Chapter 61 A Misunderstanding

Chapter 61 A Misunderstanding
Liora shook her head, quickly suppressing the incredulous laugh that threatened to escape her lips.

She couldn't help it because the whole situation sounded so absurd that and she couldn't believe this was what Mara had been so worried about.

“I’m not upset,” she said honestly, her voice calm as she tried to reassure her friend. “It’s just… shocking that they’re together, that’s all.”

The thought of Ning Mufan and Sophie together had caught her completely off guard because of all the things she had expected to hear, that had certainly not been one of them.

Earlier, over the phone, Mara had explained what had happened. Apparently, Ning Mufan had gotten into a fight at a bar the previous night, and somehow, photographs of him and Sophie in bed together had been leaked onto her social media.

The news had spread quickly and that was why Mara had been so concerned about Liora's. She had probably expected the revelation to hurt her, especially considering everything that had happened between Liora and Ning Mufan but if anything, she felt strangely detached from the entire situation but her mind drifted back to everything that had happened the previous day.

Ning Mufan had confessed his feelings to her, he had looked at her and told her how he felt, making his intentions clear and then, almost immediately afterward, he had gone to sleep with Sophie.

How could the two things possibly exist side by side?

She didn't know what had happened between Ning Mufan and Sophie, and at this point, she wasn't even sure she wanted to understand it. All she knew was that the entire situation made very little sense maybe that was why she couldn't bring herself to be jealous..

Liora let out a quiet breath, still trying to wrap her mind around the strange turn of events. Whatever had happened between Ning Mufan and Sophie, it was clearly something she hadn't seen coming and for now, all she could do was accept the fact that they were together and wonder how everything had become so unbelievably complicated in such a short time.

She had spent time wondering how she should respond to his feelings, worried about hurting him, and trying to make it clear that she only regarded him as a friend.

Now, seeing what had happened, she couldn't help feeling that she had been worrying over something that hadn't deserved so much of her attention.

Mara's voice came up on the other end of the phone. “You don’t have feelings for him at all?”

“Of course not!”

Liora answered immediately and her voice surprised Mara. “Oh.”

Mara fell quiet for a moment but privately, she couldn't help thinking that it was a pity.

She had honestly hoped Liora might one day escape from her sickly husband and find herself a better man not because she wanted Liora to be unhappy, but because she couldn't help believing that Liora deserved someone who could give her an easier life.

Someone healthy, who wouldn't require her to spend so much time worrying about his condition.

Someone who could stand beside her without making her carry so many burdens.

Mara hadn't expected Ning Mufan to be the person involved, though. “I was hoping you could escape from your sickly husband and find yourself a better man,” Mara admitted. “I just didn’t expect that Ning Mufan would…”

She trailed off, still trying to find the right words. “Well, in any case, that crazy bitch Sophie got lucky with him!”

Liora couldn't help frowning slightly at her friend's words. “My husband will recover,” she insisted.

“Even Professor Sun said so and besides, he’s undergoing treatment now.”

To Liora, she and Ning Mufan had always belonged to two completely different worlds and his confession the previous day had surprised her, but that was all it had been.

Surprise nothing more. She had never secretly imagined a future with him or ever allowed herself to think of him as anything other than a friend.

He had his life, she had hers and now, she had a husband she had already chosen to stand beside.

Whatever Ning Mufan decided to do with his own life was his business.

She had far more important things to worry about than gossiping about who he had slept with or what he had done the previous night but as Liora thought about Dominic, another memory surfaced......the previous night.

Dominic had kissed her until she was left breathless.....the memory came back so clearly that warmth crept into her cheeks but then, without warning, he had turned his back to her.

The sudden change had left her confused, she had still been dazed from the closeness between them when she had quietly asked, “What’s wrong, dear?”

Dominic had insisted that he was fine but something about his behavior had stayed with her even after he had reassured her, Liora couldn't completely shake the feeling that something was wrong.

She wondered if perhaps he had been withdrawing from her out of shame.

His wife had been right there beside him.

She had been close enough to him to feel his warmth, to hear his breathing, to share those intimate moments with him but he couldn't…

Liora's thoughts stopped there and her expression became thoughtful.

With her medical knowledge, it wasn't difficult for her to imagine what might be going through a man's mind when he was unable to perform sexually.

For many men, that kind of inability could feel like more than a physical problem, It could feel like a weakness or failure.

A blow to the very idea of masculinity they had built their confidence around and Dominic, despite his quiet personality, had his pride too.

Liora knew that, oerhaps he was embarrassed or he felt that he wasn't enough for her.

The thought made her heart ache faintly because she didn't want Dominic to think that way.

She had never measured his worth by what his body could or couldn't do and to her, he was still her husband.

The man she had chosen to stay beside and his recovery mattered far more to her than anything else.

Liora lowered her eyes, her earlier thoughts about Ning Mufan fading completely.

There was simply no room in her heart for that kind of confusion anymore because her attention had already returned to the man waiting for her at home.