It was the hotel where she and her husband honeymooned three years ago after getting married. Her name changed from Jessica Malone to Jessica Brooks that year, and the hotel held many memories of that happy occasion.
Today, she happened to return to the hotel for the first time in three years, but she was alone instead of with her husband. It was because she was here for work today, and she was actually in a rush because she came late today."It's not that I came late, but it was the so-called 'Male God' who easily changed the schedule as if it was as easy as flipping an omelet in a frying pan!" She couldn't help but curse the so-called 'Male God' as she walked past the reception desk and headed towards the glass doors on the west side of the lobby. "Oh, even flipping an omelet in a frying pan is difficult because I never managed to do it," she suddenly corrected her complaint as she continued pacing.The glass doors separated the indoor and outdoor areas of the hotel. Her white sneakers hurriedly stepped on the marble floor in the lobby before, but after walking through the glass doors, the outsole met the softness of the grass in the outdoor area.It was one of the oldest hotels in the city, and the classic and priceless design were the reason why her client personally chose this place today. Currently, that person was waiting for her in one of the hotel rooms, but her blue eyes still had time to sweep somewhere in the outdoor area of the hotel.It was summer in New York, and the morning sunlight was reflected beautifully by the only body of water in the area. The bottom of the swimming pool had blue tiles, and the water looked blue when it met the soft light of the golden medallion in the sky. Jessica remembered how she and her husband spent a wonderful time in the swimming pool on their honeymoon three years ago. Initially, she wanted to reminisce, but she was ultimately stunned when her eyes caught another image in the swimming pool.It turned out that two people were bathing in the morning sun, and one of them was her husband. Usually, she would feel happy when she saw her husband, but this time, her lips froze and were unable to form any curves when she saw how her husband was kissing someone in the pool.From the naked arms wrapped around another body in the middle of the pool, Jessica knew that her husband was shirtless, and the person he was hugging was also shirtless. That person let their pale skin be kissed by the gentle sunlight, and there was no shame even though their upper body was exposed.The reason is, that the person her husband kissed was a man.Yes, her husband was kissing a man in the swimming pool.Her husband was kissing a man.Kissing a man.A MAN.Jessica couldn't even feel her legs as she continued to stare blankly at the two figures, but then she managed to carry her shaking legs towards the pool. She stopped right next to the pool, but the two figures in the middle of the pool were completely unaware of her presence. The unknown man still had his back to her, while her husband closed his eyes enjoying the intimate connection between their lips.At this time, Jessica could no longer move her legs to approach the two figures because there was only water and no ground in front of her, and she could only move her right hand which was holding a pink handbag. To be precise, she threw the pink bag toward the two men, and the bag flew before landing right on her husband's forehead."FUCK! WHICH KID DARES TO MESS WITH ME?"Jessica could hear her husband screaming and even cursing, and the man was forced to let go of the other man in his arms, automatically ending their hot session in the swimming pool.Her husband looked left and right to look for the 'kid' who dared to mess with him, but then his eyes met her blue eyes. The pair of brown eyes instantly widened.Before her husband could say anything, Jessica coldly opened her mouth to say, "I'm the kid who dares to mess with you, sir. But you also can't blame me because you also dare to mess with this kid. How can you pollute this clueless kid with your shameless behavior, sir? You should have done that kind of activity in your room, right?""..." Her husband looked even more surprised, but he still didn't respond immediately.It wasn't until a few seconds passed that her husband finally said, "I can explain, honey!"He hurriedly swam towards where Jessica was standing at the edge of the pool, and Jessica didn't try to move away either. For a moment, her blue eyes swept towards another man who was still in the middle of the swimming pool, but then her eyes turned again to her husband when the man was standing next to her. She even slightly turned her body to show the man her expressionless face.The brown-haired man tried to hold her hands, but Jessica coldly withdrew her hands. "You dare touch me with the hands you just used to touch someone else intimately, Mr. Brooks?" Her question was piercing as she once again glanced at the man in the swimming pool.She had never seen the man before, and she did not know his identity at all. She only knew how the man was kissed by her husband a moment ago, and even though the man seemed to know his position and chose to remain silent in the pool, that didn't stop her from glaring sharply at the black-haired man.Her husband, Noah Brooks, no longer attempted to hold her hands, and he simply let out a tired sigh before replying, "I didn't expect to see you here today. If I had known you would be here today, I wouldn't have done something that could hurt you."A smirk appeared on Jessica's face before she answered, "Do you think it would hurt me less if I saw you kiss a guy tomorrow instead of today, Mr. Brooks? No matter what day it is, you have betrayed me, and I want a divorce now!"How she appeared at the hotel today was not according to her original schedule. She was supposed to work at the hotel tomorrow morning, but she received a call from her assistant this morning and ended up changing her fate.