Chapter 7
Back when he hung up on Mandy, Joseph had reached up to rub his temples in frustration.
Tessa cooed when she saw that, “Mr. Payne, did I cause you trouble by asking you to come cook for me?”
“No.” Joseph absentmindedly stared at the bubbling soup in the pot.
Suddenly, he thought of me.
In the early days of his law firm, when he was struggling to start up his career, he often went without
clients. I was the one who accompanied him to one business after another, helping him connect with
various clients.
He would drink until he had stomach problems, and I would suffer right alongside him. But the next day, I
still dragged myself out of bed to cook him a bowl of soup to soothe his stomach.
He even got his cooking skills from me.
Thinking of that, Joseph slowly stopped stirring the soup.
A sudden wave of panic welled up inside him. It was like something was slipping completely out of his
control. “Tessa, the soup’s almost done. Turn off the stove in five minutes and have the soup yourself.”
He turned the heat to low before reaching for his suit jacket that was hanging on the dining chair. “I’m leaving now.”
Just as he was about to step out, a pair of arms wrapped around him from behind. “Mr. Payne…”
Tessa bit her lip and switched to a different tone. “Joseph?”
Joseph gulped. His whole body stiffened, but he didn’t push her away immediately. “Tessa, I should go.”
It sounded like Tessa was about to break into tears. “I don’t want you to leave. If you leave, does that mean I won’t ever see you again? Joseph, you know I liked you from the moment I saw you. But since you have a girlfriend, I always had to hide my feelings. If you’re really leaving, then why not…”
Tessa suddenly threw all caution to the wind as she started to close her eyes and undress. “Why not let yourself go and indulge just this once?”
There was no way Joseph could not react to such a bold confession from a young woman. He was painfully aware that his heart had wavered, or he would never have impulsively saved her voice message back then.
He had even listened to it again and again late at night, sometimes even when I was sleeping right next to him. He would silently stare at my sleeping face, feeling both guilty and a strange thrill inside.
After living a disciplined life for so long, anyone would crave something new. But Joseph was always a rational person. He understood the consequences and knew what would happen if he crossed the line.
I was the only woman who could be his wife, especially when I was already pregnant.
As a lawyer, he had handled countless divorce cases. He knew just how despicable a man had to be to cheat on his pregnant wife.
Joseph sighed and picked up Tessa’s clothes. He gently helped her dress up and wiped the tears off the corners of her eyes. “Tessa, I can’t betray Yelena.”
Then, he wavered. “I’ll just stay here a little longer.”
Tessa laughed through the tears.
It wasn’t until he had finished the soup with her and stayed until she fell asleep that Joseph finally left the house.
The sun was shining brightly outside. It was a beautiful day.
Joseph thought that he was quite a good man. He had stayed loyal to me and had made sure not to disgrace his parents.
He smiled. Then, he remembered that I was still mad at him, so he went to pick up some flowers.
When he passed by a baby store, he went inside for a look. The racks were filled with all kinds of baby clothes, but he couldn’t remember what designs I’d said I liked.
So, he randomly picked out two outfits, one for a boy and one for a girl, and brought them to the register.
The clerk even greeted him with a smile. “Sir, you seem like a good man. Your wife is really lucky.”
Joseph knew it was just some customer service talk, but he still felt pleased. He even added a bunch of baby toys to his purchase.
He thought, cheerfully, that I should finally stop being mad at him.
That was until the blood-soaked truth appeared right before his eyes. Only then did he feel a crushing sense of regret.
