Chapter 118
Over the next few days, James came to my place almost every day.
Sometimes he'd come in the evening, sometimes he'd squeeze in time at noon to have lunch with me.
I tried to kick him out a few times, but he just wouldn't listen. Eventually, I couldn't be bothered anymore.
Whatever. Once he lost interest in me, he'd stop coming around on his own.
Even though these days were pretty calm, without any drama, I had this feeling that it was the calm before the storm.
That evening, James had just arrived when his phone rang.
I saw "Amelia" on the caller ID, and my heart sank.
James glanced at me and answered: "Hello?"
Amelia's voice came through, crying: "James, help me... I... someone drugged me..."
James's face changed instantly: "Where are you?"
"I'm... at a hotel... room number is..." Amelia's voice was choppy and sounded off. "I feel terrible... James... please come..."
James hung up and got up to leave.
"Where are you going?" I asked.
"Something happened to Amelia. I'm going to check on her," he said.
I couldn't help saying, "James, she's a woman calling you late at night from a hotel saying she's been drugged. It's obvious she wants you to be her antidote."
James paused and turned to look at me: "Sophia, there are doctors. She doesn't necessarily need to sleep with me to get help."
"Then go ahead." I laughed coldly. "Just don't come back."
He looked at me with complicated eyes: "What do you mean?"
"I mean, if you go tonight, we're done." I looked into his eyes and said each word clearly, "James, are you choosing her or me?"
"Don't forget, you're still in the trial period. If you still choose Amelia, then sign the divorce papers before you go. After you're done taking care of Amelia, we'll go get the divorce finalized."
He was silent for a few seconds: "She saved my life. I can't just ignore her."
"So you're still going?" I asked.
"I'll come back after I handle this," he said.
"Don't bother coming back." I said, "James, going means breaking our agreement. You know exactly what happens when you break it, but you're still choosing this. So you should face the consequences."
He froze.
"Sophia, even if she were a stranger, when we know someone's in trouble, we can't just leave them to die..." he tried to convince me.
"Didn't you also say that kind of drug doesn't necessarily need to be solved that way?" I interrupted him. "A doctor can help her, too. Why isn't she calling an ambulance? Why does it have to be you?"
"Even if she doesn't want to go to the hospital, she could find someone else to help, right?"
"Because..."
"Because what? Because only you can find a doctor to save her? Because only you can be her antidote?" I laughed, a mocking laugh.
His face looked terrible.
"I'm saying this one last time," I looked at him. "If you walk out that door tonight, we're completely done. From then on, you go your way, I'll go mine. We'll have nothing to do with each other."
He stood there, struggling for a long time.
In the end, he still turned and left.
At the door, he stopped with his back to me and said, "Sophia, I can't just let someone die. When I come back, I'll apologize properly."
I sat on the sofa, looking at the closed door, and suddenly felt like laughing.
I was laughing at myself for still having expectations of him.
I already knew the answer, didn't I?
In his heart, Amelia would always come first, and I was the one he could abandon at any time.
I got up and walked to the window, watching his car leave the neighborhood.
I sat on the sofa all night.
When dawn was breaking, I received a message.
It was a video from Amelia.
I opened it to see a hotel room. Only the bedside lamp was on, the room was a bit dark, and the camera was shaky.
I could vaguely see James holding Amelia as they fell onto the bed.
Amelia's voice was sweet and urgent: "James... I feel so bad... help me..."
James's voice was muffled, but I could hear him say: "Amelia, don't do this..."
"You promised to take care of me forever..." Amelia said with a sob. "I need you now..."
The video ended there.
What happened next was obvious.
I looked at my phone screen, and surprisingly, I felt very calm inside.
This was good.
This was for the best.
I could finally give up completely.
I saved the video, then called Andrew.
"I want to file for divorce," I said. "Yes, that agreement from before. I want to add a condition now. James cheated during our marriage. I want half of his assets."
After hanging up, I started packing.
Halfway through packing, the doorbell rang.
James walked in, looking exhausted, still wearing yesterday's clothes.
He saw me packing and froze: "What are you doing?"
"Moving," I said calmly.
"Moving? Why are you moving?" He came over trying to take my hand, but I dodged.
"James, we're done. If you like this place, you can have it," I said, looking into his eyes.
"Nothing happened between us!" he explained urgently.
"Nothing happened?" I smiled, took out my phone, and opened the video. "Then what's this?"
When he saw the video, his face changed immediately: "How do you have this?"
"Amelia sent it to me," I said. "She deliberately sent it to show off that you two are together."
"Sophia, let me explain..." He tried to grab my phone.
I pulled my phone back: "The video is very clear. There's nothing to explain."
"I didn't touch her!" He grabbed my shoulders. "Why won't you believe me?"
I smiled: "Whatever the truth is, the moment you chose to go to her, there was nothing left to say between us."
"Sophia..."
I pushed him away and continued packing: "I've had my lawyer redraft the divorce agreement. You cheated during our marriage; the evidence is clear. I'm taking half your assets. You don't have a problem with that, do you?"
"Sophia!" He raised his voice. "I didn't cheat!"
I looked at him: "James, don't make me look down on you even more."
He looked at me, his eyes full of pain.
I finished packing, stood up straight, and looked at him coolly: "James, from today on, we stay out of each other's way."
"I wish you and Amelia a lifetime together."
With that, I pulled my suitcase and left without looking back.
From now on, I was finally free. I didn't have to get tangled up with them anymore, didn't have to worry about the person I liked being taken away, didn't have to feel insecure and act crazy anymore.