Chapter 3


    My brain got stuck in a loop all day, wrestling with this issue that refused to budge. Even when Conrad came by to pick me up in the afternoon, I was still clueless. But I went along anyway.


    The habit was a scary thing. Over a decade, I had grown so used to Conrad and returning to the Wagner family after work.-


    "What''s up with the silence?" Conrad sensed my mood because he broke the quiet on the way.


    I hesitated for seconds. "Conrad, maybe we should just..."


    I couldn''t even finish my sentence before his phone went off. The car''s Bluetooth showed an anonymous number lighting up the screen, and I noticed Conrad''s grip on the steering wheel tightened. He was nervous, a rare sight.


    Instinctively, I nced at his face, but he was already dismissing the call on the car system, switching to his mobile''s Bluetooth. "Hello... Okay, I''m on my way."


    The call was brief. After hanging up, Conrad nced over at me. "Felicia, something''se up. I can''t take you home."


    I knew it before he said he was going to ditch me. It wasn''t the first time. But still, part of me had hoped he''d drop me first.


    A sharp pang of hurt hit me, but I swallowed my sadness. "Is everything okay?"


    Conrad tightened his jaw and stayed silent, just gazing through the windshield. "You can get out here and take a cab home."


    He didn''t even bother to give me a proper exnation, just a dismissal. What else could I say? To probe or to fuss would just be embarrassing myself.


    "Text me when you get home," Conrad said as he pulled over to a temporary parking spot on the side of the road.


    I gripped my bag tighter and got off. It wasn''t just my sensitivity. I had a feeling from when Conrad saw the iing call to his refusal to answer it in my presence. But I didn''t ask, nor did I say anything. Some truths were like a thin sheet of ss, kept intact only for self-deception.


    "Be careful on your way!" He tossed me the line in a rush but eventually sped off.Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDra/ma.O(r)g!


    I stood there, watching him drive away until my eyes began to sting, and I finally looked down at my feet.


    My phone buzzed in my pocket, a call from my best friend, Fanny Willis.


    "Hey, where are you? Dinner tonight?" she asked.


    As a young and brilliant gynecologist, Fanny didn''t have a boyfriend yet, but her medical skills were renowned.


    "Sure," I answered, surprising myself with my eagerness.


    Fanny immediately teased, "The sun must be rising from the west today! Usually, you''d ask Conrad first. What''s up? You''re so spontaneous today."


    Her words squeezed my heart. I''d


    lived in Conrad''s shadow for ten


    to dine out with my best friend, afraid he''d worry if he couldn''t


    years, even needing his per


    me. But today, Conrad made it clear I was a burden to him. Content


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    "Are you at the hospital or home?" I deflected instead of answering.


    Fanny gave me an address and told me toe over.


    "What happened? Did you fight with Mr. Wagner?" Fanny noticed something was off the moment she saw me.


    She was one of my few friends, and I didn''t hide the truth from her.


    After hearing my story, Fanny cursed, "Men are all the same, aren''t they? Thinks he''s had enough of you? As if he''s been with you so many times before."


    Her words didn''tfort me. Instead, they embarrassed me.


    Despite my long rtionship with Conrad, we had never been intimate. There was a time I drunkenly tried to seduce him, but he just wrapped me up and put me back in my room. used to think Conrad respected me, not wanting to take advantage when I wasn''t sober. Today, I realized he just wasn''t interested. They said if a man truly loved a woman, he''d desire her. But Conrad never showed that kind of desire for me.


    I said, "Fanny, I want to let go."


    The dilemma that had gued me all day suddenly seemed clear.


    "Good, I support you," Fanny raised her ss to mine. "Get over him. There are plenty of fish in the sea. With your looks, you can get anyone you want."


    Fanny was right. At eighteen, I had won a beauty pageant. If it weren''t for Conrad, I might have been a star by then. With my beauty, I''d had countless admirers these years, but I''d never been interested. All wanted was Conrad. Content


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    n


    That thought made my heart ache, and to hide my true feelings from Fanny, I rushed to the restroom. But I collided with someoneing out, knocking him over andnding on top of him.


    Before I could even apologize, that man screamed, "She''s touching me! We''ve got a pervert here..."