Chapter 8

After signing the contract, I went home. As soon as I walked in, I saw a pair of men's dress shoes by the door.

My usual house slippers were gone, too.

Seeing that, I had a pretty good idea what was going on.

I took out a new pair of disposable slippers and put them on before going inside.

As soon as I stepped in, I heard Jude's voice.

"Ms. Lovell, you're doing it wrong. Let me show you."

When I reached the kitchen doorway, I saw Whitney and Jude standing at the sink.

Jude had his arms around Whitney and was holding her hands. They looked very close.

Jude was wearing my lounge clothes and my house slippers. He looked right at home.

Whitney was wearing a matching outfit. She seemed perfectly comfortable with him so close, and they appeared to be enjoying each other's company.

I had no idea what they were talking about, but they both burst out laughing.

But whenever I stood a little too close to Whitney, she would get uneasy.

She had once told me she wasn't comfortable being too close to men. But now it was clear that it was only me she didn't want near her.

I couldn't help but scoff.

For some reason, Whitney turned around. When she saw me, she froze for a moment. Then she instinctively pulled away from Jude's embrace, looking a little guilty.

"Why are you back so early?"

Her question struck me as ridiculous. Now it was somehow my fault.

"Sorry, Neil. I was just showing Ms. Lovell how to wash vegetables. Don't get the wrong idea."

Jude said that, but the look he gave me was full of smugness as he studied my reaction. He seemed eager to see me lose my temper with jealousy.

In the past, I probably would have gotten angry again, had a huge fight with Whitney, and demanded that she kick Jude out.

But I was used to it by now. Besides, I was leaving soon, and the house had already been sold. The deposit was already in my account, and I couldn't be bothered to care.

"Then you two carry on. I'm going to my room," I said calmly and headed toward the bedroom.

Jude froze. He looked surprised, as if he couldn't understand why I was behaving that way.

Whitney had probably expected me to get angry, too. Seeing how calm I was, she sounded a little uneasy.

For once, she actually explained herself to me. "It's Jude's birthday today. He wanted to celebrate with us, so I brought him over."

In the past, she wouldn't have bothered explaining.

She would have rolled her eyes and scoffed. "If you don't like it, then leave."

I sneered inside.

I wasn't sure what was more ridiculous. She only tried to explain herself after I'd stopped caring. Also, she couldn't even remember my birthday, yet she'd gone out of her way to celebrate Jude's.

"Well, have a good time," I said flatly and went into the bedroom.

I had packed almost everything, and I had moved the things I rarely used to my new rental. All I had left in the room were some clothes and books I used every day.

I was deciding whether to finish packing that day when someone suddenly pushed the door open.

Jude walked in with a small piece of cake.

He gave the room a careless glance, then let out a snort of laughter.

"Your room looks a lot emptier than it did the last time I was here. Looks like you've finally decided to do as you're told and step aside."

I ignored him. I lowered my head and kept texting Dylan about the move.

When Jude realized I was ignoring him, his expression darkened. He took a few steps toward me.

"I'm talking to you. Are you deaf?"

I shot him a glance and scoffed. "Why do you care so much? It's not like you'll get to live here."

"You!"

Those few words seemed to hit a nerve. Jude's expression turned sour, and he reached for my collar.

Before I could react, I heard footsteps outside the door. Jude threw the cake to the floor, then he cried out and collapsed.

"Jude, what happened?" Whitney rushed in, shoved me aside, and hurried to help him up.

I stumbled back a few steps. A piece of broken porcelain pierced my slipper and cut into my heel. Blood soon began to seep from the wound.

But Whitney didn't seem to notice. She only looked at the faint scratch on Jude's hand with concern. There wasn't even any bleeding.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Lovell. I upset Neil again. I wanted everyone to have some cake for my birthday, so I brought him a piece. I didn't know he wouldn't like it."

Jude looked at Whitney with tear-filled eyes, pretending he had no idea what to do.

If I hadn't been there, I might have bought his act.

But I never said I disliked cake. In fact, I loved it, perhaps because I rarely got the chance to have a birthday cake.

Every year on my birthday, I used to mention how much I wanted cake. Whitney had even teased me about it, saying few men loved cake as much as I did.

But with Jude around, Whitney had clearly forgotten what I liked.

She pointed at me and snapped, "Just because you don't like something, does that mean you can throw plates and shove others around?

"Neil, I thought you had learned to behave, but you're still the same. Apologize to Jude right now. If you keep acting jealous, I won't want you as my husband. Maybe we should just break up!"

She glared at me, looking so furious that I almost laughed.

I couldn't help remembering what I had heard outside the private room that night.

In the past, when our fights got really bad, she had threatened to break up with me, but I couldn't bear to lose her.

Every time, I tried to calm her down right away and said whatever it took to make her stay. Once, I even groveled and begged her.

I had thought she didn't really want to break up. I believed it was just her way of getting her way and giving me a chance to make things right.

It wasn't until later that I finally understood. She had probably been planning to break up with me for a long time. That's why she kept bringing it up.

But that was fine. I had already decided to end things, too.

Even if she hadn't brought it up, I would have.

When I said nothing, Whitney thought I had backed down. Her tone softened.

"You've been acting all secretive these past couple of days. I guess you've been planning the wedding. I know you don't want to break up either.

"Now, just apologize to Jude and—"

Before Whitney could finish, I flatly cut her off.

"No. You're right. Let's break up."