Twisting my ankle and getting drenched in the rain left me with a fever. The doctor advised postponing the surgery for a couple of days.
With nowhere to go, I decided to stay at the hospital.
That night, Evan called, his tone sharp with anger as he demanded to know where I was.
From the background, Anne chimed in, seizing the moment to stir up trouble.
“Evan, Claire still isn’t back, and it’s already so late. Do you think she’s staying at a coworker’s place? I’ve heard her office has plenty of male colleagues. Aren’t you worried something might happen?”
Evan scoffed, the sound low and dismissive.
“You don’t know how much she loves me. She’s like a dog—no matter how hard you try, she won’t leave. Why would she cheat?”
His words pierced me like a knife. I remembered the time he’d tried to break up with me. I had begged him to stay, foolishly believing my sincerity had won him over. I never realized that, in his eyes, I was nothing more than a pathetic stray clinging to him.
Evan vividly recounted that breakup, even mocking my desperate pleas back then, drawing laughter from Anne.
“Oh, Evan, wasn’t that around the time I came back to the country? Was the breakup because of me?”
Evan hesitated for a moment before quickly brushing it off and telling me not to overthink it.
“Back then, I was just being impulsive. I only love you now. Otherwise, why would I have married you?”
I shook my head with a bitter smile and hung up.
The nurse changing my dressing overheard most of the conversation. When she looked at me, there was a flicker of pity in her eyes. Her tone softened as she spoke.
“When’s the soonest I can have the procedure done?” I asked.
“The injury to your foot isn’t serious. You can do it as early as tomorrow.”