["Sis, you know that flights are usually delayed for various reasons, right? But that's not the case today because our flight is ahead of schedule. We were supposed to fly tomorrow, but the sky can't wait to meet us, and that's why you have to take off right now if you don't want to be scolded by the sky."]That was what her assistant, Tammy Burner, told her this morning. She was not surprised by how her assistant chose such a difficult way to explain the situation to her, and she was able to immediately understand the content of the nonsensical narrative.'The flight' was her schedule, while 'The sky' was the person she would be working with today. In conclusion, her assistant tried to tell her that her schedule to meet the person had been pushed to today and that
'What's going on here? Why is Noah also at this hotel? Wasn't he on a business trip yesterday?' A series of questions formed in Tammy's head after her eyes fell on the two men. One of them was quite familiar to her, while the other was not familiar at all.Even Jessica's bitter and dark expression didn't escape her sharp gaze, and that only increased her curiosity. However, when she stopped looking back and once again looked towards the older woman, the older woman didn't say anything and just continued to tug at her wrist. Jessica didn't even look at her as she continued to drag her in a direction, but Tammy could still see the ugly expression on the old woman's face. That only added to the unspoken theories that were formed in her head.However, Tammy ultimately didn't express her curiosity, and she just followed Jessica's lead to their destination as if her lips were glued and couldn't be opened to ask anything. "You really can't read the situation, Tammy Burner," came Jessica's v
Jessica still hadn't left the hotel, and she was in one of the hotel rooms. However, the room was different from the one used for the photo shoot with actor Matt Habrew. It was indeed a different room because this room was booked in the name of Noah Brooks, and indeed the room had been used by her husband since yesterday.Two days ago, her husband told her that he would be going on a business trip for two days and one night. The man left yesterday morning, and he should go back home in the afternoon today.Jessica didn't ask the exact location of the business trip, but her husband just told her that he would be out of town for the trip. There was no suspicion at all in her heart. After all, her husband often went on business trips in the past, and that was why she didn't ask too much about his recent trips.She expected to see her husband again today after the trip was over, but she didn't expect to see him sooner. She also didn't expect to meet this man at THIS hotel.At this time, s
"Do you have any beer, bitch?""Can you not call me that? If you dare call me that, then you should call my mother 'the bitch's mother.' Do you want to do that?" Tammy lazily replied to Jessica's words, but she still got up from the sofa and walked towards her kitchen. "And it's still sunny outside. Are you sure you want to have a beer?" She added without looking at the older woman.Jessica didn't go straight home after returning from the hotel. She instead decided to seek refuge in Tammy's apartment, but it seemed like her assistant did not welcome her warmly.But Jessica probably didn't care even if the younger woman didn't warmly welcome her. She still considered that place as her home, and she could even casually sit on the carpet while leaning her tired back against the front of the sofa. It wasn't just her blonde hair that looked messy, even her face was messy, and maybe that was the reason Tammy didn't kick her out of her nest."Is there a label on the beer can that says I can'
Note: this chapter contains a flashback scene...."I won't hide anything from you anymore, and I will tell you everything," Noah finally opened his mouth after he could only remain silent because of Jessica's cornering questions. "To be honest, Tyler and I have been dating since we were in college. We loved each other, but unfortunately, my parents didn't let me be with him. That's because we're both men.""..." Jessica didn't say anything after hearing Noah's explanation.She didn't agree to listen to her husband's story, but she didn't plan to interrupt him either."Maybe it's my fault for coming out of the closet right after graduating from college," Noah continued even though he didn't get a response from Jessica. "At that time, I had hidden my true sexual orientation for years, and that's why I decided to tell my parents the truth. I even took Tyler to meet my parents that day, but things didn't go my way. After telling the truth to my parents, I received a hard slap from my f
