my younger fake husband

chapter 8

Laila

Today is the fifteenth of October.

That means five full years have passed since my first marriage failed.

Five years...

And I’m still the same.

I haven’t succeeded in life, and nothing has changed. Everything is still exactly as it was.

I stared at that locked room for a few seconds.

I’m still a coward. I can’t bring myself to get rid of his things, and I don’t even dare to open that door.

Five years... and that door is still locked.

Instead of thinking about it any longer, I decided to go to work. That would be better for me.

I left the house and headed toward the elevator.

When the doors opened, he was inside.

And he wasn’t alone.

There was a girl with him... yes, a girl around his age. She was very beautiful. Her eyes, her hair, everything about her was beautiful, and she was clinging to him.

He was laughing with her without saying anything.

As if he didn’t know me.

Deep down, I wished he would say something, anything, but he didn’t speak to me.

He and the girl walked out together while I remained standing at the apartment door, staring after him.

He didn’t even look at me.

What is with this behavior?

Why is he suddenly ignoring me?

It’s not like I’ve fallen in love with him or anything.

I’m not interested in him!

I arrived at the fish restaurant. It looks crowded today.

I guess I’ll work here all day.

───

Sarah

I feel so sorry for my only friend, Laila.

She works so hard, but life never seems to stop fighting her.

I wonder how I can help her.

My phone rang.

It was that i***t, Adam.

He had been ignoring me for three whole days.

“Hello, what is it? I hope it’s important because I’m busy.”

His voice came calmly, as usual.

“You’re the one who called me. I saw your thirty-fourth missed call today, so I’m wondering if there’s actually something important enough to justify all this.”

My face turned red.

I had forgotten that I was the one who called him, but he hadn’t answered.

Okay... it probably wasn’t actually the thirty-fourth call. Maybe a little less.

“Hello, Sarah. Can you hear me?”

“Uh... yes.”

“What happened?”

“My phone fell into the water, and it called you by itself because of a malfunction.”

“Oh... strange. Am I the only person you have saved in your contacts?”

“Enough with the nonsense. What do you want?”

“What do you want?”

I shouted at him angrily.

“I wanted to ask you about Laila and her situation. What happened?”

“Ah, now that makes sense.”

He was silent for a moment before continuing.

“Actually, I found out who owns the workshop, but he’s traveling. We tried to contact him, but he hasn’t returned even after four months. Laila will have a lawsuit filed against her in a month if she doesn’t pay the first installment to the bank.”

“What?!”

“As for the forgery accusation, the workshop owner hasn’t filed any report, so there’s currently no forgery case against her.”

I breathed a sigh of relief.

“They should give her more time. My friend doesn’t have that much money. She’s sending everything she earns toward paying off her debts.”

“I know, Sarah, but it’s difficult.”

I hung up the phone and sat there thinking.

How can I help her?

───

Laila

Cutting cold fish is really annoying.

I’ve cut more than fifty pieces today, and I’m already exhausted. I still have to serve customers tonight.

I sat down to take a break and looked at my phone.

What’s wrong with it?

He used to send me a hundred messages a day.

Is he busy?

And what’s the story with that girl?

I can’t believe his supposed interest in me was all just a big lie.

Wait...

Laila, wait!

Am I thinking about him right now?!

Impossible.

I must have lost my mind.

“Laila, your break is over. Get back to work.”

I looked at the clock.

It was nine in the evening.

I would be working until midnight.

I went back to serving customers, and then I saw that table.

That girl was sitting there with her two friends.

I didn’t know they liked this kind of restaurant.

Wait...

Is she looking at me?

She was gesturing for me to come over.

I walked toward them.

She said,

“Waitress, we want two portions of dried fish with rice and lemon juice.”

I wrote everything down and went to prepare their order.

But when I returned with the food, she and her friend stood up without even eating anything and approached me.

She said,

“I ordered this just to keep you busy, so you wouldn’t bother Kain with your looks, you old woman.”

Then she walked away with her friend.

I felt a little pain in my chest, but it was nothing compared to all the bullying and betrayal I had experienced throughout my life.

Time passed quickly.

I closed the restaurant and headed home.

When I reached my apartment door, I found him there.

He was standing there calmly, looking at me.

He said cheerfully,

“Ah, Auntie! I missed you today.”

I moved him away from my door and took out my key to unlock it without saying a word to him.

But he grabbed my hand and pushed me inside the apartment. Then he followed me in and closed the door behind him.

I shouted angrily,

“Get out of my house, you i***t!”

“I’m not moving until I know what’s wrong with you.”

What’s wrong with me?

Is he stupid?

He ignored me this morning!

I shouted angrily while hitting his chest with my hands.

“Why are you asking? Why are you even following me? Go to that mistress of yours, your girlfriend, or whatever she is! Go to her. I don’t want to see your face anymore.”

“Laila, she’s just a friend. She came to visit me.”

“Then why did you ignore me?”

“I really didn’t mean to. It’s just that I...”

“You don’t have a proper answer.”

My phone rang.

I looked at the screen.

“Mom.”

I answered the call.

My mother’s angry voice came through.

“Shut up, you thief! How could you do this to us?”

I was stunned by her words.

“What happened, Mom?”

My mother shouted angrily.

“Why did you withdraw all the money from the account? Your sister needed it! What is the poor girl supposed to do now? She needs to buy new clothes for her institute!”

“Mom, that money was for my workshop, and they took the workshop away from me. Now I’m in debt to the bank.”

She replied in shock,

“So you’ve started doing things behind my back? What workshop? What nonsense are you talking about, you i***t? I told you your sister is more important than you! You have the money, so hurry up and send it now!”

Before I could respond, she hung up on me.

My mother is a selfish woman.

She has always been like this.

But it’s okay...

I’ll send her whatever I earned from work today.

My sister is helpless. She doesn’t deserve to suffer because of me.

Kain was still standing there.

I looked at him tiredly and said,

“Kain... I want you to hug me.”

He was stunned, but he quickly pulled me into his arms.

I don’t know why I asked him to do that.

But I feel so lonely right now...

So all I want is a hug.

To be continued...