Worlds Apart

"Are you done?" Gwyneth asked again.

Liana paused, unsure what she was up to, but still itching to provoke her. "I'm not leaving him. If you guys head abroad, I'll be going, too. I'm sticking with Asher—he loves me. You won't have a happy marriage with me around!"

Gwyneth set the plates down and narrowed her eyes. "You done? Now, it's my turn. Here's a little advice. If you're going to be a mistress, act like it and stop blabbing."

She slapped Liana hard, and her face jerked to the side.

Liana twisted her ankle and knocked the soup bowl off the table. The scalding liquid splashed on her, and she yelped, "Ouch! That's burning!"

The noise caught Asher's attention, and he hurried into the kitchen. "What happened, Lia?"

Liana looked up, her right cheek red from the slap and her left hand swollen and burned. She pointed angrily at Gwyneth, who remained cold and distant. "Honey, she slapped me and spilled soup on me!"

Honey? Gwyneth pushed down the disgust rising in her. Liana acted like Asher was her husband, even though he was actually Gwyneth's.

Asher lifted Liana off the floor, his heart aching for her. He faced Gwyneth with a stern look. "Apologize to Lia."

Gwyneth frowned. The hot soup had gotten on her, too.

"You don't even care to ask what happened?" she asked, feeling hopeless.

Asher's face showed sympathy as he looked at Liana, who was a mess. "She's a great woman who's been with me for years and never asked for any title. What bad things could she have done? How could she possibly provoke you?"

Gwyneth gazed at him, her chest tight with sorrow.

Back in school, a jealous classmate had falsely accused her of stealing money. The homeroom teacher had questioned her about it.

But Asher rushed to the office to defend her. "Ms. Johnson, Gwyneth's a great person. She keeps quiet even when she's wronged. What bad things could she have done? How could she have stolen money?"

And now, Asher was saying the same stuff, but instead of defending Gwyneth, he was backing up Liana.

"I'll apologize, but she's not coming with us," Gwyneth said.

Liana shot her a glare as she gritted her teeth. "Who are you to make that decision? It's not up to you."

Asher's expression darkened. "Don't get me mad."

Gwyneth's eyes welled up, and she glanced up, trying to hold back the tears. "Don't make me bring in a lawyer and make this whole thing about you and Liana go public."

Asher's face grew stormy. He took a moment before pursing his lips. "Fine. I'll let it slide this time, but it had better not happen again."

He carried Liana to the couch in the living room and got some burn cream for her.

As Gwyneth left the kitchen, she spotted them together, looking all lovey-dovey. She headed upstairs to the master bedroom.

Since Asher wasn't around, she seized the chance and grabbed his phone. She pulled up the transaction app, entered an amount, and typed in the PIN.

The screen flashed a message, "Transfer Successful".

Gwyneth paused. After clearing everything off, she returned his phone to its spot. It was ironic that Liana ended up being the one to tell her Asher's transaction PIN.

Asher was downstairs, pressing a warm towel to Liana's right cheek before putting burn cream on her hand.

Liana's eyes welled up, her voice breaking with emotion. "She slapped me and acted like nothing was wrong. How could she be so nasty? Honey, you didn't even stand up for me. You should've slapped her back."

Asher looked annoyed but patiently tried to calm her down. "What if she gets angry and decides not to let you go abroad? What do we do, then? I'm doing all this for you, aren't I?"

Liana dropped her gaze and said, "Fine. But tonight's my birthday. You have to spend it with me."

"Anything for you, princess." Asher lowered his head and kissed her softly on the lips.

They didn't realize Gwyneth was upstairs, watching them condescendingly as they did all that flirtatious stuff.

A little while later, Asher came into the master bedroom. He seemed bothered and told Gwyneth that Liana's burns were severe and that she had to be taken to the hospital immediately.

Gwyneth didn't call him out.

Once Asher was gone, she went through her chat history with him. He always claimed something came up at work every year on this day.

Before going to bed, Gwyneth erased "seven" from the whiteboard and put "six" in its place.

"Six days," she murmured.

…

When Gwyneth woke up the next morning, Asher was already home. He had dark circles under his eyes, clearly from a night of too much fun.

Gwyneth ate her breakfast.

Asher looked at the whiteboard and frowned. "What's with the six?"

Gwyneth kept a straight face. "Six more days until we leave for abroad."

Six more days until she could finally end this 12-year relationship and walk away from him.

Asher couldn't shake the feeling that something was off, but his phone rang before he could dwell on it.

After he left, Gwyneth started packing her things. Asher wasn't planning on selling the house once they moved abroad.

Gwyneth sorted her things, packed them, and sent them to the Payne residence. As for the gifts Asher had given her, she left them all behind. Once she was done, it was already afternoon.

There was a noise from the doorway. She turned to see Liana standing behind Asher, looking smug with a suitcase in hand.