Chapter after he cheated 5
Chapter 5
Patrick stared at me blankly.
Samuel’s voice came through.
“Patrick, I’m so scared. The house is so dark. Can you come over and keep me company?”
“Um, I’ll ask your parents to come over?”
“No, no, Patrick, if my parents come, they’ll just blame me. I don’t want them here. Please, come over.”
Patrick looked at me, troubled. I knew he wanted to go. Every time we were together, she would find ways to interrupt, making
excuses.
Once, at 1 AM, Patrick left me on the street to pick her up. It was seven or eight kilometers from our place.
“Every time, you are so suspicious and doubt whether there is something inappropriate between me and Samuel. How dirty–minded you are! Go back by yourself, I will go and pick up Samuel.”
Which time was it that the police on patrol saw me, a little girl, crying on the street late at night and sent me home?
“Should I drop you off first?” Patrick asked.
“No need. It’s still early. I can take a taxi or even walk home. It’s not far,” I said.
“No, I’ll take you. I can’t leave you alone.”
“Really, there are things I need to buy. I’ll just walk home.” I insisted.
Patrick hesitated but nodded and stopped the car.
“Wait for me to come back,” he said as I was about to leave.
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Chapter 5
“Will you be back for dinner? If so, I’ll make extra. If not, it’ll be a waste,” I said.
Patrick was taken aback and nodded. “I’ll come back.”
“Okay.” I smiled and left without looking back.
“Vallerie…” Patrick called out, but I didn’t turn around and walked into the supermarket.
Patrick hesitated, then drove off.
I didn’t cook for Patrick. I knew he wouldn’t come back. Samuel wouldn’t let him leave early.
Sure enough, Patrick didn’t come home that night. Samuel didn’t post any updates on Twitter, which piqued my curiosity, but only for a few minutes before I got back to my work.
With no emotional baggage, I could focus on my tasks and quickly get into the zone.
At work, Helen called me for a meeting. My phone was on silent. When I checked it after work, I saw several missed calls from Patrick.
Just as I was about to call back, he called again. I answered, and his urgent voice came through, “Vallerie, why didn’t you answer my calls?”
This felt familiar. I used to question him like this. Now the roles were reversed.
“We had a meeting, and my phone was on silent. What’s up?”
“I’m sorry. I promised to come back for dinner, but Samuel… Her parents couldn’t come, and I stayed to take care of her. My phone was powered off.”
“Is it just for this? No need to say more, I trust that you won’t deceive me. You two have been childhood friends, if you wanted
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Chapter 5
to be together, you would have been together long ago. There’s no need for today.”
“Vallerie, is it true? Are you not angry?”
“No anger, really, after all, is she a patient? Or depression, what if she can’t think through for a while, what should we do?”