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1.03% Get Rid of Him / Chapter 5: His Unfortunate Circumstances

Capítulo 5: His Unfortunate Circumstances

||Lucas||

Lucas Liu was the man who helped Liliana a few nights ago, the one who contacted Nancy after his failed attempts to reach Asher.

They exchanged numbers at that time because Nancy insisted that she and her friend Liliana was indebted to him.

"Ms. Wu, you really don't have to pay me. I just helped Ms. Xin because I was there."

"My friend would feel bad if I just let you leave like this. Mr. Liu, if not for you, I might not know what happened to her."

Due to Nancy's persuasion, Lucas finally relented to it.

From the hospital lobby, Lucas hurried to where he parked his motorcycle. He needed to return it to his workplace, a cafe ten minutes away from the hospital.

"I hope that lady won't feel too depressed," Lucas glanced at the hospital building through the side mirror, "What a shitty husband she has."

Lucas really had a bad impression of Asher. The older man's piercing stare and heavy accusations still lingered in his mind.

Lucas worked as a delivery man at the cafe. It was not his original intention to visit Liliana. The thought only crossed his mind when he found that there was an order from the hospital's Orthopedic Department.

Sweets could make people happy. That was taught by someone important to him when he was an ignorant young boy.

Because there was no other delivery in the queue, Lucas decided to pay a short visit to the woman.

He brought along a cake with him, thinking to cheer the lady with the dessert. He even contacted Nancy first to get Liliana's ward number.

Who knew that he met such a shocking sight the moment he opened the ward door?

Heaving out a sigh, Lucas started the bike. He slowly left the hospital ground before he gradually picked up speed. Soon, his figure on the black bike vanished amongst the sea of vehicles on the major road.

In less than ten minutes, Lucas arrived at the cafe; MoodSpresso. It was a single one-story building with its own yard, unlike most of the other buildings around the business district.

The cafe served various types of coffee, pastries and cakes as well as heavy dishes including pasta and the fusion of Chinese and Western food. They also had non-coffee drinks.

Lucas parked the motorcycle in the backyard of the cafe. The owner, Boss Gao hired people to build a garage there. A store was constructed next to it.

"Time to clock out? Do you have class tonight?"

A staff named George greeted Lucas with the question. He was wiping the table nearby the counter area. Both of them had an amicable relationship with each other.

"Yes. But, my class is tomorrow," admitted Lucas with a smile, "Is Mr. Lou still in the kitchen?"

"En, he has to cover for Mr. Yan. He's sick."

Lucas nodded. After handing the bike key to the cashier, he headed to the pastry kitchen. He wanted to meet Mr. Lou, the pastry chef at MoodSpresso.

Once Lucas pushed the kitchen door open, his eyes immediately went to a middle-aged man wearing a white chef outfit. He was busy piping swirls on top of cupcakes, forming flower blooms in pink and white colors.

"Mr. Lou."

The man gave a short glance at Lucas before continuing his task, "You're back. How is it? Did the patient love the cake?"

Michael Lou was a longtime employee here. He used to study and worked in France before returning to the country.

Even though Michael was offered to be a pastry chef at other prestigious places, he still chose MoodSpresso. He had been here since the establishment of the cafe seven years ago.

As for Lucas, he began working at MoodSpresso three years ago. Aside from being the delivery man, he also took up a waiter's tasks if needed.

Lucas pulled out a high bar stool from under the kitchen island. Sitting on it, he narrated the story to the pastry chef. Michael listened without losing focus on his job right now.

"...no one answered when I knocked but, I heard a sound like someone in pain. I was so shocked. She almost fell out the window. Then... her husband came."

"What did she do? How could she almost fall?"

Michael rose up his brows. Half of his face was hidden by a white mask. Looking up at Lucas' face, he saw the young man shrug.

At this time, both of them silently thought of the worse.

"I don't want to badmouth anyone but... her husband is bad. How could he treat his own wife like that? He immediately accused us of having an affair just because I still held her. The timing was bad, but... I don't know."

Michael understood what Lucas trying to say. With an understanding smile on his lips, the pastry chef asked, "You didn't even think that she might really have an affair before? Then, her husband is mad because of that?"

Michael put the piping bag away. He had finished decorating the cupcakes. All of his attention went to the young man.