"Well, that's the full story," Jessica finished with a tired sigh.She didn't look at her assistant, but she waited for her assistant to respond to her. However, the response didn't come immediately, and she frowned before turning to the younger woman. She could see how the woman stared at her blankly with her mouth wide open.In her eyes, the sight was rather disgusting that her frown deepened, but then she reached out towards the jar of peanuts on the coffee table in front of her, and she picked up one of the peanuts before stuffing it into her assistant's open mouth. She didn't even bother to peel the shell of the peanut for her assistant, and that's why her assistant immediately spat out the peanut."Do you want to kill me, Jessica Brooks?" Angrily, Tammy shouted at the older woman while throwing the peanut at the woman."I'm sick of that last name. I want to change it if I can," Jessica wasn't angry with how the younger woman dared to throw the peanut at her, instead she looked s
The next morning, Tammy stared blankly at the figure lying on her living room carpet. The room was so messy with a dozen beer cans, and even peanut shells scattered on the coffee table, sofa, and carpet as well.The room was very messy, and the one who should be responsible for the mess was the person lying on the carpet. Of course, Jessica wasn't the only one who downed twelve cans of beer last night. Tammy also drank with the blonde woman, but the one who was drunk last night was the blonde woman. That's why the blonde woman was causing chaos in the living room in her drunken state.Yesterday, Jessica even said she wanted to have genital surgery, but of course, that was just the blonde woman's nonsense and not really what she wanted to do.Tammy shook her head tiredly when she recalled all those bad memories, but then she used her foot to nudge the older woman's shoulder. She intended to wake the woman up, but the woman only groaned like a child before muttering, "Why are you kissin
Almost a week had passed since the incident at the hotel when Jessica found out that her husband was actually a dick and liked dicks. People said time would heal pain, but those days were not enough to heal the distress in her heart. The wound was still scarred in her heart, which was why she refused to see her husband's face after what happened between them nearly a week ago. Thankfully, there was still good news amidst the bad news she found at that time. The good news was that her father would be released from the hospital tomorrow. The doctor told her that her father's condition had improved during his nearly two weeks of hospitalization, and that was why he had let him rest at home to recover. Unfortunately, the doctor also warned Jessica to pay attention to her father's mood during the recovery period. That was the reason Jessica had to admit that Noah wasn't wrong in what he said at the hotel a week ago. They couldn't just divorce if Jessica didn't want to see her father in a
“Mom, are we really going to stay overnight at Grandma's house today?” Glancing in the rearview mirror to look into the back seat, Jessica could see how her son kept swinging his legs while asking the question. His cute movements only showed that the blonde boy was very excited to hear his mother's answer. But, this wasn't even the first time Shane had asked that question, and Jessica actually had answered the same question before. Thankfully, Jessica didn't get tired of hearing her son's excitement, and she smiled while shaking her head helplessly before answering, "We're going to have a sleepover at Grandma's house for real, but why are you so excited about that, Shane?" Jessica could keep glancing at the boy because she didn't need to focus on driving. But, the answer to her question came not from her son but from her daughter, "That's because Grandma promised us that she would tell us more stories about Grandpa, Mommy! We wonder if Grandpa is more like me or Shane!" "Of cou
“What is 'proposing,' Mommy? Why do you keep saying that word?” Impatiently, Shane continued to pull the side of Jessica's shirt while asking the question. It was indeed the little boy who responded to Jessica even though the question was directed at Noah. But, that didn't upset the woman, and instead, she looked satisfied as she smiled at the boy before answering, “You'll have to ask your favorite Daddy about that word, Shane. He would know more than me about that word.” Jessica did direct her answer to her son, but her eyes glanced at Noah when she said her last sentence. Noah looked cornered, he even tried to look away from the mother and son pair. The artificial light around the area reflected on the man's forehead after he took off the cat head, and it looked glistening with sweat, either because of his cat costume or because of his nervousness. Jessica didn't know the reason, but that didn't stop her from staring intently at the man while waiting for his answer. "Proposin
“So, where is your Daddy now? Did he run away after giving my son a stup—a funny task?” Gritting her teeth to suppress her annoyance, Jessica questioned her son, almost failing to restrain herself from uttering the word "stupid." However, it was not her son who responded. Instead, it was her daughter who suddenly tugged on her sleeve, causing her to turn towards the little girl. “Daddy didn't run away, Mom,” the little girl said, and Jessica thought she would continue to say something. That's why Jessica remained silent waiting for her daughter to explain what she had just said, but the little girl didn't say anything and just moved her little hands towards the pink backpack hanging on her back. Jessica didn't know what the girl was doing, but she could see how the girl unzipped her backpack before taking something out of it. To Jessica's surprise, the thing the girl had just taken out of her backpack was a camera. To be pr
