“Then tomorrow our whole team should just take the day off. Chase, is that fine?”
Chase’s voice sounded warm. “Okay. Tonight, you all just need to keep Zaria cheerful and enjoy yourselves. Tomorrow I’ll let everyone take a group day off.”
“Wow, Director Gordon is powerful. Guess this is what it’s like when someone is your family.”
“Stop messing around, quit talking nonsense! If Astraea catches wind of this, I’m doomed. She’s super cold.”
Before I managed to speak, the call cut off by itself.
Cold sweat slid down my spine. Staring at the now-dead phone, I pushed calm into my tone.
“Hubby, I’ll reach home in ten minutes. I already sent you the plate number, right? Wait for me at the entrance.”
As I lowered the phone, my eyes met the driver’s through the rearview mirror.
Thin, slanted eyes held nothing but clear bad intent.
“Miss, this storm’s too strong, the roads are rough. I had to swing around a long way, so the cost…”
I didn’t even dare draw a loud breath. “It’s fine, I’ll hand you another five hundred. We’re close. My husband’s waiting at home. Drop me at the next intersection.”
Right after I stepped out, I didn’t even try to grab my suitcase.
I bolted across the empty, rain-soaked block.
The taxi’s beams stayed locked on me for a long time before finally pulling away.
My knees gave out, and I sank onto the curb, wrapping my arms around myself as my whole frame shook.
I couldn’t tell if the wet on my cheeks came from the storm or from crying.
My screen lit up.
Zaria sent a photo. A guy rinsing off behind fogged bathroom glass.
[Astraea, I asked Chase to head back, but he said the thunder outside might scare me, so he wants to stay with me. Don’t misunderstand.]
Barely five seconds later, Chase’s text arrived. [I need extra hours. Come back alone.]
Both messages sat side by side.
I wiped my face and let out a breathless, quiet laugh.
By the time I reached home, it was already 3 a.m.
My whole frame swung between cold fever.
Propped against the entry cabinet, I stayed still for a long stretch before my phone rang.
Chase’s furious voice crashed into my ear.
“Astraea, if you’re not well, go see someone. Zaria kindly called to ask if you got home, and you dared call her some trashy temptress? You even know she has a weak heart?”
I didn’t answer him. I only said, “Where are you right now?”
He froze for a couple of seconds, then snapped with a mix of shame and anger, “You’re at it again, huh? I already said, I didn’t pick you up because I had extra work at the clinic. You want me to ditch patients for you? How old are you? Can’t you think straight? Stop nagging like some cranky aunt every day. Everything I do, who do you think it helps?”
His annoyance hit its height.
“I’ve repeated this so many times. There’s nothing going on between Zaria and me. Your thoughts are filthy; you twist everything into something dirty. You won’t stop until I admit I slept with her. Is that what you want? Pathetic and clueless, who besides me would even look at you!”
“Because you chose to throw one of your tantrums, I had to stay at the clinic all night soothing Zaria. Think about how you act.”
The flat beep after he hung up echoed through the quiet room, so ridiculous it was almost funny.
I lowered my eyes, staring at my feet, raw and scraped from the long walk.
I quietly laughed.
Three years together.
Cold silence and emotional pressure were his usual ways of dealing with me.
Being the one who cared first, I never dared waste energy on fights or drawn-out stand-offs.
Each time, I swallowed the grievances and stepped back first.
But he never understood that love wears down. When it ran out, it would be gone.
I took two fever tablets.
Then I wrote to the senior who had urged me many times to take overseas roles, and whom I had refused every single time.
[Sister Helena, I’m ready to take the overseas expansion assignment.]
