Loved Him 7 Years, I Found My Path

Chapter 2

Clara picked up her phone and leaned toward me, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Serena, let's add each other on w******p," she said with a warm smile. "We're neighbors now, let's keep in touch more often!"

After I accepted her request, I tapped into her Moments page.

The pinned post had a photo of a bouquet of red roses, with the caption: [Meant to be—after all these detours, it's still you.]

Looking at the date on the post, a memory suddenly hit me hard.

That day, I finished an operation on an HIV-positive patient, only to find that my surgical glove had torn.

While waiting for my test results, my mind went completely blank.

I trembled as I squatted in the corner and called Jason.

I called again and again, but he never answered.

Scrolling further down, I saw a post from three months ago—she shared a photo of a cheesecake.

The caption read: [I never thought you still remembered what I like.]

This was the first dessert Jason had ever made for me.

Back then, I'd been so surprised that he knew my tastes, I never realized he'd learned to make it for someone else.

Last autumn, she posted a photo of their family of three, the setting sun over the sea casting its light over their figures.

The caption read: [Thank you, my love, for giving me a home again.]

But that same day was our anniversary.

I sat in the living room waiting for him to come home; the candles I lit kept burning out, and I relighted them over and over.

I reheated the dishes three times, and in the end, I dumped all of them into the trash can.

At two in the morning, he finally texted me.

Jason: [Business dinner, couldn't get away.]

I never doubted him. I believed every word.

I put my phone down and lifted my bowl, the steam blurring my vision.

A tear rolled down my cheek and dropped into the bowl.

"Serena, what's wrong?" Clara tilted her head and looked at me in confusion. "Your eyes look all red."

I turned away quickly, wiping the corner of my eye under the pretense of reaching for food. "It's nothing. Must be the onions."

She glanced at the dishes on the table, didn't see any onion, and furrowed her brow, about to say something.

Jason peeled a shrimp and fed it straight into her mouth.

She immediately flushed with embarrassment and gave him a light push.

"Oh, stop that. We have a guest here!"

Suddenly, Clara slapped her forehead. "I completely forgot! The soup is done!"

After she stood up and trotted into the kitchen, only Jason and I were left at the table.

The air went still and tense once again.

Jason quickly leaned over and lowered his voice.

"Serena, don't say anything for now. I'll explain everything to you later, please."

"Explain what?" I stared hard at him. "Explain why you're someone else's husband? Explain why you're still in love with her but married me anyway?"

His Adam's apple bobbed once.

"She only came back two years ago. It's not easy for her to raise a kid alone. I'm just helping her out, for old times' sake."

I looked straight into his eyes and asked, "Have you slept with her?"

He opened his mouth, but no words came out.

Silence was more cruel than any answer he could have given.

I couldn't hold it any longer. I lifted my hand and slapped him hard across the face.

After the sharp c***k of the slap, my whole body was still trembling slightly.

But he didn't pull away. Instead, he leaned even closer to me.

"Happy now?" His voice was tight with suppressed emotion. "Can we talk now?"

I stared at the face in front of me. The person I've loved for seven years suddenly felt utterly strange to me.

His features were still the same as I remembered, but when did he turn into this person?

"Jason, do you have any shame at all?" My eyes burned, my voice shaking uncontrollably. "Do you have any shame for what you've done?"

He froze for a moment, his face draining of color.

But then he twisted his lips into a smile, his voice so soft, yet sharp enough to break me completely.

"You slept with me before marriage. Where's your shame then?"

My entire body froze solid, as if I had been plunged straight into ice water.

After the words left his mouth, he too froze, panic and regret flooding his eyes.

"Serena, I didn't mean that..."

He reached out to hold me, pleading.

My tears finally broke free, falling uncontrollably, one heavy drop after another.

I bit my lip so hard, desperate not to let a sound escape.

When I was nineteen, he told me he would marry me, and I believed him.

I was so naive, I thought that was the beginning of our love.

But all this time, in his heart, it was just me throwing myself at him.

I pushed him away with all my strength, my nails digging deep into his arm.

"Don't touch me!" I glared at him through my sobs. "Get the hell out of here!"