The Ex-Husband Wanted Me Back

The burning sensation enveloped my whole body, and as I tried to draw a breath of air, I instantly felt even more tearing pain. I couldn’t catch my breath. It was as if the air was replaced by water.

I woke up, startled. Cold sweat dripped down to my neck. I just had a nightmare about drowning in that pool again.

It was such a relief to know that it was merely a nightmare, and I couldn’t help but take in as much air as I could until I calmed down.

I reached for my phone to check the time. It was nearly midnight. I was about to return the phone back to the table until a notification caught my attention.

Amanda had sent another picture, a jacket that I couldn’t be more familiar with. It was Charles’. That jacket was a gift for Amanda herself, and after he received that gift, he never wore the jacket that I had given him again.

[Alicia, please tell Charles that he left his jacket at my home. He will have none to wear later and the temperature is getting colder now.]

She could have contacted Charles directly. Why bother telling her? Of course, there was a hidden message.

The message was delivered less than thirty minutes ago, and Charles must have spent an entire afternoon until near midnight at her place.

[You can tell him yourself tomorrow]

I sent the message to her. The reply came less than a minute later.

[Of course, I will also tell Charles tomorrow. His phone was out of battery earlier. I am just telling you in case I forget later]

She was showing off how long the time they had spent together until he didn’t realize his phone was out of battery, right?

I felt slightly bitter, and the mood to continue this meaningless conversation was gone. In a case her goal had been achieved.

However, it seemed that Amanda wasn’t satisfied with just that.

[I am sorry, Alicia. Charles should have stayed at the hospital to take care of you, but he was helping me to cope with my trauma…]

I closed my eyes, tossing the phone to the table, and no longer bothered to read her other messages. Still, that night, sleep completely evaded me.

Tiredness had taken over my whole body, but I still forced myself to pack the remaining dirty clothes into the bag. Today, I am going to be discharged and Charles had specially taken permission from his boss to come late to the office.

The frown was still present on his face as soon as he laid his eyes on me. I glanced at him and continued to scroll through my phone.

“What’s the matter?” He asked out of the blue, then he stopped himself. As if he was restraining something, he kept silent during the entire process.

As soon as we got in the car, he opened his mouth again. “What’s wrong with you?”

I threw him a confused look, completely unable to understand his question. He sighed, and that was when I noticed he was getting more impatient with me lately.

“Are you mad at Amanda?” He started the car engine, pulling out of the hospital parking lot as he asked.

Ah, the little princess tattled again.

“Mad, why?” I continued to look at the moving trees outside the window.

“You didn’t answer her message, and she was worried she had offended you somehow.”

Amanda had become his priority the moment she came jumping into the middle of our marriage life.

“I forgot.” I said the first thing that came to my mind. When I saw that his frown was getting deeper, I knew that this reason wasn’t enough to convince him. “It was midnight when she texted me. I fell asleep and when the morning came, her messages were buried by other notifications.”

Charles seemed to find my explanation convincing enough; his frown was eased a bit, but he still told me, “Don’t forget to reply to her or she would get more anxious.”

I just nodded at that and I didn’t know what came over me that I blurted out my next words just like that, “You forgot your jacket at her place.”

His expression visibly froze at my words, and his shoulders seemed tense. He had told me that his boss wanted him to do overtime. Hence, the reason he couldn’t accompany me.

Now, he knew that I knew he spent his time at Amanda’s place instead.

“I am sorry.” He instantly apologized. “When I was about to leave, she wasn’t feeling well, so I had to accompany her. I didn’t mean to lie to you.”