2: 2
I sat up, pulled a tissue from the box, and wiped the blood off my forehead.
But knowing how sharp my husband was, he'd probably still catch the signs.
I ended the video call and switched to voice. A moment later his aggrieved voice came through.
"Babe, why'd you hang up the video on me? You're the one who insisted I go run that international conference on Valentine's Day."
"I'm not blaming you. It just wasn't a good time to talk."
He let out a breath, and his voice brightened.
"For a second I thought you were still holding it against me. This dull, dragged-out meeting has to run another whole day. I'll be back the day after tomorrow. When I am, I'm throwing a top-tier gala and inviting people from every circle to celebrate the company landing a hundred-billion-dollar order."
I couldn't help laughing. He'd very nearly lost that deal just to spend Valentine's Day with me.
It took me threatening to keep a pretty boy on the side before he tearfully packed his bags and went abroad.
Except if I didn't get some gauze on this forehead soon, the bleeding wasn't going to stop.
"Then congratulations, honey. I'll go to the gala with you."
I hung up quickly and picked up the gauze to dress the wound.
They were both men who had to work the social circuit, but my husband's business wasn't even in the same league as Adrian James's.
And he'd always kept himself clean. On our wedding night he even blushed and admitted it was his first time.
I thought I was done with Adrian for good. Then, at midnight, a message came in.
It was the hotel's room bill. Two hours, two thousand dollars in all.
Half furious, half amused, I forwarded it straight to Adrian.
He called right away, his voice still rough from what he'd been doing.
"Bernice, why didn't you wait for me to leave first?"
"Adrian, two hours and you were already spent? Or is your company so close to bankruptcy that you can't cover two thousand for a hookup?"
He wasn't angry. He actually laughed.
"Do you have any idea how big the order I closed abroad was? Five million! So many women want to be Mrs. James, and I turned down every one of them, because I promised you I'd only ever marry you."
I rolled my eyes before I could stop myself.
"Go marry Geraldine Fox, then. She's magnanimous enough, big-hearted enough. She'd make a perfectly good Mrs. James."
"Bernie, still going to pretend you're not jealous? I told you, I have no interest in her, we're not like that at all. She was only looking out for you. There'll be work dinners down the line where you have to play along, and you need to learn to keep your cool."
I was so angry I almost swore, but I choked it back.
"Adrian, I'm telling you one more time. I'm married. Stop bothering me! Who wants to be Mrs. James is no concern of mine!"
I hung up and blocked his number on the spot.
At the same time I saw the five hundred and twenty thousand my husband had transferred at midnight, and it washed the gloom out of me.
I took a quick shower, thinking it might rinse away all the bad luck of the day, then lay on the bed scrolling through my phone.
I'd forgotten I hadn't blocked Geraldine.
She'd posted a blurry shot of her and Adrian from behind on her feed, captioned:
【Spending Valentine's Day with the person you love is the happiest thing in the world. And a woman who can't learn to be gracious will never make a good wife to her husband.】
I liked the post right away. She fired back a message:
【Bernice, a bet's a bet. Can't you even afford the two thousand for the room? Didn't you say you were married? Go ask your husband for it! Maybe I could even get Adrian to bring you along to the billionaire's gala the day after tomorrow.】
I hadn't expected Adrian could get an invitation to the very gala my husband was hosting.
I thought about it for a moment, then decided to send the two thousand so they wouldn't have grounds to keep hounding me later.
【Consider this two thousand a wedding gift for you and Adrian. From here on, our roads part. Neither of us bothers the other.】
Once I'd replied, I dropped onto the bed and pulled the covers over my head, but sleep wouldn't come.
Seven years together, and it would be a lie to say I felt nothing at all.
In my dreams, I dreamed of the past with Adrian.
