Chapter 23
How could I not be angry?
It was infuriating to me that Elijah was dating another woman even before we were divorced. Not to mention, he’d even given her flowers and a diamond ring.
Although he and I had no feelings for each other, any woman would be furious in my shoes!
I could imagine how easily I had used to fall apart whenever I was faced with Jocelyn’s manipulative tricks before my memory loss.
I said to Teri, “Of course I’m angry. But I’m just falling into her trap if I show my emotions. Don’t waste your energy either. Let’s just sit back and watch them make fools of themselves.”
Teri momentarily fell silent. Then, she said, “Ari, I truly feel for you.” Her voice trembled. “You’re such a good person. Why doesn’t Elijah love you? I’m angry that everyone is blind to Jocelyn’s obvious schemes!”
I remained silent while Teri continued to vent her frustrations. However, I felt a strange calmness slowly washing over me from within.
“Teri, stop mentioning Elijah if you truly care about me,” I said.
Teri sounded a little doubtful. “Ari, are you sure you’re okay? You used to cry, and you’d forgive Elijah no matter what kind of awful things he did. It worries me that you’re so rational now.”
I let out a sigh. “Maybe I’m tired.”
Despite how I felt, I ended up comforting and convincing Teri that I was doing fine instead of the opposite. It wasn’t until my throat was dry from all the talking that Teri finally believed that I was no longer the same person as before.
After the call with Teri, I set my phone down. However, my phone started buzzing again just as I did so.
I glanced at my phone screen and saw an unfamiliar number.
I frowned and instinctively felt that I shouldn’t answer
This feeling
stemmed from the fact that only a handful of names were in my contacts. In fact, my WhatsApp had even been trimmed down to just a few dozen contacts.
Clearly, my relationship with people was rather poor before my memory loss.
Yet, my phone kept ringing.
In the end, I picked up the call, “Hello? Who is this?”
However, all I heard was heavy breathing on the other end of the phone.
I panicked for a moment before asking again, “Who is this? Say something.”
Elijah’s weary voice finally came through, “Ariana, add me back.”
My heart skipped a beat, and I pressed a hand to my chest. This defeated version of Elijah felt foreign to
me.
My silence seemed to give him a boost of confidence, and his tone grew cold and commanding again. He said, “Ariana, I said, add me back. Unblock my number too! You’re not a kid anymore. Stop playing these ridiculous games.”
“I’m n
not playing any games. I don’t want to talk to you. was surprised by how calm I sounded.
Again, the heavy breathing sounded on Elijah’s end, accompanied by the sound of wind. I had no idea where he had gotten the phone or where he was calling from.
After a moment of silence, Elijah gloomily asked, “Ari, you didn’t mean what you said, right? You don’t really want a divorce, do you?”
I remained silent.
His frustration bubbled over. “Answer me! Ariana, tell me where you are! I’ll come get you!”
I asked back, “Elijah, where are you?”
At that moment, Elijah seemed to pause. My question seemed to have stunned him.This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.
After a brief moment, his words came out somewhat uncertainly, “I just got off work and returned home.”
I let out a laugh. “Elijah, do you feel diffident when you lie?”
He replied in frustration, “Forget about where I am. Where exactly are you? I’ll come pick you up.”
I calmly replied, “You don’t need to worry about where I am, Mr. Linden. You just made promises to
Jocelyn and showered her with flowers and diamonds before turning to me, your wife, and asking for a reconciliation.
“Are you being fair to her?”
What came after my question was a long silence.