Chapter 2
661 Words
When my best friend Holly dragged me furiously over to Dominic, he merely gave me a fleeting glance. "Get in the car."
Holly's eyes were red with anger. "Dominic, have you no shame?"
He frowned. "Don't want to? Suit yourself then."
Seeing him about to leave the parking lot with Celeste in his arms, I surrendered. "Let's go."
I knew very well that if he walked away now, he might never come back. It wasn't the first or second time I had been this weak-willed anyway.
Holding back my tears, I opened the car door. Behind me, Dominic let out a soft chuckle. "Trying to stand up for her? Ask her yourself—until she finds a better replacement, there's no way she's letting go."
Holly and I both looked at him in confusion.
Before he could say anything else, footsteps approached from the side. "Miss, are you looking for a designated driver service?"
I looked up in surprise to see a tall, upright figure standing there, wearing a uniform and a helmet. Even though I hadn't touched a single drop of alcohol tonight, all the energy suddenly drained out of me.
I tossed my keys to the driver. "Southwood Gardens."
There was no need to ask; Dominic would definitely take Celeste back to his newly purchased apartment first, as it had become their frequent rendezvous spot lately.
Holly glared at me for a few moments before storming off, still seething with anger.
Dominic gently placed the hazy, drunk woman in the backseat and sneered at me. "You've certainly done your snooping. Don't worry, we aren't going back there today. Driver, head to Springlake Court."
His face was full of smug satisfaction, and I couldn't help but grip the hem of my shirt tightly. That was Dominic's and my home—or rather, our former home. Suddenly realizing what he was trying to do, I let out a helpless, bitter smile.
The driver beside me also fell silent. Even though I couldn't see his expression through the helmet, I could vaguely sense his breathing quicken.
It wasn't until Dominic urged us to hurry that we got into the front seats of the car. The city's nightscape flashed by like frames of a movie reel, an oppressive silence hung in the car.
That was until we took a sharp turn, and Celeste, who was lying in Dominic's arms, suddenly leaned over and threw up.
Completely ignoring the mess on his own clothes, Dominic hurriedly helped her sit up and asked anxiously, "Celeste, are you alright?" The very next second, he exploded in a fit of rage. "Seraphina, if you hadn't forced Celeste to drink so much, would she be suffering like this?"
"Dominic... don't be like that. I'm just a little dizzy..." Before Celeste could finish, she broke into a violent fit of coughing, her whole body trembling uncontrollably.
Leaning against Dominic's chest, she tilted her head back, gasping desperately for air with faint, intermittent whimpers.
Dominic was both panicked and furious. "To the hospital! Seraphina, Celeste has asthma. If anything happens to her, I will never let you hear the end of it!"
In my daze, my mind suddenly drifted back to three months ago. That was when I first caught him secretly meeting up with Celeste, and I had walked through the pouring rain, crying the entire night. As soon as I got home, my vision went black and my body turned freezing cold. Knowing something was terribly wrong, I struggled to call him.
But he had completely dismissed me. "Are you seriously stooping so low as to fake an illness?"
Later, a kind neighbor rushed me to the hospital, where I was diagnosed with acute pneumonia. Dominic never even showed his face. And now, looking through the rearview mirror at how deeply concerned and panicked he was while holding Celeste, I suddenly wanted to laugh.
A sharp screech of brakes abruptly shattered my thoughts.
"Wait for me a second."
- Writer
