Divorce Never! Love Again?

Episode 6

As the meeting wrapped up, everyone began filing out of the room one by one. Chloe had messaged me saying she had arrived at the company and was waiting for me in the lobby. As I made my way to the elevator, the moment when Lucian and I locked eyes during the meeting kept replaying in my mind.

I despised him for making me think about that ridiculous moment. What a waste of time...

Chloe, dressed in a pink mini dress and oversized sunglasses, drew everyone's attention in the lobby as she hurried towards me. She was the only person who had seen and listened to the real me for years. I didn't have many friends. My relationship with Elisabeth was more like a sibling rivalry than a sisterly bond.

Chloe was like a sister to me. I loved her spontaneous attitude and how she lived in the moment, so different from me. She was selfless and always listened. Unlike Elisabeth, she didn’t scrutinize my life for flaws. Even if she saw my mistakes, she would try to help rather than expose me.

“What are you treating me to?” she asked cheerfully, flipping her long blonde hair with the back of her hand.

“Whatever you want,” I replied with a smile. I knew if she sensed I was preoccupied, she would bombard me with questions. My mind was a mess, but I tried to appear normal.

“Then let’s have a nice pizza. But first, how about you treat me to coffee? There are some really handsome guys at your company’s rooftop cafe during lunch,” she said, winking as I started pulling her towards the elevator.

“You head up to the rooftop, and I’ll get the coffee and bring it up,” I said, pressing the buttons for the rooftop and cafe floors.

“Aren’t you going to have some?” she asked, surprised, knowing how much I loved coffee.

“I already had some. I’ll get something else,” I said as we reached the cafe floor.

“Okay, see you upstairs,” she called out as the door closed.

When I got in line for coffee, I noticed my teammate Jace standing right in front of me. He must have seen me too because he turned around.

“The director was really pissed. After lunch, go and tell him you’re really sick. You know he’s extra annoyed with you because you’re Lucian’s wife. He still thinks you got the job through connections,” he said angrily.

Jace was my closest colleague on the team. He was one of the most popular people in the company. He was incredibly handsome, enough to make Chloe fall for him every time.

Tall and well-built, with sharp facial features and wavy black hair, Jace had already told Chloe he wasn’t interested, but she still wanted to have coffee on the rooftop, hoping to see him.

“Why don’t you come to the rooftop with me if you don’t have other plans?” I asked as I ordered my coffee. Amid all this chaos, I was trying to play matchmaker. Unbelievable, Addy!

“Sure, I’ll come. I have no other plans.”

“Great! Let the Chloe and Jace love story begin!” my inner voice cheered. I had a matchmaking smile on my face as we headed up.

“What are you smiling about? Are you planning to break the director’s desk leg again and pretend nothing happened like last time?” Jace asked as we walked towards the elevator. I had completely forgotten about that incident.

It was last year, I think. The director had yelled at Jace during a meeting for no good reason. I was so annoyed that I stayed late, broke the leg of his desk, and put it back as if nothing had happened. The next day, he was met with a loud crash. Sweet justice, right?

Jace kept laughing until we got into the elevator.

“I’m so lucky to have you on our team. I’d be miserable without you here.”

“Is that so?” I said as we were about to reach the rooftop. Lucian’s words about my teammates echoed in my mind. In truth, I liked Jace and the rest of the team. I couldn’t imagine working with anyone else.

When we reached the rooftop, Chloe’s smile grew even wider the moment she saw Jace. It was clear she was smitten with him, although she kept insisting she wasn’t interested anymore since he had already rejected her once.

I didn’t know why Jace had turned her down, and I hadn’t asked him because I didn’t want to interfere in their relationship. Chloe hadn’t been completely rejected either. She had invited Jace somewhere when the three of us were talking together. Jace had mumbled something about not being able to make it while I was there.

He later talked to her and explained that his life was too complicated for a romantic relationship. I didn’t know if it was an excuse or if he really had problems. That’s why I thought I might give it another shot.

“Hey Jace, you look even more…,” Chloe began, realizing she needed a word other than “handsome.”

“Tired, right? The marketing director is really working us to the bone,” I quickly interjected to save her from the awkward moment.

“This time, it looks like one of his chair legs will be the next to go,” Jace said, taking a sip of his coffee and smiling.

Seeing Chloe’s starstruck expression was almost too much for me to handle without bursting into laughter. Normally, Chloe liked older, mature men. Jace was two years younger than us and definitely not on her radar. But hey, love knows no bounds!

“Stop smiling like that, Jace, or Chloe might just have a heart attack,” my inner voice commented sarcastically.

I quickly searched my mind for a conversation topic. Yes, there was something bothering me. Maybe they could give me some advice.

“I really don’t want to go to the high school reunion. If I don’t go, the rumors will only get worse.”

“Don’t go, who cares? People love to gossip,” Jace said with a shrug.

Chloe shook her head disapprovingly.

“Why are you running away? You’re just getting divorced, that’s all. People will talk no matter what. Besides, Jace, don’t you know Addy? She never runs from anything.”

“Are you worried about the gossip because of the divorce or because of Lucian’s scandal?”

“Not the divorce, of course, but I’m sure they’ll gossip about how I got cheated on and make up a lot of stuff about me. They’ll probably blame me, saying, ‘Addy must be so terrible that Lucian ran off with other women.’ ”

Jace nodded thoughtfully.

“I’ll come with you. You can say I’m your new boyfriend. The scandal will be pinned on Lucian. His cheating is his issue, not yours.”

The approaching footsteps and Chloe’s frozen expression signaled disaster. When I turned, I saw Lucian standing right behind me. How much had he heard?

“Save your brilliant ideas for marketing projects, Jace. I don’t want people thinking poorly of you because of me Adeline. I’ll come with you and explain the situation to your friends,” Lucian said, not giving me a chance to respond, then nodded to Chloe and walked away.

“What was that about?” Chloe asked, still in shock.

“Do you think he’ll fire me?” Jace was still in shock too.

“No, he doesn’t react impulsively like I do. If he even thinks about it, I’ll make sure he eats a box of laxatives for breakfast.”

Jace burst out laughing.

“Did you really do that?” Chloe asked.

“Yes, but just two pills. It didn’t seem to have much effect. Stubborn Lucian and his stubborn intestines.”

“Good thing you don’t sleep in the same room, or you might have tried to strangle him in his sleep,” Chloe said, joining Jace in laughter. I noticed a brief moment where they locked eyes and shared a look.

“I wouldn’t go that far, come on!” I said, pretending to be offended.

“Jace, watch yourself.”

“Maybe you should give me more information about Addy, Chloe. I don’t want to suddenly have diarrhea for annoying her,” he said, laughing.

As they continued their conversation, I watched Lucian’s silhouette move further away.

Even if I were reborn ten times, I wouldn’t have expected him to offer to go to the high school reunion to clear up rumors about me.

The look in his eyes when he glanced at Jace was pure anger. His face was expressionless, but his eyes spoke volumes.

During our marriage, we hardly ever talked. I couldn’t understand why he was acting so differently now that we were getting divorced.

Was he jealous of me at that moment? Did Jace’s words make him angry? His strange remark about Saturday was still on my mind.

The moment I realized he was standing near me, I felt a strange sensation. It wasn’t fear or panic because he overheard us.

I wondered if he was angry with me. For the first time, I looked at his face closely, trying to decipher his expression.

For the first time, I genuinely wanted to understand him, to know what was going through his mind and what he was feeling…