I was surprised to see him home. I figured he’d
be spending the night comforting Sarah at the
motel. I wasn’t going to stand there arguing in
the cold. I turned and walked toward the house.
He grabbed my arm. “Don’t you dare ignore
me! I ditched those investors to come home to
you, and this is how you treat me?” His voice
cracked. “Amelia, remember what you promised
my father!”
I stopped dead. Before John’s father passed,
he’d lamented not seeing us get married. I’d
knelt by his bed, held his hand, and promised
I’d take care of John forever. I’d swore I’d
never leave him, that I’d be struck down if I
broke my vow. But it wasn’t me who broke it.
His heart had never truly been mine. He’d
forgotten my birthday, forgotten our promises
of fidelity. Now he accused me of betrayal. I
stared at the fresh hickey on his neck, just
visible beneath his collar. My hand clenched in
my pocket. “Think what you want.”
His brow furrowed. He reached for my hand, his
<
voice softening. “What’s going on, Amelia?”
Then he saw my bare fingers. His face went
rigid. “Where’s your ring?”
I pulled my hand away, a bitter laugh escaping
my lips. “John, you said you lost your ring. Did
you really?”
A flicker of guilt crossed his eyes, quickly
replaced with indignation. “What else would I
say? It’s just a ring! Do you think I’d lie about
something like that? And so what if I forgot
your birthday? You’re acting like a child, making
such a big deal out of it. I even got you those
mooncakes you love! And you’re out gallivanting
with some guy till all hours! You have no right
to give me attitude!” He shoved me hard and
stormed out of the complex.
Before, I would have chased after him,
apologized, begged for his forgiveness. Now, I
didn’t even turn around. If he wanted to leave,
I’d let him go.
I went inside, ate my birthday cake alone, and
went to bed. The next morning, John was on
the couch, working on his laptop. Next to it lay
<
a research authorization permit. With that
permit, you could bypass protocol and access
any resource in the lab. I’d suggested to John
that having access to that permit would
streamline my work. He’d always brushed me
off. He seemed to notice my gaze. He closed his laptop over the permit. “Sarah’s new. I don’t want the team to give her a hard time, so I got her the authorization.” He added, as an
afterthought, “You never needed it anyway.
Besides, people might accuse me of
favoritism.”
I nodded, accustomed to his double standards. I
went to the bedroom, retrieved my resignation letter, and handed it to him. “If Sarah’s so
capable, I have faith in her. I’ve already handed over my work. I won’t be involved in the project anymore.” He frowned, but signed the letter
without a word.
I then produced the divorce papers. “And we’re
getting a divorce.”
He froze. “Because I gave your position to
Sarah? You’re going to divorce me over this?
73
<
How petty can you be?” He jumped up, flinging
the papers in my face. “I won’t agree to a
divorce. If you don’t like Sarah, I’ll transfer her
somewhere else once the project is finished.
Happy now? Marriage isn’t a game, Amelia. I’m
going to pretend I didn’t hear that. You need to calm down and think this through.” He slammed
the door behind him.
I picked up the papers and called my lawyer.
“Let’s file the divorce suit.”
As I left, I saw John’s car idling downstairs. He
was waiting for me to chase after him, to tell
him I was wrong. I didn’t. I took a cab to the
research facility. I was officially out. Time to
collect my things.
But when I arrived, the place was swarming with
police and reporters. I pushed my way through
the crowd. A colleague grabbed me like a
lifeline. I learned that Sarah’s big investor was a
con artist. He’d swindled the lab out of all its
funding and sold their proprietary research.
Except, Sarah’s designs were unusable, riddled
with copyright infringements. Now, both the
<
buyer and the original patent holders were
suing the lab for fraud, demanding full
restitution. So much for the “international
expert.”
