Jerome and even his mother, treated me this way. Once, I depended on Jerome's mom as if she were my biological mother. Because I no longer had a mother of my own.
Mom, am I really this foolish? I miss you so much. If you were still here, would there be someone to truly love me?
The intense pain brought me back to reality. Due to insufficient blood supply, my body began to break down and I was in critical condition. After struggling for a long time, I finally connected a call.
On the other end, Jerome spoke casually, "I can't come back right now. You've made it through so many times before, one more won't make a difference. Be good and hang in there."
I knew Jerome was doing this on purpose. He hated that I had given in to jealousy and liked Jessica's social media post, making her upset.
But Jerome still came to see me. When he found that aside from being a bit pale, I had no other alarming symptoms, he grew irritated, "You're fine! Why act all pitiful? You're so lame. Tania, if you keep this up, it'll get old really fast." He tossed a bag at the foot of my bed and left.
When I woke up, I was surprised to find a bowl of millet porridge and some spicy pickles.
Even though I didn't like millet porridge and couldn't eat spicy food, the fact that Jerome had bought them for me made them seem delicious. The spiciness brought tears to my eyes, yet I still felt content.
Halfway through eating, Jessica appeared at the door with a smile, holding a white ceramic bowl that looked exquisite. Her complexion was glowing, far from resembling someone who was sick.
Suddenly, I remembered something and forced a smile. Of course, Jerome had given her 19 tubes of blood. She was bound to recover better than I had.
"Tania, may I come in?" she asked.
Before I could answer, Jerome appeared behind her, frowning. He scooped Jessica into his arms and rushed inside, reprimanding her with concern, "I told you already! Your body hasn't fully recovered. If anything comes up, wait for me to get back. If you don't listen, next time I'll punish you …"
Jessica blushed and buried her face into Jerome's chest. Realizing he had said too much, Jerome hastily changed the subject, "Alright, alright. Jessica, why are you carrying a bowl in here?"
That's when I noticed the ceramic bowl contained some leftover meat porridge. On the glossy white spoon was a noticeable lipstick mark.
Jessica spoke slowly, unhurriedly, "I wanted to share the meat porridge Jerome bought with Tania. It's truly delicious."
Jerome suddenly understood and pushed the bowl toward me, gesturing for me to eat it.
I turned my head away, refusing to look at them, "Thank you, but I've already eaten and can't eat anymore."
Those few words unexpectedly brought tears to Jessica's eyes. She plopped down onto my arm, which was attached to the IV. My hand instantly swelled into a large bump and the blood started to flow backward into the IV bottle.
But Jerome didn't even glance at me. He was too busy comforting Jessica with infinite patience, "Shh, don't cry, don't cry. Why are you so upset? It's okay, I won't blame you."
As I was processing Jerome's words, he suddenly grabbed the ceramic bowl and downed the meat porridge in one gulp, even licking the spoon clean, her lipstick stain and all.
My nose started to sting. Jerome was infamous for his obsession with cleanliness. He would never eat food that I had touched. At mealtimes, we always used separate plates and dishes.
Once, I was so hungry that I accidentally took food from his plate. I would never forget the look of disgust on his face. The result? He didn't eat a single bite from that plate and he never used it again.
I had never imagined there would come a day when someone could make Jerome act this way. Once, I thought I was Jerome's one and only.
But with Jessica's arrival, everything changed. She was perfect. He loved everything about her. No matter how, she was better than me.
When I was discharged from the hospital, it was raining outside. A Rolls-Royce, painted in a flamboyant pink princess style, instantly attracted everyone's attention.