In the end, Jessica decided to give Noah a second chance. Yes, a second chance to be closer to her children.The reason behind her decision was that her children really liked Noah since the first time they met at the mall ice cream shop when she accompanied Tammy to buy a birthday present for her husband. It could be said that the ice cream succeeded in buying the kids' love, and they really liked spending time with the person who bought them the ice cream.Actually, that was not a bad thing, but Jessica was quite annoyed by the stubbornness of her children who kept calling Noah "daddy." It was clearly Noah's fault for casually confirming that he was indeed the twins' father, and Jessica continued to curse the man in her heart from that day on.She didn't even realize that a week had passed since her mother left the hospital and started living again in Noah's old apartment. Due to her mother's pleading, she ended up staying in that apartment as well rather
“That… that's too cheesy! Aren't we going to buy food for my mother and children? We better leave now or they will eat us alive if they get too hungry," Jessica tried to change the topic of their conversation when she started to feel nervous because of what Noah had just said to her. She even averted her gaze to look at anything as long as it wasn't Noah's face, and that was why she didn't notice the hopeful expression on the man's face. "You just said that what I said was too cheesy, but you didn't say that you didn't believe what I said," Noah replied, ignoring the fact that Jessica was trying to change the topic of their conversation. Finally, Jessica could no longer avoid the man's face, and she once again looked at him with her pair of blue eyes. At this moment, she could finally see a glimmer of hope in the man's eyes. "To be honest, Tammy has told me everything related to you," Jessica finally said the truth.
“Why didn't you remarry after we divorced five years ago?” Jessica's voice was finally heard in the car. "Is it because you still can't get over Tyler?"Suddenly, Noah sneered before replying, “Do you think I love that man so much that I can't replace him with someone else? I don't know if this information is useful for you or not, but the truth is that I didn't really love him when we were together.""You didn't really love him but you still wanted to be with him even though it meant betraying our marriage," Jessica answered sarcastically, and Noah looked stunned by her answer.For a moment, Noah could only stare at the blonde without being able to utter a word with his mouth, but then he took a deep breath before saying, “I believe love and guilt are two different things, and I differentiated them clearly when I was still with him. I betrayed our marriage because of my feelings of guilt, not because of my love for him.”Jessica was the one who d
Jessica didn't know what to say after hearing Noah just say what was on his mind and heart, but for some reason, she felt familiar with the situation. The familiar feeling she felt in her heart made her anxious, her hands even moved to grip her jeans tightly as if asking for support from the blue fabric.“You probably think that my situation is similar to your children's situation, right?”Jessica felt her heart stop beating for a moment after hearing what Noah had just asked. It was actually impossible for her heart to stop beating while she was still alive, but she was truly surprised by the question. She finally understood why she felt anxious about Noah's story. That was because the story reminded her of her children.“I am the illegitimate child of that billionaire, and your children are the same even if their father is not a billionaire. They are very young now, but their lives are probably as full of drama as mine. Their lives will be full of lies a
After everything that happened to her five years ago, Jessica really didn't like surprises. Back then, many unexpected things happened to her, and none of them were pleasant surprises. That was why she felt traumatized by unexpected things, but today, she kept getting unexpected things since she came to the hospital to see her mother.First, a surprise came in the form of Noah, and second, it was in the form of the fact that her mother ended up living in Noah's old apartment. As if that wasn't enough, Noah then told her that he wanted to discuss a matter with her alone, and in the end, Jessica could only follow the man's lead.They were once again in Noah's car, and Jessica had fastened her seat belt. She prepared to look for something for her mother and her children's lunch, but she was puzzled because Noah did not start the car immediately.“Did you forget your wallet?” Confused, Jessica asked the man while looking at him.Her thinking was indee
In fact, Jessica had no plans at all to get into her ex-husband's car. Even her ex-husband's appearance at the hospital was not her plan at all, but in the end, she could only surrender and agree to get into the vehicle.Her mother first sat in the second row of seats with the twins, and she had no choice but to take the passenger seat next to the driver's seat. On the way to her mother's house, Noah, her mother, and the twins continued to chat happily about everything, but Jessica remained silent. None of those people seemed to notice her, and that was why she was lost in thought during the journey.She was actually drowned by the fact that she was passing through a route that she used to travel in the past. She didn't know her mother's new address, but she was sure that every street the car took was familiar to her eyes. It brought a feeling of nostalgia that both warmed and chilled her heart.At first, she ignored the familiarity she felt, assuming that