Chapter 9

Chapter 9

It had seemed like such an ordinary day. I had made breakfast, eaten with William, and walked him to the door.

William had said goodbye to me as usual.

I had smiled, stood on my tiptoes, and tried to give him a good morning kiss.

But he had grabbed my arm and stopped me.

It was such a sudden movement.

So sudden that both of us had looked shocked.

William had looked flustered, let go of my arm, and then gently kissed my cheek.

"I'm sorry, that was a little sudden," he said.

I smiled: "Can you come back for dinner tonight? It's been a long time since you last ate with me."

Maybe William had felt guilty, because he agreed.

I had prepared a few dishes and waited quietly for him to come home from work.

William had come home early—judging by the time, he must have left the office as soon as he got off work.

He had just sat down when his phone rang.

When William looked at the caller ID, the unconscious smile that spread across his face had stabbed me right in the heart.

He hadn't even noticed how happy that smile was.

I hadn't listened to who he was talking to. Instead, I had silently taken out the divorce agreement I had prepared.

After William hung up the phone, he came over and apologized to me: "I'm sorry, Annie Brown. My colleagues want me to join them for..."

I cut him off mid-sentence: "That's not important. First, listen to what I have to say."

William hadn't expected me to speak so sharply. He looked surprised.

"Annie Brown, what's wrong with you?"

I pushed the divorce agreement in front of him: "Let's get a divorce."

As I said those words, I had made a point of watching William's face.

He had looked flustered.

"Annie Brown, I know I've been really busy lately. From now on, I'll..."

I smiled: "Sophia White—she's the 'project' you've been so busy with, isn't she?"

William's face turned ugly: "Did you investigate me?"

I laughed bitterly and shook my head: "You really underestimate how much I trusted you. You're the one who carelessly gave yourself away."

When he tried to explain, I waved my hand to stop him.

"Two months ago, at the celebration dinner, you drank too much. When you got home, you said you wanted to have a baby with me. But when you fell asleep, you called her name."

"So that's when I found out that the man who had claimed to love me so much had already had someone else in his heart."

William had tried to defend himself: "No, I... I didn't."

I shook my head: "Let me finish first, then you can explain everything, okay?"

William had looked at me in despair.

"The week after that celebration dinner, she called you and said she was being followed and needed you to come rescue her. At the time, you told me there was a problem with the program and you had to go to the company to check on it. Did I get that right?"

"Later, you started dropping her off after work every day. And then you even found her a place to live. But you still dropped her off every day, rain or shine. Even as your wife, I only got to enjoy that privilege for a month. She's certainly had it longer than me."

I sat up straight and stared into his eyes: "I'm just curious—if you're so unwilling to leave her, why didn't you let her live in your apartment?"

"Or were you afraid I would check up on you? You should know that I trusted you so much. I never would have suspected you of cheating."

William had tried to say something in a hurry, but I cut him off again.

I was just too curious about him and Sophia White.

I wanted to know what this young girl, who had only been at the company for six months, had done to win over William—over ten years of our relationship.

Ten years! Not ten months!