He's With Her When I Need Him

After spending a week in the hospital, I was discharged. Chelsea was discharged on the same day, and Cedric helped her with the discharge procedures.

I'd never seen him treat anyone with such gentle care before. He carefully supported her as she walked, and she leaned in his arms. People who weren't aware might have thought that she was crippled!

She simply had a fever, and after being hospitalized for a week, she looked perfectly healthy now. What a show she was putting on.

A mocking smile crept on my face before I turned to hail a cab back home.

…

Noah had sent me information on the company's branch abroad, and I was preparing for my move, packing up all my belongings.

Halfway through my packing, Cedric returned. Behind him, Caleb Hansen, another childhood friend of his, followed.

Caleb rolled his eyes when he saw me and asked Cedric, "Didn't you say that she was still hospitalized? Why's she back here?"

Caleb was a strong supporter of Cedric dating Chelsea, and he was always trying his best to match them up. After Cedric and I started seeing each other, Caleb never had anything nice to say whenever he saw me. But I paid him no attention.

Cedric, however, seemed to have forgotten that I was discharged today. He was momentarily taken aback when he spotted me. Then, he quickly reacted and asked, "You've been discharged? Why didn't you tell me?" He seemed flustered.

I calmly answered, "I saw that you were busy, so I thought that it'd be best for me not to bother you. After all, it isn't anything serious."

Once I said that, Caleb put on a contemptuous expression and said, "You see that? She's fine! She doesn't need you! And there you were, getting all worried about her and asking me to help you make her a meal!"

Cedric's expression got from bad to worse, but I merely gave them a curt nod before going back into my room to carry on packing.

Cedric frowned when he saw the full trash can.

All of a sudden, he caught sight of our porcelain dolls in the trash can. He was briefly stunned before he stormed into the room.

"What's the meaning of this, Madison? Why'd you throw out our porcelain dolls?"

"I accidentally broke them, so I threw them away. Didn't you say that they weren't anything special anyway?" My words seemed to leave him stumped.

We had bought the porcelain dolls on a trip back when we just started dating. I really liked them and specifically had them made in Cedric's and my images. Because of how much I loved them, I placed them at the most visible spot in the house.

Cedric had laughed at me and said that I was obsessed with them, claiming that they were just ordinary dolls and were nothing special. I took him no heed as I felt that the doll looked too much like me.

But now that I'd thrown them away, it signified me making a clean break from my past.

Cedric was left speechless when he heard what I said.

At the same time, Caleb came in and dragged him out.

"Come on, let her be! Who does she think she is? She's just playing hard-to-get! Didn't you say that Chelsea's lost a lot of weight after her bout of pneumonia and that you need to get some nutrition into her? Let's decide what food we can make for Chelsea!"

The two then began to think, wondering what food they should make after returning to the kitchen.

I wasn't infuriated by their actions either. After all, Caleb had never liked me. So what was the point of getting myself all worked up over someone who didn't like me to begin with?

I finished up my packing and took my printed documents to the study to go through them.

The overseas branch covered a wide range of business areas, which made things much more complicated than I was used to. I had to thoroughly familiarize myself with them to prepare for my new role when I arrived.

As I went through the information, Cedric came in and asked, "Maddie, is there anything you'd like to eat? Hey, what's this?"

When he saw me busy reading the documents, he was surprised. "Are you changing your job?"