CHAPTER THREE
1366 Words
CHAPTER THREE
After the surgery, I met up with Mia at her restaurant. I saw her flirting with every customer.
"Hey, sis," I called out.
The man she was talking to turned to me and looked me up and down.
"She's your sister?" he asked Mia.
She giggled nervously. "Something like that."
"What do you mean, 'something like that'? Aren't you proud of your big sister being a surgeon?" I said with a sweet smile, trying to flirt.
The man was speechless. "You're a surgeon. I like female surgeons. Does it bother you that I'm working on my heart?"
I giggled and looked at Mia, who was seething with anger behind him.
"I'm married. Maybe in a future life," I said.
"I love married women. You can just cheat on your husband," he spat out.
His words made me infuriately funny.
"Cheat? Do all men think like that? So stupid!"
"What? Hey!" he shouted.
"Hey?!" I retorted angrily.
I was about to attack him when Mia stepped between us.
She turned to the man. "Get lost."
"Get lost?" the man said, stunned.
"Yes. I should have known you were an i***t. I even waived the bill because I thought you had a sense of humor, but I was wrong." She spat out the words.
It was the first time my little sister had ever spoken like that. I was impressed.
The man looked around—all eyes were on him. He turned to us and whispered, "As for payment... can I pay in installments?"
Mia snorted. "i***t!"
She called one of her employees. "Take this man to the kitchen. He has dishes to wash."
The employee led the man to the back.
"I'm sorry you had to witness that," she said, leading me to a table in the corner.
"It's okay. You're still flirting, huh? Take your life seriously, Mia Jones. You're not getting any younger. If you think your first love is going to turn up, I don't know what to say," I said, sounding concerned.
She was silent. I knew how hard my comment about her first love had been for her. She had never told me anything about him. All she had said was, "He left me for her. He disappeared."
I tried to apologize. "Mia, I didn't mean to dredge up your past. I'm just worried that I'll die alone someday. I want you to be loved."
She smiled. "I know, Pet. Besides, I'm already loved by you and Mom."
I smiled and took her hand.
One of our employees brought us coffee.
"You have a very pretty older sister, Ma'am," the employee said.
"Get lost," Mia said, sending the girl away.
"You're so cruel," I remarked.
"Do you still need the gun or the poison? And please say it's Logan you want to kill," she said, waiting expectantly for my reply.
I was speechless.
"Why would I want to kill the man of my life?" I asked.
"Because he's a con man," she said, taking a sip of coffee and drinking.
"I don't want to kill him. I want to kill his new—or rather, old—lover, who wants to steal my last name," I spat out.
"Jesus Christ! I knew he'd never stop cheating. You said he stopped last year," she replied.
... “He did that… because of a responsibility. His son!” I said, immediately looking away.
She spat her coffee all over me.
“Hey!” I shouted.
“Sorry,” she pleaded, wiping my soiled clothes with a cloth.
“I expected this. I brought a change of clothes,” I said, getting up to change. Mia brought me the dress to the restroom.
“Girl! A son? He has a son? What?” Mia asked.
“Good question. What?” I asked her.
She was furious. “Answer me!”
“She was the patient I operated on three weeks ago,” I said calmly and coolly.
“The one with the baby?” she asked.
“Yes—and Logan is the father,” I said.
She was confused. “Wait, father of two children?”
“Yes. A 12-year-old boy and a fetus,” I said. "He's inviting her to Director Salinger's birthday party. Don't tell Mom."
"She'll find out at the family dinner anyway, but it's going to be really bad," she concluded.
I looked at her and then at my phone. I had received a message from Logan.
[DARLING HUSBY: Come to the office. We need to talk.]
I left it on "read." Mia broke the silence. "Director Salinger's birthday is tomorrow. He's introducing her tomorrow? I just realized that."
I sighed and ignored her.
Anger filled my heart. Was it a bad idea not to want children?
I received an anonymous message.
[Anonymous: Hello woman with my last name. I was fired today. My husband is finally introducing me to his family tomorrow. I wanted to talk to you about it.]
I snorted. It was from Wendy. I showed Mia the message, and she seemed even angrier than I was.
"Sister, let's go shopping," she said cheerfully, getting up, and I followed her.
While shopping, I spotted Logan. I couldn't help but smile. Mia saw him too. "Look—the cheating husband," she said, pushing me toward him. I walked toward him smiling and froze just before I reached him.
He was with Wendy. That mistress. She saw me, smiled, and waved. "Nice to see you, Surgeon. What's the occasion?"
"Hi," I said, turning to leave.
"Are you ignoring me?" she retorted, trying to stop me and reaching for my bag. I yanked my bag away and said, "See you later, Wendy. You too, Logan."
Wendy's voice became almost shrill: "Rude. Babe, I don't like her..."
I snorted and whispered as I walked away, "I don't like you either."
The next day, I canceled all my appointments and was just getting dressed when Logan walked in. His black suit fit perfectly.
"Shall we ride together?" he asked.
"No," I replied sharply.
"You should wear the necklace I gave you," he said.
“No,” I replied sharply again.
“Why?” he asked.
I remained silent.
“If it’s about yesterday…” he began, and I interrupted him sharply: “I said no, Logan. What part don’t you understand?”
“I’m leaving now,” he said and started to go when I stopped him. “Your tie…”
I went over to him and straightened his tie. “Father hates it when a tie is messy.”
I sighed. “Get our new wife home safely.”
He smiled.
That wasn’t heartfelt. I’m planning to take down your so-called mistress, Logan.
As soon as he was out the door, I sent a message to Thomas, the family lawyer.
[: Do you have time for a serious talk? Don’t tell Logan anything!]
Thomas called immediately after reading it.
“I’m free now, should I come over?” he asked.
“Let’s meet at Rivers Oven in 20 minutes,” I said and hung up.
I grabbed my bag and drove to the bakery. Surprisingly, Thomas was already there.
“So soon?” I said, pulling out a chair.
“I got bread and cake for my kids,” he said, and my heart sank at the word “kids.”
I sighed and took a breath. “How long have you known?” I asked.
“Since last year.”
“Oh, right. You two were there together,” I said, laughing angrily. “So you have a mistress too, huh?” I spat out.
He chuckled softly and smiled. “No, Petunia. I love my wife with all my heart and would never cheat on her. And if you think Logan cheated on you because he doesn’t love you, you’re wrong.”
"He loves you so much that he cheats on you and still treats you like he's number one." With that, he stood up.
"I'm only saying this once, because you're my friend: Think about why Logan is cheating or cheated," he said and walked away.
I sat there silently.
Probably because—I don't know.
- Writer
