Chapter 45: Can You Speak Without Being Sarcastic?
I calmly pulled away from James's hand, sat up, and straightened my clothes.
A look of surprise that didn't suit him appeared on James's face: "You..."
"Who knows what happened while we were asleep?" I said indifferently.
After falling asleep, who knows who made the first move? Anyway, we'd done more intimate things before. It was just sleeping in each other's arms, no big deal.
I got up to change clothes, showing no emotion the entire time, very calm.
James just watched me. I deliberately ignored him, paid him no attention, changed my clothes, and went downstairs.
Indigo was having breakfast. I told her I had a business trip for the next few days and couldn't eat with her anymore, asking for her understanding.
Indigo was very understanding and reminded me to take good care of myself while traveling alone.
I agreed.
"Where's James? Isn't he up yet? Have him drive you."
I was deliberately avoiding James, didn't want to see him: "Grandma, no need. I'm not a child who needs someone to drive me around."
"That's different. He's your husband; it's his responsibility and duty." Indigo was stubborn. She had Juliet go call James.
James came down: "I'll take you."
I stayed silent, resisting without words.
Indigo didn't know about the undercurrents between us and urged, "Go on, don't waste time."
"James, remember to take Sophia for breakfast on the way. No matter how busy work is, you can't skip meals."
James came over and took my hand: "Let's go."
I forced out a smile: "Thanks for the trouble, James."
After we walked out of Indigo's sight, holding hands, I immediately pulled my hand away: "I told Grandma I'm going on a business trip for a few days. We don't have to put on a show every day."
James asked: "Is it a real business trip or fake?"
"Let's both catch our breath. Does it matter if it's real or fake?" I shrugged indifferently.
These past two days, acting with James at the Smith Mansion, I really couldn't breathe. It was suffocating.
I was afraid that if I stayed here any longer, I'd go crazy, that I wouldn't be able to stop myself from killing Amelia.
James's face darkened slightly: "Don't forget, you and I are still married. You better not fool around outside and embarrass the Smith family."
I found it funny.
Who exactly was embarrassing the Smith family?
Wasn't it he being shameless, tangled up with his own brother's wife?
I sneered: "Don't worry, I'm not as shameless as you."
"Sophia, can you not be so sharp with your words?"
I shot back: "If you think what I say is unpleasant, you don't have to talk to me."
James got angry and stormed off: "Unreasonable."
In past arguments with James, I never seemed to win, but now that I didn't care about him anymore, the more my words went against his wishes, the easier they came out.
This feeling was really good.
The feeling of living only for myself felt really good!
I hummed a tune happily as I returned to the place Andrew had arranged for me.
Since I told Indigo I was going on a business trip, I naturally had to make it look convincing.
But what I didn't expect was that there really was a project that required me to travel. Even more unexpected was running into James and Amelia at the airport.
Amelia was in James's arms, they were very close, as if they were about to kiss the next second.
Just as Amelia's lips were about to touch the corner of James's mouth.
James pushed her away: "Amelia, are you feeling better?"
Amelia wasn't embarrassed at all, very naturally leaning on James's shoulder: "My head is still a bit dizzy."
I really couldn't stand Amelia's affected manner. I walked past them without looking their way and found my gate area to sit down.
James saw me, got up and walked over: "Why are you here too?"
I looked left and right: "The airport isn't yours. Why can't I be here?"
"You know that's not what I mean."
I raised my hand to stop him: "What you mean has nothing to do with me."
After speaking, I closed my eyes, looking like I didn't want to deal with him.
"Amelia and I aren't what you think."
I didn't even lift my eyelids.
James felt a sense of helplessness wash over him.
He left.
I heard his footsteps fade away, but didn't open my eyes, not until the announcement reminded us to board. Only then did I open my eyes, grab my things, and head to the gate.
The staff looked at my ticket, verified my ID, and showed a standard smile: "Ms. Brown, someone upgraded your seat. Please come with me."
I took what she handed me and followed her.
If I wasn't mistaken, the person who upgraded my seat was probably James.
What was this supposed to be?
His compensation?
Or a reward for not exposing Amelia's drugging?
Whatever the reason, I found it disgusting.
If I didn't want to delay my business because of him, I wouldn't have boarded this flight.
After getting on the plane, I asked the flight attendant for an eye mask, put it on, and prepared to rest.
I felt someone sit down next to me. I wasn't that curious about strangers, so I didn't lift the eye mask to look.
Half asleep, I felt a bit cold. I unconsciously frowned, curled up into a ball, and murmured that I was cold.
The next second, a blanket was placed over me. My body gradually warmed up, I stretched out, found a comfortable position, and fell back asleep.
Maybe because I kept sleeping with my neck bent, I felt uncomfortable and kept moving around.
Later, I don't know where my head ended up, but this position made me very comfortable. I stopped moving and fell into a deep sleep.
It wasn't until the plane landed and I was woken up that I discovered my head had been resting on James's shoulder.
I lifted my head and, after a long silence, said: "Thanks."
James moved his compressed arm slightly: "You don't need to be so polite with me."
Amelia came over holding Isabella's hand.
Isabella threw herself into James's arms. She rolled her eyes at me, but her tone was sweet and cute: "You're so grown up and still need someone to hold you while you sleep. Aren't you embarrassed?"
Amelia coughed lightly: "Isabella, you can't talk about others like that."
Others?
I was still James's wife in name. Forget leaning on his shoulder to sleep—even if I held James and did whatever in a room, it would be perfectly legitimate.
I didn't understand how I became "others" in their mouths.
Most of the people on the plane had left. I didn't want to waste time with them here, so I grabbed my things and left.
As soon as I got off the plane and picked up my luggage, Andrew called. I found him according to the location he gave me.
"Andrew."
Andrew took my things: "Thanks for your hard work. This project is a bit tricky. Only you can handle it; otherwise, I wouldn't have called you over so suddenly."
I nodded to show I understood: "Let's go."
"Sophia, where are you going?"
I looked down at his hand, pulling mine: "Mr. Smith, what are you doing?"
"As your husband, I have the right to know where you're going, don't I?"
Now he knows he's my husband?