C10
Corey finally let out a breath of relief. He asked his secretary to book a ticket, then drove straight to the airport. On the way, Jennie, who hadn’t received a reply from him, decided to call.
Corey answered, his tone filled with irritation. “What do you want?”
Jennie paused for a moment, then began to sob in a wronged tone. “Corey, what’s wrong? My wound is infected. Sebastian is busy with company matters and no one can take care of me, so I could only call you. Are you busy? If you’re busy, I won’t bother you…
“I
She said she wouldn’t bother him, but she made no move to hang up the phone. In the past, Corey would’ve turned his car around and gone straight to the hospital upon hearing this. But now, his brow furrowed and his voice was cold. “If it’s infected, see a doctor. What am I supposed to do? I’m busy. I’m hanging up.”
“Corey. What’s gotten into you? You’ve never acted like this before. Is it because Winona’s back? Did she say something to you? I know Aunt Edna’s passing has put her in a bad place emotionally. If she said I fell on purpose, please don’t argue with her. Once I’m discharged, I’ll apologize to her.”
It was the same old routine as always, but this time, Corey didn’t feel like playing along with her act. “Jennie, haven’t you had enough? Don’t compare Winona to yourself! She’s never said anything bad about you to me. It’s you who’s constantly talking behind her back!”
“That incident happened three years ago. I don’t know what you want to hear by bringing it up now. Do you want to hear that Winona doesn’t blame you? Or do you want to hear that she knows she was wrong? You know exactly how you fell that night at the banquet. Don’t pretend otherwise. Winona wouldn’t do such a thing, she couldn’t do such a thing! You might fool others, but don’t fool yourself.”
“Do you think I haven’t seen the online rumors? I’m giving you three days to handle this. When I return, I hope we never contact each other again!” After saying this, he hung up without waiting for Jennie’s response. He blocked and deleted her contact information in one swift motion.
By the time he got off the plane, it was the next morning.
***
I had just left my apartment to go to a job interview when I saw him downstairs. His down jacket was covered in
a thin layer of snow. I had no idea how long he’d been waiting there and I didn’t want to know.
I turned to leave, but he rushed up and grabbed my arm. “Winona … It’s me. I’m here to see you. I know I’ve
wronged you these past three years. I made you suffer. All I’m asking for is a chance to explain.”
He looked worn out, his eyes heavy with exhaustion from traveling. Still, I didn’t want to spare him a second
glance and shook off his hand. “There’s no need. What’s left to explain?”
“Are you going to tell me you didn’t write that forgiveness letter? That the hotel abroad wasn’t built for Jennie?
N
W
4:1 PM
Loving a Liar
ད དང དཔཔ་
glance and shook off his hand. “There’s no need. What’s left to explain?”
པ་་་་ད ་ ས་
་ ་་ས་་་ པ པPས་༤
“Are you going to tell me you didn’t write that forgiveness letter? That the hotel abroad wasn’t built for Jennie? That one million you sent each month wasn’t for her? Corey, there’s nothing left to explain between us. I know you love her. I left to give you two a chance. Why are you looking for me now? To see how miserable I am without you? Are you disappointed that I’m not?”
He froze, clearly not expecting me to have seen what was on his computer. For a moment, he couldn’t say a word. “No, it’s not like that. Please, listen to me. Jennie didn’t have anyone abroad and I was just afraid she wouldn’t have money to live on. That’s all it was. As for the hotel, it was a coincidence–it just happened to work out that way. I didn’t know she’d choose to stay there-”
