Chapter 34: He Really Betrayed Her
This is too much to bear. Mia gripped the edge of the toilet with one hand.
During a break from vomiting, without turning her head, unable to tell him to get lost, she could only support herself with one hand while weakly brushing away James's hand that rested on her shoulder.
After pushing it away, her hand remained in mid-air, continuously pushing him away, driving him from her side.
'Don't come near her, it's really too disgusting.'
Mia's rejection of him was too obvious.
Afraid of hurting her, James withdrew his hand and stepped back a few paces, not daring to touch her again.
As soon as he moved away and she couldn't smell Amelia's perfume anymore, Mia's vomiting gradually stopped.
She leaned against the toilet, breathing lightly, and stood up unsteadily.
James kept his hands suspended in the air, ready to support her at any moment.
Only when she stood steady did he withdraw his hands and immediately turn to the kitchen to get water.
……
Mia vomited until her vision went dark. She stood there for a moment to recover, then weakly grabbed a towel and roughly wiped the tears from her face and the filth from the corners of her mouth.
Dragging her somewhat heavy steps, she slowly moved out of the bathroom bit by bit.
James stood outside waiting for her.
He held a glass of water at just the right temperature. Seeing her come out, he handed it over, his tone gentle: "Drink some warm water."
Hearing his still-gentle voice, Mia's hand on the doorframe suddenly tightened.
With such force that her fingertips wanted to dig into the door panel.
How was he able to do this?
To be intimate with Amelia just moments ago, then come back and act like nothing happened, showing her such care and concern.
His tenderness kept reminding her that last time she was so close to the truth, yet because of his tenderness, she chose to believe him.
She even...
Felt guilty for suspecting that his relationship with Amelia was more than just friends!
She was truly ridiculous!
Mia snatched the glass representing his tenderness and smashed it hard on the floor. "Enough!"
Really enough!
She didn't want it!
Stop trying to soften her with tenderness more poisonous than poison.
She wouldn't be foolish enough to believe it again!
"James, I don't want anything. I just want a divorce. Tomorrow morning at nine, we'll go straight to the marriage registry and get the divorce certificate."
She didn't want this apartment either.
Contaminated by Amelia, it was dirty!
She didn't want it!
Didn't want any of it!
She wanted nothing!
She just wanted a divorce!
It was really too painful!
In just two or three days, the Mia who used to say whether happy or unhappy, it's still one day, had disappeared.
She almost didn't know how to smile anymore.
……
Hearing "divorce," James's head throbbed painfully.
But in just an instant, he suppressed it.
He was at fault to begin with. Looking at Mia, her face pale from vomiting, eyes red, standing by the door, looking so miserable as if she might collapse at any moment.
He didn't want to continue this conflict-inducing topic of divorce under these circumstances.
James pretended not to hear and changed the subject. "It's very late. Let me help you upstairs to rest first."
As he spoke, he reached out to support her.
His outstretched hand was once again brushed away by Mia. "James, don't touch me."
She leaned against the wall to support herself, looking at him with disgust.
Her whole body screamed rejection and resistance to his approach.
Only then did James remember she hated the mixed smell of cigarettes and alcohol most.
It reminded her of unpleasant memories from the past.
His expression tensed slightly.
Since learning she hated it, he rarely drank at business dinners anymore.
Even when he smoked, he would let the smell dissipate before approaching her.
Tonight, in his rush, he had forgotten.
James quickly stepped back several paces, widening the distance between them.
Feeling guilty inside, he lowered his voice, his words carrying apology: "Okay, I won't touch you. Go upstairs yourself, take it slow. I'll go wash up and then..."
As he stepped back, James's phone on the sink suddenly lit up.
Right beside her, Mia's gaze uncontrollably looked over.
It was a new WhatsApp message, from Amelia.
【James, are you home? Mia didn't make a scene with you, did she?】
This WhatsApp message was adding fuel to the fire.
She didn't want to let Amelia have her way, but seeing this message and hearing James's "guilty" words.
Mia was still ignited.
Too much!
She grabbed James's phone and smashed it hard against the glass!
The glass shattered.
Along with the sound of breaking glass, Mia's voice suddenly rose. "Wash up?"
She looked at James with mockery, aggressive words coming from her mouth: "James, do you think washing off Amelia's perfume from your body makes you clean?"
What did she mean by this?
James's first reaction was that she knew about what just happened between him and Amelia in the car...
But he quickly realized—impossible!
James denied it extremely quickly: "I didn't!"
"You didn't what?"
Seeing him deny it, Mia's face showed the hostility of being humiliated and hurt. Like a cornered beast trying to protect itself, she looked at James with fierce eyes, her tone increasingly aggressive: "You weren't just with Amelia, or you don't have an intimate relationship with her?"
The perfume smell that wouldn't leave his body, the information revealed in Amelia's text—these were irrefutable evidence he couldn't argue against.
What right did he have to make excuses?
……
James was instantly speechless.
Before tonight, facing Mia's questions, he could still confidently answer no.
His feelings for Amelia—from when they met at age six, she had planted a seed in his heart. It sprouted and took root.
He had always kept this feeling buried in his heart. He couldn't deny Amelia's special place; she had always lived in his heart.
But from the moment she insisted on going abroad, he completely cut off any thought of them having a chance to go from friends to lovers.
After that, he always maintained his relationship with Amelia within the bounds of friendship, never crossing the line.
So when Mia asked about his relationship with Amelia, he could calmly tell Mia without changing expression that he and Amelia were just friends. Because before tonight, they really were just friends! They had never crossed the line!
But tonight he almost couldn't control himself.
Mia kept her eyes fixed on James as she spoke.
Any subtle change in his expression couldn't escape her eyes.
His expression told her that he and Amelia really had done something!
It wasn't her speculation or imagination, her overthinking.
He had actually betrayed her!!
Not only had his heart never belonged to her, now even his body was dirty! She truly had nothing left!
Her heart suddenly tightened, then began to convulse. A sharp pain swept over her like a violent storm...
It hurt!
It really hurt!
It hurt so much she didn't even dare breathe too hard.
Mia pressed her hand against the wall to steady herself, bowing her head in extreme pain!
The pain was too much to bear, all turning into tears.
As she lowered her head, large teardrops fell.
Like pearls from a broken string, one after another hitting the floor, and hitting James's heart.