Chapter 3

Jennifer's POV

"Jennifer! Can you bring me a clean set of clothes?" William called from the bathroom.

I grabbed a clean set of gray loungewear and walked over to the bathroom. Then, I cracked the door open and passed him the clothes through the gap.

William took the clothes from me and said, "Thanks."

I didn't walk away immediately.

William had placed his dirty clothes on a small rack outside the bathroom. His phone lay quietly on top of the pile.

Suddenly, his phone buzzed, and the screen lit up.

Sierra had sent him a voice message.

I played the voice message out loud, and Sierra's sweet, coquettish voice instantly filled the room.

"Will, you left your waterproof dive watch next to my pillow. Did you forget to take it with you because you left in such a hurry? Are you coming over again tonight?"

The sound of running water abruptly ceased.

The bathroom door flew open, and William rushed out in nothing but a towel. He snatched his phone away and stared at me, his face flushed.

It seemed like he wanted to explain himself. But in the end, he stubbornly leaned in to kiss me instead.

"I can explain, Jen. Last night—"

I turned my head away from him and evaded his kiss.

"I'm tired. I was exhausted last night, and I still feel tired today. Don't touch me," I said coolly.

William's expression soured.

Feeling embarrassed and angry, he slammed his phone onto the rack and barked, "How long are you going to keep this up, Jennifer? Even Sierra was concerned that I didn't get enough sleep last night. On top of that, she urged me to come home first thing in the morning to spend some time with you."

He added, "You, on the other hand, have been giving me the cold shoulder all day! Do you even have a heart?"

I turned around and looked him dead in the eye.

"Where did you sleep last night?" I asked.

He irritably ran a hand through his damp hair. "Of course I slept on the couch! I must've dropped the watch when I took off my uniform to help her move her mattress."

He continued, "Jennifer, I've always treated Sierra like a sister. Her brother died while saving my life. Can you stop twisting our relationship into something disgusting?"

I pointed toward the guest room and declared coldly, "You can sleep in the guest room."

Glaring at me, William gritted his teeth and nodded.

"Fine, Jennifer. Since you insist on being unreasonable, neither of us will be getting a good night's sleep tonight!"

He stormed into the guest room and aggressively slammed the door shut behind him. I returned to the master bedroom alone and lay down on the bed.

…

At 2:00 am, my phone buzzed.

Dr. Fenton had sent me an email. Attached to the email was the official deployment letter for my medical aid mission to a remote mountain region in the west.

I opened the document and signed my name on the dotted line. Then, I turned off my phone and fell into a deep sleep.

…

The next morning, I was woken up by the sound of laughter and conversation outside my room.

I opened the bedroom door and walked out.

Sierra, who was wearing my apron and indoor slippers, was clumsily trying to fry an egg in the kitchen.

William stood behind her, patiently correcting her mistakes.

The moment they heard the door open, both of them turned around simultaneously.

Sierra flashed me an awkward look and said, "Please don't take this the wrong way, Jennifer. I—"

William stepped forward and intervened, explaining on her behalf, "The hurricane knocked out the water and electricity at Sierra's apartment complex. I didn't know if it was safe to leave her there by herself, so I brought her here first thing this morning."

Sierra hastily nodded. "Yeah. I just wanted to use your bathroom. I also thought I'd make you both some breakfast while I was here…"

As her words fell, she brought two plates of slightly burned eggs over to the dining table.

She pushed the one that looked slightly more edible toward William and muttered, "I'm so clumsy, Will. I burned the eggs…"

William sighed and placed that plate in front of me instead.

"All right, Jen. You can eat this one. Sierra put in a lot of effort to make these for us. So, you shouldn't complain about it."

As I stared at the burned plate of food, I declared emotionlessly, "I'm moving out of this apartment next week. If the two of you like it here, you can just move in together. There's no need to sneak around like this."