Zoey was momentarily stunned. Her brows slowly knitted together, and she no longer sounded as cheerful as she had been seconds before. "No." She hurriedly added, "But my monthlies never come on time. I usually have them at the end of the month, and that's more than ten days away." Her hasty explanation sounded like she was trying to cover things up. "Rose, what are you implying?" she asked. As much as she tried to steady her voice, it had an uneasy undertone. She smiled, albeit a very forced smile. "You aren’t assuming I’m pregnant, are you?”Rose hoped she was just overthinking things. "Yes, that must be it. I’m jumping to conclusions too hastily," she thought to herself. Zoey had been married to Laurence for two years, and they never had a child in that time. Could she be so unfortunate to find out that she was pregnant right after their divorce? "No, I was just asking offhandedly. Don't let the thought mess with you," Rose assured."Now that you mention it, there do seem to
"I have no control over your thoughts." Zoey replied dismissively. She couldn't be bothered to explain, nor did she find it necessary. She was headed out the door, and he was making his way into the building, so they were going in opposite directions.Laurence had the urge to call out to her when she passed him. Things had already turned out this way between them, yet he still held out unrealistic hopes for her to reconsider things. After all, since they were both at the Bureau of Civil Affairs, it wasn't entirely impossible for them to remarry. However, Zoey did not turn back, and he did not say another word.The staff there recognized him immediately and could only exclaim inwardly, "Men have always been unfaithful. He's just gotten a divorce, and he already has a constant stream of new lovers.""Please give me my divorce certificate.""You'll need to sign here, please."Laurence picked up a pen and signed the piece of paper. The staff then handed the other copy of the divorce c
Zoey felt like she'd been struck by lightning. Her refusal to believe the results prompted her to do the test again. However, the results remained consistent every time. Every test displayed two red lines. Zoey had an indistinct feeling for days. Ever since Rose had asked her about her menstruation, the more she thought about it, the more she felt that something was off. But she was in denial and refused to accept the possibility.Zoey sat on her bed and stared into space for a long time. No matter how she thought about it, nothing seemed to make sense. How was it possible? There were only two possible explanations. It was either purely accidental, or something must’ve been wrong with the medicine Laurence got her from the hospital. But Zoey didn’t think that Laurence would do something like that.It was true that he had said that he wanted a child. However, he did not hide his intentions from her and had told her upfront that he wanted a child. If he really did pull something so u
Adrian had never seen Laurence behave in such a manner. If only he could unsee it as it was out of character for Laurence. He was acting strange. Laurence wasn’t himself at all. Adrian believed something was going on with Laurence. Silence befell the room. Some people did not know who Zoey was before, but she was a familiar face now. In an attempt to lighten the mood, Adrian smiled. "Isn't she your ex-wife? It's normal not to keep in touch after the divorce." The tension rose to an all-time high. Clutching his phone, Laurence fixed his dark, emotionless eyes on Adrian as if he had said the most blasphemous thing. Laurence's staring gave Adrian the creeps. But Adrian was only being honest. What was wrong with keeping it real? Laurence was probably sensitive to the subject. He shouldn’t be, though. Everybody had seen the statement he released a few days before. You could understand a person’s attitude by the way they handled matters. Adrian had a hard time believing that Zoey was l
Laurence recalled bits and pieces of what had happened. He pulled a long face, confused by his erratic behavior. Like a trapped beast, he could not seem to break free from the invisible chains. This was not the first time Laurence had pulled such an act. The chauffeur bore witness to his behavior in the last two weeks. Mr. Scott would not engage in such disgrace when he was in a lucid state of mind. Nevertheless, under the influence of alcohol in social engagements, Laurence became obsessed with returning to the former villa or driving to Miss Jenner's new residence. The chauffeur was reluctant to speak, and pin-drop silence filled the vehicle. It was as if someone was strangling Laurence, sucking the air out of him. He ordered, "Head home. Don't listen to me whenever I have too much to drink." "Of course." Laurence believed he capped his alcohol during the dinner party. How did the alcohol get to his head? They had broken up. He could not embarrass himself in her presence.
Laurence found himself coming to see Zoey time and time again. It was a hard habit to break, and he needed time to adjust to the new routine. That was the scary part about habits. Often enough, it took a long time before a person could grasp the magnitude of pain after losing someone or something. The realization always came from the tiniest details. Laurence would reach out while he was half-asleep to feel the person who no longer slept next to him. He always set a course to Birch Residences after work, and poured a glass of milk before bed. The pain was a long time coming, forcing him to cope with the new circumstances. Laurence stared at the receding figures as he sat in the car with a cigarette between his teeth. The thin smoke clouded his vision, hiding his bloodshot eyes from the lack of sleep. His eyes felt sore, so sore his tears threatened to fall. Laurence calmly finished his cigarette. Since the divorce, he no longer saw the point of quitting. It was not as though she
Fed up, Zoey kicked Laurence. Laurence maintained a straight face as if he knew no pain despite her loafer coming into contact with his shin in full force.Laurence would rather that she was angry than give him the cold shoulder. "Do you want to kick me a couple more times?" Zoey could not understand what had gotten into Laurence. "What is wrong with you?" she asked, exasperated.Sensing that she was about to make her escape, Laurence tightened his grip on her wrist and trapped her in place. Zoey scowled in pain. "Let go of me." Paying no heed to her words, Laurence uttered offhandedly, "We can do this all day if that's what you want." The stalemate was going nowhere, so Zoey begrudgingly pulled out her phone to remove Laurence's number from her blocked contacts. Laurence seemed pleased now. Still, something was nagging at him. "Don't block my number again," he warned. "I wouldn't have in the first place if you hadn’t pestered me repeatedly." "I had to call you since
The noise at the door startled Janet, who was in the living room. She went to the entryway for a look. What's the matter, Zoey?" Before Zoey could reply, the sick person outside the door brazenly said hello to Zoey's mom through the open crack. "It's me, Mrs. Fulton. Sorry to bother you,” he greeted weakly.Janet recognized Shawn's voice from the last time they met when Janet woke up in the hospital. Shawn was a stranger to her back then. "Come on in. We don't keep our guests at the door." "Thank you, Mrs. Fulton." Zoey had no choice but to open the door completely to let him in. It did not seem like Shawn was putting on an act, as he did look sickly. He pressed his lips against his knuckles to shield his coughing. Janet listened to his cough and asked, concerned, "Are you sick?" Shawn put on a brave face and replied, "I caught a little cold. That's all." Zoey was rendered speechless. Why did he come here for medicine if it was just a little cold? He could have toughe