100 Broken Promises

Chapter 2

The next morning, I took the earliest bus home with the little change I had left. I went straight to my bedroom and fell asleep.

Just as I was falling asleep, a pair of hands suddenly reached out from behind me, and I was startled.

William's voice was laced with displeasure. "Out all night without a word? And no news either, Isabella, you've become bolder."

I was so tired that I didn't want to pay attention to him. But he forcefully turned me over to face him. I looked at him wearily and simply said, "My phone is in my bag."

William was stunned for a second, but quickly his pupils constricted as he looked into my eyes, his lips moving silently. This was his usual expression when he felt guilty. "Then you should have told me yesterday. I thought you could take a taxi home by yourself. Don't let it happen again."

He was doing it again, finding excuses for himself and shifting the blame onto me. As smart as he was, he should have realized I didn't have my phone when I contacted him with a payphone yesterday. But he didn't think of it, and he didn't even ask if I was hurt during the robbery, which meant he didn't care about me at all.

Too lazy to argue with him anymore, I said indifferently, "There won't be a next time."

There was no future between us, so how could there be a next time?

Perhaps it was because I was too cold, William frowned, his face showing displeasure. He even pulled me up, his arms outstretched, looking down at me. "Tie my tie."

I fought back my annoyance, grabbed the nearest one, tied it carelessly, and fell back down. William was obviously taken aback. He looked down at it, his face darkening. "This tie is pink. It doesn't go with this outfit. Isabella, are you even paying attention?"

I impatiently covered my ears with a pillow. He came up and pinched my wrist, and just when I thought he was going to go crazy again, he suddenly let go.

After a long time, so long that I thought he had left, a cold feeling fell on my knee. I opened my eyes abruptly and saw him applying medicine to my injured leg.

"Go back to sleep if you're really tired. After work, I'll take you shopping and to dinner, and buy you a new phone."

I knew it was his sudden guilt-talking. I responded perfunctorily, afraid that if I didn't, he would torment me further.

After William left, I slept until the afternoon. Although I was still not very energetic, I still tried to wake myself up, thinking to take this opportunity to talk about everything.

However, I was not in the mood to have dinner and go shopping with him. After a brief cleanup, I decided to go to William's company to find him.

However, as soon as I arrived downstairs at his company, I saw him getting into Evelyn's car. They were talking and laughing as they drove past me. I laughed self-deprecatingly. It seemed that this rare date that William had initiated was destined to be like all the others - canceled.

Making up my mind, I turned and went to the nearest beauty salon. After being William's wife for so many years, I almost forgot that the original Isabella was also a girl who loved beauty.

It wasn't until nightfall that I returned home with bags of luxury goods. The living room was dark, and a figure was curled up on the sofa.

I closed the door and turned on the light, not caring much.

As I passed in front of the sofa, there was a forceful pull. I was pulled down into William's arms.

The scent of pine was mixed with a sickly sweet strawberry smell.

The image of Evelyn immediately popped into my mind.

Was this how they were always together, their perfumes blending together like this? I felt a little nauseous and struggled to get up.

His hands deftly gripped my waist, his warm breath spraying on my neck. "Didn't we agree to go shopping and have dinner today? Why didn't you wait for me to come back?"

"Weren't you called away by Evelyn again?"

The strength in his grip on my waist tightened. William said angrily, "Overthinking again?"

"I saw you get into her car."

"You went to the company?" William was a little surprised, but his tone softened immediately. "She came to see me today to discuss a collaboration. My car broke down, so I took her car back. You've been a housewife for too long. You treat any woman who appears around me as a potential enemy."

Was that so? I sneered in my heart. Because Evelyn casually mentioned that she wanted to eat pastries, he stood me up and went across town to buy them for her. When I was sick with a fever, he could also immediately leave me to buy a painkiller for Evelyn, who had her period.

Faced with my questions, he always had the same answer. "Evelyn is like my sister who I've watched grow up. Don't overthink it."

Then, under the guise of being brother and sister, they would do all sorts of ambiguous things.

*****

Just then, a message came in on my phone. I picked it up and glanced at it.

"You bought it yourself?" William asked.

I replied while casually answering him, "You're so busy. If I waited for you, I'm afraid I wouldn't have the chance to use a phone."

"You!" William immediately stood up behind me, threw something out, and strode upstairs. At this time, I had just finished sending the lawyer a message: [Please prepare the divorce agreement as soon as possible. I don't want to wait any longer.]

I looked down at the thing on the floor and was stunned. It was a brand-new phone. If I remembered correctly, this color and model matched William's.

"Bang!" The bedroom door slammed shut. This was his way of announcing his anger, and also telling me to go and coax him immediately.

But I didn't want to. I packed my things and went to the guest room. Ever since I decided to divorce William, I miraculously stopped suffering from insomnia. I slept very well and didn't even know when he left the next morning.

But the next morning, William called and disturbed my sleep. He coldly told me to send him the contract I had left at home. Thinking that our relationship shouldn't be too strained before the divorce, I agreed.

But as soon as I walked into his office, I saw Evelyn there too, her whole body practically glued to William. When she saw me, she first looked flustered and stood up, then turned to me with a bright smile.

"Isabella, don't get me wrong. William said he wanted to sign me as the company spokesperson, and he called me here today to see what kind of clothes I would be suitable for in the promotion. But it's true that we'll be spending more time together in the future. You won't be jealous, right?" She winked at me and put her arm around William's, acting coquettishly as she thanked him.

To be fair, Evelyn's public image did not match the company's style. But it didn't matter, because William liked her...

I calmly placed the contract in front of William and smiled faintly. "I won't."

William, who had been motionless just a moment ago, suddenly looked up at me. After confirming that I was being sincere, he let go of Evelyn's hand. Our eyes met, and he pursed his lips, observing my expression.

"I'm planning to form a couple with Evelyn to attract some traffic. Anyway, you're free today. Why don't you come with us to choose clothes?"

Evelyn excitedly jumped over and took my hand. "Great! Isabella, you have such good taste in man, and you'll definitely choose the right clothes!"

Without waiting for me to object, she pulled me all the way to the underground parking lot. "I get carsick, so I'll take the passenger seat. You don't mind, do you?"

Hearing this, William also looked over, his gaze heavy.

I nodded and opened the back door, getting in. Anyway, as long as Evelyn was around, I wouldn't have the chance to sit in the passenger seat next to William.

I had argued with him about this more than once, but he always blatantly favored Evelyn. Every time it happened, I would feel hurt. But now, I felt nothing.

Along the way, Evelyn kept talking to William. He would respond gently to every word she said. But he didn't have that kind of patience with me.

I still remember the time we went camping, I was excitedly telling him everything, but he found me annoying, saying that me talking to him would only distract him from driving.

Then he turned up the music in the car.

Listening to their happy chatter, I was a little bored, so I simply put on my headphones and listened to music.

We soon reached our destination. William had brought us to a bespoke tailoring shop, a decades-old establishment, both exquisite and expensive.

"You choose." He pointed at me, his eyes seeming to suppress anger. It was a little strange. I didn't know where I had offended him again.

Actually, I didn't know anything about these fabrics. But since he wanted me to choose, I would. I smiled and chose the most extravagant-looking dress in the shop.

From afar, it looked like a wedding dress.