Chapter 2
995 Words
"Emma, can you open the door for me, please?
"I made your favorite oatmeal."
Early the next morning, James's voice called through the door.
I twisted the handle and pulled it open.
James stood on the other side holding a tray. His eyes were bloodshot, clear proof he hadn't slept a wink all night.
He looked at me, his face tight with unease.
"You didn't sleep well last night, did you, Emma?
"Have some oatmeal first to warm your stomach up."
I didn't reach for the bowl. I just stared straight at him.
"Where is Grace?"
James froze solid. He rushed to explain, words tumbling over each other.
"Once she calmed down last night, I sent her straight away.
"Emma, I swear. I'll never let her step foot in this house ever again!"
He set the tray down and stepped forward to grab my hand.
"Emma, I can't live without you. You're my whole world."
His eyes were already red, and his voice cracked as he spoke. "But Grace… she's just so miserable. She can't survive without me, she'll kill herself any day if I'm not there. Can't we just do this one good deed, give her a lifeline to get by? Please?"
I stared at his face, and all I could feel was absurdity.
"Do charity?" I wrenched my hand out of his grip and let out a cold, bitter laugh. "You want to do charity with my money? On my bed?"
"Emma, don't say it like that… it sounds so awful." James dropped his gaze to the floor. "I'm just helping someone who's at the end of her rope. You used to be so kind. How did you get so cold-hearted now?"
Cold-hearted?
I'd paid off all his debts. I'd built our entire life from scratch with my own two hands. And now he had the nerve to call me cold-hearted?
I'd barely even registered the insult, ready to blow up in his face, when his phone rang in his pocket.
It was a voice message from Grace.
"James, I think I've got a fever. My head is spinning so bad...
"Don't come for me. Just stay with Emma, okay? It's fine if I die alone in my tiny rental, no one will care anyway."
All the color drained straight from James's face in an instant.
He turned to look at me, his eyes swimming with desperate pleading.
"Emma, Grace has a fever. People with depression can get really bad complications from a fever, I have to go check on her."
"If you dare go, we're getting divorced."
I stared back at him, completely calm.
James froze mid-step, then he clawed at his own hair, frayed and frantic.
"Emma, why do you have to force me like this?
"Is a human life really that worthless to you?!"
Eyes glistening red, he growled the words at me.
"Think whatever you want."
I turned and grabbed my bag.
"It's the weekend, Serena's wedding is today. If you don't want to go, just go stay with her."
Serena Langford was my business partner and also my closest best friend.
The second James heard that, a smile spread across his face like a switch had been flipped.
"Of course, I'm going with you. How could I not?
"Your friend is my friend, how could I miss it?"
The wedding venue was packed to the brim with guests.
James stuck right by my side the whole time, blocking drinks for me, picking fish bones out of my food, even peeling shrimp for me.
Even Serena's parents couldn't help gushing.
"Girl, you hit the jackpot with Ethan."
"That's right, you don't find many men who dote on their spouses like this these days."
All the other relatives sitting nearby nodded and joined in.
James smiled and laced his fingers through mine.
"I'm the lucky one, getting to marry Emma."
Staring at his smiling face, my stomach churned with revulsion.
Right that second, a commotion exploded from the far corner of the wedding hall.
"Hey! Watch it! What the hell is wrong with you? You're all thumbs up!"
The wedding planner's manager snapped, yelling loud enough for half the room to hear.
I followed the sound with my eyes, and my pupils shrank to pinpricks.
It was Grace.
She was wearing the scratchy temporary staff uniform of the wedding company, right here at the venue.
Right now, she was slumped and crumpled on the floor next to a flower pillar. Her palm sliced open by shattered vase glass, blood gushing down her wrist.
"I'm sorry… I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"
Her face was drained of all color, and she kept bowing over and over to apologize.
"Grace!"
A sharp cry burst from James, right there beside me.
He shoved his chair back so hard it scraped the floor with a screech, then hobbled toward her as fast as his disabled leg could carry him.
"Are you okay? How bad is it?"
He roughly shoved the manager out of the way and cupped her bleeding hand in both of his.
In an instant, every eye in the room locked on the two of them.
The second Grace spotted James, tears burst down her face like a broken dam.
"James… What are you doing here?
"I'm sorry, I messed up again… I've caused you more trouble…"
She collapsed against his chest, looking so pale and wobbly she was about to pass out every second.
"Don't worry, I'm taking you to the hospital!"
Panic flushed James's face bright red, and he scooped her straight up into his arms, bridal style.
I sat right there at the main table, watching James's back as he hurried out of the hall, Grace still held tight in his arms.
He didn't even bother to glance back at me once.
I picked up the glass of red wine sitting in front of me and drained it in one go.
"Be understanding?
"Fine. I'll be so damn understanding."
- Writer
