Chapter 3
Then his eyes fell on the empty bottle on the table, and his voice turned sharp.
“What did you use my medicine for?”
“What?” I was momentarily confused.
Neil strode over, snatched the bottle off the table, his voice cold.
“I’ll bring it over tomorrow for Carroll. You-
He suddenly stopped mid–sentence when he saw the bandages wrapped around my calf.
“What happened?”
It turned out,
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It wasn’t for me.
I had been deluding myself.
I had thought it might be a small gift.
“You can see such a small bottle, but not my leg wrapped in bandages?”
gripped the bandages tightly in my hands, terrified I might not be able to hold back the wave of hurt.
Neil’s composure faltered.
“Carroll scratched herself, I brought the medicine back for her. If you used it, fine.”
“Carroll scratched herself?”
I threw my phone in front of him.
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It was a post she had made on her social media.
“A wound the size of a fingernail, and you even took her to the doctor?”
“Your wife has a long scrape, and you act blind?”
www
I raised my voice, demanding answers.
Neil finally moved, his patience wearing thin.
“Helen, don’t argue with me after a full day of work. I’m tired. Can’t you be a little more understanding?”
“You’re acting like this just because Carroll came back?”
“I’ve told you she has connections, and you still don’t trust me?”
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I was about to laugh in disbelief.
Neil adjusted his briefcase and concluded the conversation with a triumphant tone.
“You weren’t like this before.”
What was I like before?
I could hardly remember anymore.
Was it my fault? Was it really me who weren’t understanding?
I couldn’t make sense of it.
Someone in the office was sent flowers.
Several couriers brought them to Carroll.
I watched as Carroll happily accepted the
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flowers.
“I wasn’t sure which one you liked, so I bought them all!” Neil explained with a smile.
I stood there quietly, holding the files, feeling like an outsider.
“Ah, Helen’s here too? Don’t blame Neil,” Carroll noticed me standing outside the door.
She picked a bouquet of black roses from the pile, just like Neil’s wife would, and stuffed them into my arms.
“I’ve been saying I haven’t gotten flowers in ages, and today just happens to be my birthday… you’re not mad, are you?”
My mouth remained stiff, unable to produce even a hint of a smile.
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Neil glanced at me deeply, took the files from my hands, and shut the door with Carroll.
I looked down at the roses in my arms.
How strange.
My favorite color.
Unexpectedly, it was given to me by my husband’s first love.
The messages on my phone kept ringing.
Neil’s mother kept sending me messages, asking when I would be returning home.
She had raised a few geese, waiting to nourish me.
I stroked my phone, my heart heavy with
sorrow.
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Ten years of knowing Neil, from childhood to
now.
Most of it had been filled with struggles and hardships.
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