Chapter 4
As I relaxed on the sofa and scrolled through my phone, I came across. a Facebook post from Hailey, “Turns out when two equally talented people are together, they really glow.”
In the photo, she’s wearing a graduation cap and gown, snapping a selfie in the mirror with Joseph beside her, holding a bouquet of roses.
In the comments, Molly Quinn wrote, “Congrats to my junior for graduating! Looks like you’ll be Joseph’s perfect wife from now on, haha!”
As I kept reading, I saw that all of Joseph’s colleagues and friends had left their best wishes, flooding the screen with roses and heart emojis.
His friends have never really welcomed me. They’ve always thought that someone like me, with just a bachelor’s degree, didn’t match up to a scientific research star like him.
They would say I wasn’t as smart or as youthful and attractive as Hailey.
Maybe to them, I’ve always been the unlucky wife holding Joseph back from his bright future.
I looked at Joseph’s comment and let out a small, bitter smile.
He had written, “Hailey, I’ll be counting on you from now on.”
His words were filled with affection, and cach sentence felt like a tiny needle pricking at my heart.
Just then, another comment popped up from Molly, teasing, “Better post this quietly. If someone sees it and gets upset, who knows what tantrum might follow.”
I couldn’t help but recall how I once cautiously told Joseph to keep some distance between him and Hailey.
After all, Hailey chased after him, and eventually, he ended up becoming Hailey’s senior.
His friends wasted no time attacking me, accusing me of being petty and overbearing.
However, Joseph simply furrowed his brows and remarked that I was being too sensitive and didn’t know how to trust.
This time, I didn’t lose control like I did before. Instead, I quietly closed the app and calmly watched an old movie..
As the familiar storyline played out on screen, I slowly drifted off to sleep.
I was abruptly woken by intense shaking in the middle of the night.
Joseph stood before the sofa bed, looking furious, the scent of perfume and alcohol overwhelming.
“Emerson, I’ve been out at business dinners this late, and you didn’t even check in? Look at other people’s wives–picking up, dropping off, checking their husbands. And what about you? You always look like this–lifeless and cold!”
