Chapter 2

Three days later, Adeline Shoeman moved into our apartment. Her reason was that the pipes in her rented apartment had burst, which flooded the floors. That was why she needed to stay over at our place for one week.

Glenn decided to bring her into our apartment without bothering to discuss anything with me.

"It's dangerous for a woman like her to live on her own. She's not used to staying in hotels, either. Besides, the guest bedroom in our apartment is vacant."

As Glenn spoke, he moved the pots of allergy-friendly ferns that I had placed on the guest bedroom's windowsill out of the bedroom. He needed them gone to make room for Adeline's massive suitcases.

I leaned against the doorframe while watching him hard at work.

"Adeline isn't used to staying in hotels, so she decided to crash in my place instead?"

"Don't be mean, Willow. Adeline's my childhood friend as well as the most important muse in my studio. We're all friends here; what's wrong with helping each other out?"

Muse, huh? He sure sounded righteous when he used that term to describe Adeline.

The next day, as soon as I reached home after work, I found myself sneezing instantly.

Clad in one of Glenn's oversized white buttoned shirts, Adeline walked around with bare legs.

A huge crystal vase was displayed in the middle of the dining table. Freshly trimmed flowers filled every inch of the vase.

I could see an array of lisianthus, tulips, and a few champagne roses dusted with pollen in the arrangement.

My throat instantly began to close in on its own.

"Oh! You're home, Willow!" Adeline turned around, a bright smile blooming on her face.

I didn't answer her. Instead, I walked over and dumped the vase's contents into the garbage disposal installed inside the kitchen sink.

"Why did you do that?" Adeline shrieked at the top of her lungs. Her eyes reddened rapidly as well.

The front door happened to swing open at that time. Glenn stepped into the apartment with a bag of groceries in his arms.

"What's the matter?" he asked immediately.

Adeline ducked behind him, looking like a frightened doe. Then, she pointed at the pile of flowers that were clogging up the sink.

"I just wanted to add some color to this home, Glennie. But Willow was quick to destroy all the flowers…"

Glenn's expression darkened instantly. He strode over to turn off the garbage disposal before wheeling around to glare at me.

"Are you done being a nutjob, Willow?"

"I'm allergic to pollen," I replied flatly.

"These are low-allergen flowers! I've specifically dealt with them beforehand! You didn't even touch them, so how the hell did your allergy act up?"

"This is my home! I refuse to let any pollen exist in my space!"

"Addy doesn't know anything about your allergy, Willow. She just wanted to do a good thing for everyone. Must you throw such a huge tantrum over something so trivial?"

The moment I noticed the way Glenn shielded Adeline from me, I found the whole thing absurdly tiring.

"Fine. I shall be gracious, then."

I walked into the bathroom afterward and washed my face with cold water.

Glenn was in charge of dinner. The three of us were seated at the dining table together, which made the atmosphere quite weird.

Glenn sliced a chunk of grilled bass. After taking out every piece of bone carefully, he slid it onto Adeline's plate tenderly.

"You tend to choke on bones whenever you eat fish. Be careful this time, okay?"

"Thank you, Glennie!" Adeline shot Glenn a sweet smile.

Then, she picked up some salad and placed it onto my plate. "Eat up, Willow!"

That particular portion had a lot of diced cilantro. The truth was, I was slightly allergic to cilantro. Whenever I had cilantro, I'd have red rashes breaking out on my body.

Glenn had been dating me for three years, and yet he never remembered that fact.

Ironically, he remembered Adeline choking on fish bones if she ever had fish. He remembered how much she loved chestnut cake, and that she had such delicate skin that she mustn't get pricked by rose thorns.

I just looked down at the cilantro bits on my plate. I didn't bother taking them out, nor did I take a bite out of the salad.

Instead, I just put down my cutlery and drew to my feet.

"I'm done eating. Enjoy your meal, you two."

"What's with the attitude this time?" Glenn hissed out warningly at me in a low tone.

I didn't bother looking back at him. I just walked back to the master bedroom and closed the door behind me.

I didn't pick a fight with Glenn because I knew it was useless. After all, Glenn was forever biased toward Adeline.

So, I turned on my computer. There, I began sorting out my work files so that I could get everything in order when it was time for me to process the handover.