Chapter 5 Breakup
Atticus's heart dropped, sensing trouble. He controlled his panicked heartbeat and asked in a low voice, "Is it my girlfriend?"
His mistress nodded, asking anxiously and irritably, "What do we do now?"
Atticus furrowed his brow. "What do we do? What can we do?"
It was too late for regrets now. He could only feign composure, though his trembling hands betrayed his inner turmoil.
He asked, "Did she see you?"
She rolled her eyes. "I was standing right there. How could she not see me?"
Atticus's lips went dry, his throat tight. He paced back and forth anxiously, pondering for a few seconds before stopping to say, "Get dressed first. I'll go deal with her."
The mistress searched around but couldn't find her underwear. She suddenly remembered how they'd been too impatient last night, starting their passionate encounter in the living room. Her underwear must have been tossed aside there.
"I can't find my underwear," she said.
"You—" Atticus snapped in exasperation. "Look harder."
She glanced behind him and admitted awkwardly, "I think I took them off in the living room."
Atticus was about to lose his mind. He glared at her in frustration. "What a hassle."
"I'm the hassle?" she fired back. "Last night you were the one who—"
"Enough. This isn't the time to argue about useless things." Atticus was about to leave when the mistress grabbed his wrist. "What if she barges in here?"
Atticus licked his lips. Based on what he knew about Caroline, she probably wouldn't, but this was a caught-in-the-act situation. Truthfully, he wasn't confident, especially remembering how she'd mentioned installing security cameras before her business trip. The more he thought about it, the more unsettled he felt—how else could this perfectly-timed confrontation happen?
To save face, Atticus feigned confidence, "She won't. I've got this."
The mistress said, "This is your mess. Handle it properly and keep me out of it."
Atticus wanted to curse, but, considering her status, he could only say, "I know."
He walked out of the bedroom into the eerily quiet living room. He immediately spotted the lace underwear carelessly thrown on the Violent Bear figurine. He quickly snatched it and hastily tossed it into the trash can.
He hadn't figured out how to explain the situation yet. His mind was in chaos, but he had no choice but to sit down across from Caroline.
Seeing that her emotions seemed stable with no sign of wanting to make a scene, Atticus felt slightly relieved.
"Why didn't you tell me you were coming back?" He asked.
At this, Caroline looked up and stared directly at him. Atticus's expression turned awkward. He rubbed his palms against his thighs several times before saying hesitantly, "Caroline... I... I can explain."
Caroline, "Go ahead."
Atticus went to pour a glass of water, deliberately stalling to give himself time to organize his thoughts. He set down the glass. "Have some water first."
Caroline showed no intention of drinking the water; she was clearly waiting for his explanation.
Atticus cleared his throat lightly. "She's my client. She wanted to celebrate winning her case with drinks, and I couldn't refuse. I was just networking. Who knew she'd drink too much and pass out? I couldn't just leave a woman alone there—it wouldn't be safe—so I brought her to stay at my place temporarily."
"I was really drunk too, with a terrible headache. I came home and went straight to sleep. I promise, nothing happened between us. I only went to wake her up after getting your call. Don't misunderstand."
Caroline calmly said, "Atticus, you're a lawyer. Listen to what you're saying. Do you even believe yourself?"
"I..." Atticus opened and closed his mouth, putting on an expression of misunderstood innocence. "Nothing really happened. Don't misunderstand. Caroline, why won't you believe me?"
Noticing sweat breaking out on his forehead, Caroline said nothing, simply handing him a tissue.
Aware of the sweat on his brow, he tried to maintain his composure as he took the tissue and wiped it off, mechanically saying, "Caroline, you have to believe me. I was really drunk."
Compared to Caroline's emotional stability, Atticus appeared unusually anxious. She studied him before saying, "You don't usually talk like this. Why are you panicking? You know why, and I'm not stupid."
"No, I'm not panicking," he continued to defend himself desperately. "I drank a bit too much last night. I'm not feeling well."
Even with Atticus's talent for deception, he couldn't hide his unease when faced with her questioning.
Caroline said, "You really think I'm that stupid."
Atticus said with a pained expression, "I don't."
"Still lying?"
Caroline stared at him. Atticus looked away uncomfortably and leaned forward, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Nothing happened between us, really. I was drunk—what could I do?" By the end, Atticus's expression had turned impatient, as if disappointed by Caroline's lack of trust.
"Don't you know me by now? Last time at your colleague's gathering, I had five bottles and passed out as soon as we got home. You even helped me undress, remember?"
Caroline said, "Last night you had five glasses of red wine and two cocktails at the bar. You looked pretty sober."
Hearing this, Atticus furrowed his brow in disbelief. "You had someone follow me?"
Caroline's expression remained cool and unreadable, her tone flat and emotionless.
"Your lawyer's professional skepticism doesn't seem to apply to your own situation. Atticus, if you're a real man, own up to what you did. I'd respect that at least."
Caught in his lie, Atticus froze. "I'm stating the facts."
Caroline said calmly, "The fact is, you slept with another woman last night. You betrayed me."
"I didn't—"
"Want proof?"
She was too confident, which meant she must have solid evidence. Atticus was convinced there must be security cameras installed in the apartment.
He looked around but couldn't spot any, so he tried to pacify her first. "Caroline, believe me, nothing happened."
Atticus crouched in front of Caroline, pleading, reaching for her hands, but she avoided his touch.
The way Caroline looked at him conveyed disgust and contempt. Faced with this betrayal, she simply couldn't pretend not to see it.
"Atticus, because of your cheating and infidelity, I'm officially breaking up with you."
"I'll tell my parents about this, and I'll be discreet with our matchmaker to save your face. As for your parents, it's up to you whether you want to be honest with them."
After saying this, Caroline stood up to take her Violent Bear figurine, but Atticus grabbed her abruptly.
The figurine slipped from her hand and fell to the floor, shattering into pieces.
Atticus was stunned. Caroline had few hobbies, but she loved her collection of Violent Bear decorations. This particular one she had made herself and cherished greatly.
"Caroline, I'm sorry. I'll buy you another one."
Atticus crouched down incoherently to pick up the fragments. As he did, he noticed a trash can rolling toward him, and the lace underwear fell out.
Caroline pointed at the underwear. "Now do you still say nothing happened between you two?"
Atticus was speechless.
Caroline said, "I'll have my friend come pick up my things tonight. I hope you don't have bar networking to do, since this is your home and you should supervise the whole process. That way, if anything goes missing, there won't be any confusion."
With that, she turned to leave, but Atticus called out to her.
"Caroline."
Caroline looked at him, and Atticus said, "Delete the video from your phone."
Mission accomplished—there was no point in keeping it now.
Caroline deleted the video in front of him. "Can I go now?"
Atticus asked, "You have a backup, don't you?"
Caroline responded with anger and disgust, "I'll delete everything. I have no interest in keeping records of your filth."
Atticus stepped aside to let Caroline leave.
Hearing the door close, the mistress poked her head out of the bedroom and asked, "Is she gone?"
Seeing her only irritated Atticus more, but he still managed to say patiently, "Yes, she's gone."