Liam’s voice shook. “It’s not like that. Ashley, I’ve always loved you, I was just being
protective of Chloe.”
I cut him off. “No, you don’t love me. You’re just upset that your life is a mess without me. You only ever cared about yourself.”
“No! That’s not true! We’ve been together for
ten years. You’re the only woman in my life.” He
sounded desperate.
I replied flatly. “Yes, ten years. Long enough to
know what kind of person you are.”
<
3:33
- 11.
I never thought that Liam would follow me to Paris. He walked into the studio and punched Matt. “You bastard, you stole my wife!” I rushed to hold Liam back. He hugged me and said, “Ashley, you still care about me, right? I came all the way to Paris for you, you can forgive me, right? Let’s start over.”
I pushed him away. “No! The divorce papers are signed. We’re done.”
“No! I won’t agree to the divorce.”
“If you don’t, I’ll file a suit against you. We
can’t turn back the clock.”
“No! No! No!”
Liam screamed. Then he grabbed me and tried
to kiss me. I wanted to throw up, but I couldn’t
push him away. Finally, Matt punched him and
3:33
he was on the floor.
I went to Matt and grabbed his hand, “Why would you do something so stupid?”
Liam got up, smirking. “Matt, don’t try to act innocent. I know that you’ve been interested in my wife from day one. See, she cares about…”
I stopped him. “Matt, your hand is hurt! How are you going to paint for the show? There’s still so much we have to do!” Matt’s eyes
widened, then showed a soft smile.
Liam was yelling again, but the studio had
already called the cops. They took him away
and sent him back home.
Liam hitting Matt was all over the news and it
got a lot of bad attention. His studio didn’t have
a good manager or PR team. He was pretty
much finished.
<
- 12.
Matt’s show was a huge success. When we landed in the US, the press was all over us. Some of the reporters wanted to dig up drama about Liam, but Matt just blocked them all. A disheveled figure came forward holding a
painting. It was Liam. He’d glued the shredded pieces of the Paris sunset painting back together. Liam dropped to his knees. “Ashley, remember our agreement? I messed it up, so I went through the trash and fixed it for you. I didn’t sleep for a month!”
“Look, I’ve done so much to fix it, the painting is whole again. We can start again, right?”
Start again?
I looked at the uneven, messy painting.
The damage had been done.
<
The damage had been done.
The cameras were flashing.
I replied coldly. “Liam, your painting is trash.”
Liam fell to his knees, crying. I didn’t even look
back at him, and walked away with Matt.
In a way, the scene gave Matt’s show more
attention. Matt decided he wanted to stay in the US. I asked him, “Didn’t you say that you hated the US art scene when Liam kicked you out? How come you don’t hate it anymore?”
He looked surprised. “You remember that? I
thought that…”
“How can I forget? You are the most talented young artist. Liam was too narrow–minded, so I introduced you to people overseas.”
“It was really you, Ashley. I…”
<
It was really you, Ashley. I…
I kissed him.
“We don’t need any more words,” I said.
Matt looked worried. “I thought that with Liam, you’d be more wary, that it would be difficult
for you to accept me, so I never said
anything…”
I smiled. “I can’t just not walk because I
stepped in a pile of shit, right?”
Matt smiled and kissed my fingers. “Me too.
Just because I met Liam, doesn’t mean that
everyone in the art world is bad.”
“I’ve thought it over. This is where our roots are,
and we will stay here forever.”
The sun was setting, but I knew the sunrise
would always come.
