Chapter 17

Paula left the house after cleaning up so William’s feet would be safe from the shards. She was angry with him. However, William was so clumsy. She couldn’t bear the image of his bloody feet once he stepped on the shards by mistake in the morning.

That night, she stayed at the hotel instead of going to her parent’s home to keep everything a secret from her family. She would tell them, of course, but not this time. She wanted to settle everything down and put the problem under control before telling her beloved ones.

The next day, Paula visited Dave’s office early in the morning. She had made an appointment with Dave whom she happened to know, although not so close. She asked him to let her discuss some personal matters with Lea.

“You ....” Lea’s brow furrowed in disbelief at the woman who had come to see her.

Faintly, she remembered that the woman in front of her was Paula-William’s wife-the woman she had only seen once when having sex to William in the car. The rest, Lea only saw the woman through Sakura Bakery’s social media. Lea knew that Paula had just started her business.

“Good morning, Lea! I’m Paula,” Paula greeted warmly, holding out her hand in a friendly and professional manner. “William’s wife.”

However, Lea didn’t bother answering Paula’s greeting in a friendly manner. Instead, she replied with a smirk and answered sarcastically.

.....

“Why do you come here? I broke up with William already. So you don’t have to worry anymore because-”

“Break up?” Paula cut Lea’s words in surprise. It turned out her guess was right. Lea and William broke up. That must have been the reason that drove William crazy yesterday.

Lea smiled sarcastically. Her mouth was about to say something, but Paula stopped her again.

“I can’t believe it. Why did you two break up? Haven’t you two been in love with each other all this time?” asked Paula who still didn’t understand the reason for the breakup of Lea and William. Loving each other was an understatement. They had been together for so long. People would think that their relationship was almost unbreakable.

Lea looked away. Her lips thinned. She then briefly explained the reason for breaking up with William. “Do you think I should continue this relationship with William? A liar like him did not deserve my love.”

Lea’s eyes were sharp and defiant while Paula smiled wryly. Paula’s mind couldn’t think well. That time, she knew why William was angry and tortured her yesterday. Paula felt guilty for everything that had happened. She thought that everything had gone too far.

“Lea, William loves you. I’m the one who asked him to do this,” Paula explained, feeling bad, “secretly from you.”

“It sounds so stupid. Why should you-a legal wife-feel guilty for having sex with your husband and ... on top of it, you apologize to your husband’s lover?” Lea laughed sarcastically, then looked at Paula with a scornful face. “You’re a lusty woman, aren’t you?”

“....” Lea’s words hurt Paula’s pride. “What do you mean?”

“Otherwise, why would you ask-or maybe force-a man who doesn’t love you to fuck you?” Lea’s eyes were piercing. To be honest, she wanted to vent her anger on Paula who had snatched William away from her.

Paula snorted. “Maybe I’m just lusty as you said. However, I am his wife. I can do anything to him. I am the only one who can legally touch him,” Paula replied after trying hard to contain her emotions. She suppressed it so strongly to keep her rage under control. “I did it with my legal partner. I’m not very religious, but I’m proud to maintain such a thing. I don’t want to mess this marriage up. I can’t possibly fulfill my needs outside-looking for a one-night stand with another man-while I’m still William’s wife.”

Paula then stood up from the couch of the office’s break room. “William isn’t at fault either. He’s a gentleman. Not a philanderer or a womanizer! He’s having a husband-and-wife relationship with me, his legal wife! It would be stupid of you to reject William just because of this kind of problem. It’s not even fair to him, Lea!”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Oh, do you think this is fair to me?”

“The situation-”

“What do you know about me? You don’t know anything about me at all! A woman like you has no right to talk badly about other people’s love lives!” Lea raged, getting carried away with emotion. She stood up violently from where she was sitting so that her handbag slipped and fell, making her belongings scattered on the floor.

Spontaneously, Paula helped Lea to collect the scattered stuff. However, how surprised she was when she found a sonogram sheet in Lea’s opened purse, indicating the date it was taken-three days ago-along with the name of the fetus’ mother.

To make matters worse, Paula also found a plane ticket to Tokyo dated the next day in the name of the woman in front of her. Was Lea up to something?

Paula’s face was dumbfounded, looking at Lea’s pale face. Lea immediately pulled all the sonogram sheets Paula was holding and stomped out of the room, leaving Paula frozen. Paula’s mind was busy, digesting what she had just seen.

Minutes later, Dave arrived at his office and greeted Paula who looked still confused. “Paula! How are you? Are you done with Lea?”

The nervous Paula forced a smile on her pale face and nodded “Dave ... do you have a business trip to Tokyo tomorrow?”

“No. Why did you ask? Do you want me to get some Japanese snacks for you?” Dave asked with his signature witty smile. The four-eyed handsome man’s face turned to Paula in quite severe looks as if he didn’t ask her for a joke.

“Oh, true, Dave! You know I like that Japanese cheese pie.” Paula forced a smile again, trying to hide her messy thoughts. “Then, are you sending Lea to Tokyo tomorrow?”

“No! We’re just busy here this week.” Dave frowned. Paula’s questions sounded suspicious. “Why?”

Paula shook her head. She thanked Dave and immediately said goodbye.

While walking to the parking lot, Paula could no longer hold her tears. She knew that Lea was currently pregnant and planned to flee to Tokyo. Paula couldn’t help feeling very guilty about this.

“She must be pregnant with his baby.” Paula thought that the baby in Lea’s womb must be William’s. She thought Lea didn’t want to ruin her family, then intended to hide somewhere-out of William’s sight. After all, William’s parents didn’t approve of their relationship. No wonder Lea felt that her relationship with William seemed hopeless.

Meanwhile, Paula herself became pregnant by mistake. However, William did not respond well when she told him about her pregnancy, making her heartbreak. Paula’s mind was full of dark thoughts.

She closed her eyes for a moment, and then opened them up again, staring blankly at the sky helplessly. “Oh, God ... what should I do?”