Chapter 11
I’m nearly done packing for my flight next Friday.”
As I stirred the cold coffee, the sound of the spoon tapping against the cup was unusually sharp in the quiet living room.
Suddenly, Joseph seized my wrist, his fingers trembling ever so slightly.
“Emerson, we need to talk. I’m about to lose it with your indifferent attitude.”
I yanked my hand away and stared at his red–rimmed eyes.
“What’s going on? Didn’t you always say this was the easiest way for us to be together?”
Once, he had always complained that my questions about his
whereabouts were too clingy. But now it seems to be driving him on the edge.
He tugged at his tic, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down.
“Is it about Hailey? If you just say the word, I’ll…”
“That’s not needed.” I cut him off and gazed out the window, watching the shadows of the trees sway.
“Whom you choose to spend time with is your decision. I no longer care about it.”
He suddenly burst out laughing, but it sounded more like crying than
11
anything else.
“You used to argue with me endlessly about her, and now you claim you don’t care? Do you think I don’t see how upset you are?”
He snatched up his phone and unlocked it so quickly that he nearly cracked the screen.
“I’ll show you!”
The moment the speakerphone clicked on, Hailey’s flirtatious voice cut through the air, “Joseph, what did you call me all of a sudden?”
Her voice was as sweet as honey, and combined with the music from the other side of the line, it felt like a sharp needle breaking the stillness of the living room.
Joseph’s veins pulsed at his temple, but he kept his composure. “Stop reaching out to me. I’m married.”
Those words took me back three years ago to when I had cried and pleaded with him to stay away from Hailey.
He had responded with frustration, saying, “We’re just colleagues. don’t cause a scene.”
Now, hearing the same words from him, they felt nothing short of absurd and laughable.
With a sweet smile, Hailey’s interruption made Joseph’s face flush immediately.
He shot me a frightened look, his throat visibly moving as he spoke, “I’m serious, Hailey.”
Chama
A laugh, like the sound of a silver bell, echoed from the phone, filled with a familiar sense of closeness.
“Joseph, you aren’t actually going to do this for that old woman at home…”
“That’s enough!”
Joseph’s voice suddenly grew louder, his fingers gripping the phone sol tightly that they turned pale.
“Don’t call me anymore. From now on, we’re just colleagues. I’ll request a transfer to another team. Hailey, I’m married. Please respect yourself.”
A short pause followed by a sharp, mocking laugh came through the line.
“Oh, Joseph, I get it. Your wife must be mad at you again, right? That kind of petty, married woman is always paranoid, always worried. someone might steal her husband.”
Joseph’s face shifted from pale to red, veins bulging in his neck.
“Hailey, Emerson is my wife. She’s a hardworking and dedicated wife. You have no right to criticize her! From now on, we have nothing to do with each other.”
He nearly spat the words through clenched teeth before hanging up without waiting for a reply.
The phone buzzed repeatedly in his hand, and he ended the call with ‘irritation.
When he turned to face me, panic mixed with desperation filled his
eyes. “You saw everything, right? I’ve completely cut ties with her. When you return from studying abroad, we’ll…”
“No need,” I said calmly.
I stepped back, avoiding his hand that reached for me. “Joseph, let’s get a divorce.”
He suddenly lunged at me, pressing his hand over my mouth, warm tears falling onto the back of my hand.
The man who once held so much pride that he never apologized now shook his head with reddened eyes like someone desperately clinging to a fleeting chance.
