Chapter 8
“Isn’t Jessica the one you love most? You told me yourself that I was just a dog you kept
Chapter 8
around–someone to throw a bit of food to
when you felt like it and that even if I stood in front of you with nothing on, you wouldn’t touch me when you were in a bad mood.”
“So what exactly do you think you‘ re doing shamelessly crawling into my bed now?”
For some reason, Thomas seemed a bit off tonight. He wrapped his arms around me from behind, his tone almost…pleading.
“I admit I neglected you before. From now on, I’ll try to spread the love around. You just need to be more open–minded and stop getting jealous of Jess.”
I shook him off with disgust and poured the stomach–soothing soup I’d made straight into the trash.
“Thomas, after all these years, you still don’t
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know me at all. Whether it’s things or men,
I don’t do secondhand. You make me sick.”
At two in the morning, after Thomas stormed out and slammed the door, I took out my phone, tapped a few buttons and sent a recording of our little “bedroom chat” straight to Jessica.
Stirring up a little trouble, huh? Please–as if I didn’t know how to play that game.
A message with few question marks popped up almost immediately from her side.
Then she sent over a video–a chaotic scene in some club, men and women laughing and lounging together, with Jessica at the center, surrounded by shirtless male models, clearly having the time of her life.
The next day, I ran into her at the mall. With
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a smug smile, she invited me to chat about the events of the previous night.
I accepted.
“Does Thomas know you‘ re out fooling around behind his back?”
Jessica took a calm sip of her coffee and replied, “And wasn‘ t he the one sneaking into your bed in the middle of the night?”
“We’re just using each other for what we need. Besides, he was your husband first. I just play nice when I need some cash and he’s my personal ATM.”
I shot her a look of utter disdain. “You really have no shame. No wonder you and Thomas ended up together. You‘ re both equally despicable.”
Jessica laughed, clapping her hands at my
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assessment, though there was one thing she
didn’t get.
“It’s fine if you insult me, but isn’t Thomas the man you once worshipped, the one you hung on every word of? What‘ s changed for you to be insulting him too now?”
“Have you really lost it, going down this path of ‘if I can’t have him, I’ll destroy him‘? Relax. There’s no need to be so hostile with me. I only love money; men are just tools to meet my physical needs.”
She took on that condescending, know–it–all
tone.
“You’re a fool–a workaholic, fake saint who doesn’t know how to use men. If you don’t learn to take shortcuts, people will walk all over you for the rest of your life.”
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Jessica went on, practically glowing with excitement as she described the ways she had Thomas wrapped around her finger.
“All that childhood sweetheart nonsense is just that–nonsense. If it weren’t for the designer bags and jewelry, I’d never waste my time on him.”
“Guys like Thomas–spoiled rich boys born with silver spoons in their mouths—are used to people fawning over them. So what happens when he meets a woman who plays hot and cold with him? You think he won’t fall head over heels?”
“The more you keep him at arm’s length, the more shamelessly he’ll chase after you.”
As Jessica’s words grew more explicit, I couldn’t help but feel a strange pity for
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“The more you keep him at arm’s length, the more shamelessly he’ll chase after you.”
As Jessica’s words grew more explicit, I couldn’t help but feel a strange pity for Thomas.
The woman he’d loved for years turned out to be nothing more than a complete fraud.
Part 8
When I stepped out of the mall, Clive was already waiting for me outside. Chapter 9
We’d planned to watch a movie together that night.
