike. He misses you so much, Jonathan. It’s okay if you don’t want to see me. I’ll stay away. Come back for him, please. Just hug him and tell him everything’s okay…”

Jonathan sucked in a deep breath. Guilt, sharp and bitter, twisted in his gut. “I saw his call,” he said, his voice hoarse. “My phone was dead, I swear. I called him back the second it turned on. I never meant to-”

The line cut out, replaced by a flat, empty buzz. She was gone. Whether she’d passed out and dropped the phone or hung up by mistake, he didn’t know.

Jonathan paced around the balcony like a caged animal. All he wanted was to jump on a plane and fly straight to her.

Truth was, he’d been keeping tabs on Michael’s preschool updates. He was always checking out the photos they posted.

He knew Michael was a sweet, popular kid. He knew he was doing well. He never stopped watching, not for a second.

Jonathan thought, ‘Michael’s always been such a happy little boy. If he’s missing me this much, and I’m making him sad, I might as well be dead.'

He was dying to fix this mess. But a glance at his watch confirmed the brutal reality. It was broad daylight here and way past midnight there.

There was nothing he could do but wait. And for the first time in his life, Jonathan cursed the very existence of time zones.