The Times We Had

When Lisa woke up, Chuck had already left the house.

Lisa ignored the breakfast and the little note with a pretty heart image that he had left for her.

How sweet she used to find these little things before… and how disgusting they seem to her now.

She sat on the sofa and booked a flight to the UK for three days later.

Acker Corp, the company where she worked, had long been interested in expanding overseas markets.

Ian Locke, the CEO of Acker Corp, had repeatedly encouraged Lisa to head over.

He told her that with her being as capable and well connected as she was, she would be directly promoted as the CEO of the new foreign subsidiary—it was a rare opportunity even for Lisa.

In the past, when she worked overtime and got home late, Chuck would come to her, clinging to her and pouting in grief.

That was why she had hesitated to take the foreign assignment before.

But now?

Smiling wryly, Lisa replied to her boss's email.

Just as she was done, she received a sudden friend request notification.

The verification message shocked Lisa.

[You saw what happened yesterday, didn't you?]

Lisa scowled as she accepted the friend request—the woman on the other end must have been biding her time before sending it, as more messages soon followed, one after the other.

[Didn't you show up at the parking lot yesterday? ]

[Want to know what else Chuck and I did last night? ]

Right after that message came an explicit photo, with Chuck having beads of sweat clinging over his brow. His chest was bare as he reclined against the bed headboard and smoked a cigarette.

Lisa blinked—she thought that Chuck didn't smoke at all, but it turned out that he didn't do it in front of her because she hated the smell of tobacco.

She finally felt a stinging sensation in her heart—it was as if what she had stumbled upon yesterday lit a very long fuse that had only blown up now.

As it turned out, all the deceptions that kept going over the years were just beneath the surface but were now completely exposed.

There were just so many things about Chuck that she didn't know.

On the other hand, because her reply never came, the woman on the other end became impatient and kept gloating.

[Don't even try to turn a blind eye. See you at Basti Road Cafe at 3 PM.]

[Surely you're keen to find out how else your dear husband cheated?]

-

As Lisa waited by the window at Basti Road Cafe, the woman arrived far after 3 PM, but she remained unaffected despite her glower.

"Ms. Adams." She smiled at Lisa as she sat down. "I'm sure you know who I am already, so there's no need for introductions… And there's no need for hostilities. See, Chuck simply chose me over you, and if you're not convinced, I don't mind a fair fight. It's just that..."

Susan Holt trailed off, looking Lisa pointedly from head to toe and smiled contemptuously. "At least learn to dress up when you're this old—the way you look so dull because of work really snuffs out your charm. It's no wonder Chuck is always so enthusiastic in bed."

She wasn't hiding her glee as she gloated and kept studying Lisa, waiting to see rage or even embarrassment in Lisa's eyes.

If Lisa allowed Susan to get to her and started yelling, Susan would suddenly turn into a victim whom everyone sympathized with, winning their sympathy while Lisa would be labeled insane.

So unfortunately for Susan, Lisa didn't—her face was devoid of expression even as she chuckled coolly. "Why hasn't he divorced me and married you if he actually likes you? Or perhaps you're just a toy to him, to relieve his pent-up sexual frustrations?"

These two questions were so piercing that Susan's guard crumbled in an instant.

Her face contorted hideously in rage even as she glared at the ring on Lisa's finger, but for just a moment.

"Nice necklace, Ms. Adams… but it's just a present given without much thought," she said, smiling again, and deliberately tugged on her own earlobes, which were adorned with a pair of sparkling diamond earrings.

The earrings were 70% similar to the necklace around Lisa's neck, but the craftsmanship was obviously much more sophisticated. Even the diamonds were a size larger than the diamond pendant on Lisa's necklace, and the earrings had other smaller diamonds encrusted around them too.

Lisa remembered then that Chuck had given her this necklace on their wedding anniversary last year, but he had to go abroad on a business trip.

Lisa had to cancel their dinner reservations, but he somehow made it back.

It was already eleven at night, but he was standing there at the doorway of her house, presenting the necklace carefully.

At that time, he told her, "It's a new designer item—there's only one in the whole world, just like how you're the only one for me. My love for you will never fade."

He still looked tired from jet lag, but his eyes were as bright as stars, illuminating the room and brightening Lisa's heart.

It was also at that moment that Lisa finally accepted her feelings for Chuck, and she fell deeper and deeper in love with him from then on.

But now, as Lisa looked at Susan's phone wallpaper of herself wearing those earrings from the same designer, her hands trembled every so slightly—every breath she inhaled seemed to turn chilly as well, slowly freezing her heart.

It was that gift that marked her finally falling for Chuck, but that beginning was also the start of a barefaced lie.

Lisa felt as if she had been taken in by an absurd mirage that shrouded her in so many layers that she could never hope to free herself.

Even so, she took a deep breath and fought back the swelling pain and shudder in her throat.

Then, she had to reach up a few times to finally reach the clasp of her necklace.

With a loud clatter, she dropped the necklace audibly on the table.

And Lisa carried on, saying nothing, as she took off her wedding ring too.

As she watched Susan, it took her the years she had spent refining her poker face in her work over the years, that she could even show a flawless smile and push both pieces of jewelry toward Susan.

"I despise gifts stained with filth—just like men," she said calmly. "Since you're that confident you've won, I wish you both a happy life."

As Lisa stood up, she seemed to feel a sharp pain on her empty ring finger, but she thought she had imagined it too…