The ringing in Maureen’s cars returned. She swallowed before mustering her courage and asking, “Geoff, is there someone you love?”
His expression changed. “What do you mean?”
Looking up at him, she said slowly, suppressing the overwhelming bitterness, “If there is, feel free to be with her…”
He cut her off, “What a psycho.”
***
Geoffrey left. Maureen sat on the balcony alone, staring blankly at the cold rain outside.
The sound of the rain was sometimes clear, sometimes fuzzy.
Then she removed her hearing aid, and the world fell into a profound silence.
A month ago, the doctor had told her, “Ms. Ramirez, I’m afraid the condition affecting your auditory nerve and the neural pathways in your brain has deteriorated, and that’s why you’re experiencing hearing loss again. If this goes on, you’ll be completely deaf.”
She wasn’t used to such silence. So she stepped into the living room, switched on the TV, and turned the volume up until the bar was full. Finally, she could make out some muffled sounds.
And then she saw the interview on Andrea Rowe, Geoffrey’s first love and the world–famous pop singer, when she had just returned from abroad.
Maureen’s hand holding the remote trembled.
Years had passed, but Andrea was still as pretty as ever. And when she faced the camera, she seemed so calm and ra- diant–nothing like the shy, introverted girl who had sought the Ramirez family’s support.
The reporter asked, “Ms. Rowe, could you tell us why you chose to come back?”
She gave a confident smile, her answer straightforward, “To win my first love back.”
The remote fell to the floor.
And Maureen’s heart sank to the bottom with it.
The rain seemed to grow heavier.
Maureen turned off the TV in a panic, then put away the untouched breakfast.
As she stepped into the kitchen, she saw Geoffrey’s phone. He must have forgotten to take it.
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Chapter 2
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She picked it up, only to see an unread message.
“Geoff, those years must have been torture for you, right?
“I know you don’t love her. Can we meet tonight? I’ve missed you so much.”
Maureen stared at it without blinking, even after the screen darkened.
Then, she cabbed to Geoffrey’s company.
On the way, she gazed out the window. It had been drizzling on and off today.
Knowing how much Geoffrey hated to see her here, Maureen always used the back door and took the freight elevator.
Upon seeing her, Geoffrey’s special assistant, Wayne Slater, greeted her indifferently, “Ms. Ramirez.”
No one around Geoffrey had ever thought of her as Mrs. Sutton.
Her very existence was a humiliation to him.
Geoffrey frowned when he saw his phone in her hand.
Classic her–always bringing him everything he’d accidentally left behind, like a lunch, a document, a coat, and even an umbrella…
“I’ve told you already. You don’t have to specially bring me the things I forgot,” he said.
Maureen froze, murmuring, “Sorry. I forgot.”
When did her memory become this bad?
Perhaps she was just too afraid when she saw Andrea’s text.
She worried that Geoffrey might just dump her…
Before leaving, she turned around to look at him. After much hesitation, she couldn’t help but ask, “Geoff, do you still have feelings for Andrea?”
Geoffrey found Maureen unlike herself lately.
She forgot things easily and asked questions that made no sense.
How could someone so dumb be qualified to be his wife?
“If you have nothing better to do, just go get a job,” he snapped.
In fact, she had tried to get a job before. But Geoffrey’s mother, Heather Potter, had scoffed, “Seriously, Maureen? A
job? Do you want everyone to know Geoff is married to a woman with a disability?”
She had no choice but to drop the idea and stay in Pearl Villa, playing the perfect wife in name only.
Back at home, she sat alone till the night fell.
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Chapter 3