I froze with the hair dryer in my left hand,
then gave a short laugh.
Why didn’t I iron his suit?
Because before, I used to iron his suit the
night before.
But since he had kicked me out of the car, I
immediately added him to my Do Not Disturb
I blinked and then used that as an excuse:
“My hand hurts, can’t read messages.
Mark glanced at my bandaged right hand, and
a strange look flashed across his face.
He tossed a tube of ointment at me.
“This’ll stop the bleeding. The doctor said it’s
good stuff.”
I picked up the tube and grimaced.
Of course. Expired medication.
Mark was already complaining:
“Rainey’s got a good heart, not like you,
always keeping score. She knew you got hurt,
so she picked this up special and told me to
give it to you.”
“No thanks, she can use it herself.”
I flicked the tube off the table and into the
trash.
Mark shot to his feet, glowering at me.
“Are you off your rocker again? Rainey went
out of her way to get this! Why are you
throwing it in the garbage?”
“I know you’re pissed because I bought
Rainey a house, but that’s my money, and I
can spend it however I want! And I’m the one
who should be angry, not you!”
He was screaming at me, and I was getting
<
dizzy, struggling to breathe.
“I’m not angry, just give me a minute…”
“You’re faking!”
Mark snapped, cutting me off. He smacked
the side of my head.
“You don’t have depression, you’re just
messed up in the head, completely nuts!”
“And you’re not just nuts, you’re a nasty,
horrible person!”
Ever since Rainey came back, Mark was
always calling me nasty.
He said I was forcing him to be a cruel,
heartless guy.
く
I used to cry and explain that I was worried
about Rainey because I wanted him to love
me more.
Now, he wants to be a faithful, honorable
guy? Let him be.
I said flatly, “Okay, I’m nasty. Can you leave
me alone for a minute?”
Mark froze.
He turned and slammed the bedroom door on
his way out.
I curled up on my side, putting on some soft
music to calm down.
But the depression was back, tears streaming
down my face
L
From the living room, I could hear Mark
talking to Rainey.
His laugh was loud, warm, loving.
I was half–asleep when the bedroom door
creaked open.
Mark pulled back the covers, climbed in, and
wrapped his arms around me from behind.
“Saturday. Time to pay the bills.”
Ever since Rainey showed up, I suspected
they were sleeping together.
Mark, to prove he wasn’t, made a point of
“paying the bills” every Saturday.
I reached back and blocked his hand.
Г
“I’m really tired tonight. Maybe next week.”
Mark stopped moving, then sighed with relief.
“I didn’t even want to. If my parents weren’t
so fond of you, you think I’d touch you?”
He jumped up and slammed the door behind
him.
I locked the door, grabbed my phone, and
scheduled an abortion for the day after
tomorrow.
At the same time, I texted my lawyer to draw
up divorce papers.
Mark disappeared for two days straight.
Г
I saw him again on Rainey’s social media.
“Seventeen years of knowing each other,
eight years of dating, now closer than lovers.”
The pic was from a birthday party.
Rainey was leaning on Mark, holding a
Hermès bag.
Looking closer, it was the exact same Hermès
bag I’d had to buy a ton of other stuff to get.
A couple weeks ago, Mark suddenly offered
to pick it up for me. That never happened.
I gave a short laugh and clicked “like” on the
post.
بدالحصصصص
く
Mark called me instantly.
“Come downstairs in half an hour. I’m taking
you to a party.”
“By the way, this is your reward for behaving
yourself lately.”
I was about to say no when Mark hung up.
Knowing I needed to keep the divorce moving,
I re–scheduled the abortion for tomorrow and
took a cab home from the clinic.
In the car, Mark started talking about Rainey’s
birthday.
“Don’t get mad, okay? When we were dating, I
promised her I’d be there for every birthday if
<
“I mean, it’s my private life. I don’t even have
to explain this to you.”
I just nodded.
“Yeah, no biggie. You being there for her
birthday? Makes sense.”
Mark whipped his head around, that weird
look coming back.
When we got there, I realized it was Old Bai’s
victory celebration.
On a yacht.
Weirdly, Rainey wasn’t there.
“Jiang! You’re the bomb! I wouldn’t be having
this party if it weren’t for you, too!”
Old Bai raised his champagne glass.
He was being nice, but it was true.
I only introduced him to Mark because it
would benefit Mark.
I poured myself a cup of tea.
“Congrats. I’m not drinking right now, so
this’ll have to do.”
Old Bai didn’t miss a beat.
“Heard you’re heading overseas to take over
the big market over there. Congrats to you,
too.”
L
I smiled weakly.
Mark, holding his wine, suddenly came up
behind me, his face tight.
“You’re going overseas? Why didn’t you tell
me? Did I even say it was okay?”