Lucas propped his hands straight, holding the edge of the bar stool. Something murky clouded his gaze. He gave Michael a slow nod, his expression grew heavier.

"I know that it's a possibility, but..."

Michael reached out for Lucas' right shoulder. He gave the younger man a pat.

"That's enough. You always go worrying about other people's problems. Focus on yours, en? Don't you feel burdened enough?"

Lucas had an embarrassed look on his face. He could only smile faintly.

In MoodSpresso, Lucas was the closest to Michael because the former shared the same love for dessert making. He was also a bright student during high school.

Unfortunately, Lucas was deprived of the opportunity to continue his study. His situation made Michael feel sorry for the young yet brilliant man.

"Your work has finished, right? Why don't you go home? Young man, you should have a decent rest occasionally. Shouldn't your girlfriend be home already?"

"...I should do that," replied Lucas, the lights in his eyes dimming.

Lucas didn't want to keep thinking about what happened in the hospital and his mother's phone call. But, he felt unpleasant at the thought of returning to the small apartment he shared with his longtime girlfriend, Daphne Mu.

Lucas and Daphne were high school sweethearts.

The couple only started living together a year ago, after Daphne graduated from the teaching institute. At the same time, Lucas desired a distance from his suffocating family's situation.

Both of them were still young. They had just reached age twenty-four.

They were happy and faced obstacles together. Lucas had always thought their joy would remain forever, but...

Why did he have a feeling that Daphne began to stray away from him?


Capítulo 6: The Growing Distance Between Them

The apartment was just fifteen minutes walking distance from MoodSpresso. The middle school where Daphne was teaching was also nearby. It was one of the reasons why they chose to rent the apartment last year.

The time was half-past six in the evening. Streetlights started to illuminate the neighborhood. The sun had long gone down in the winter evening.

Lucas walked home with a paper bag in his right hand. He brought back a slice of chocolate cake and a hot caramel latte for Daphne.

Both of them were her favorites. He hoped her mood would cheer up with these desserts.

"...she's not mad anymore, right?"

Lucas murmured under his breath. He thought back to what happened last night.

Because Lucas had a part-time job at the morning market, he went out early before Daphne. Then, his shift at MoodSpresso began. Lucas didn't have much time to rest after his work ended since he had a night class.

Both of them didn't see each other until Lucas returned home that night. Daphne was irked by something, nagging at him for forgetting to throw out the trash and not cleaning the apartment.

"I was in a rush this morning. Sorry, honey."

Daphne scoffed at him before leaving for the bedroom. The exhausted Lucas could only accept her anger. He dragged himself to tidy the apartment which was not as messy as how his girlfriend had pointed out.

In the bedroom, Daphne lay on the far end of the bed. Lucas had to dispiritedly accept that he couldn't sleep hugging his lover. The air felt really stifling.

Shaking his head, Lucas tried to forget the event. He had made sure to keep everything tidy before he went to work today, hoping that Daphne would forget his blunder yesterday.

"I'm home."

Lucas opened the door, finding the shoes that Daphne often wore to work sitting on top of the shoe cabinet.

With a smile, Lucas rushed inside. He found Daphne in the living room, sitting on a secondhand couch they bought the last four months.

Daphne was watching her favorite drama on her tablet, already wearing her comfy sweater and long pants. Her shoulder-length black hair was tied into a high ponytail.

"Honey, I brought your favorite cake and caramel latte," Lucas put the paper bag on the coffee table, "Do you want them now or after dinner?"

Daphne shot him a look. Her neatly-trimmed brows were furrowing under her bangs, "Do you want me to get fat? Why do you always buy me these?"

It was a really dissatisfied look. Not the coy one Daphne had when she was pretending to be angry with him. Her dark brown eyes fell to the paper bag before her gaze returned to his face.

Dumfounded, Lucas replied hesitantly, "...because they are your favorites. You seem to be stressed these days, so..."

"So you know that I'm stressed! But, do you know why?!" yelled Daphne out of nowhere. She slammed the tablet on the couch.

Lucas was stunned. He puzzledly stared back at his girlfriend.

This was really not the reaction he was hoping for.

Taking a breath, Lucas tried not to be too upset by Daphne suddenly lashing out at him. If he shouted back at her, they might end up fighting for real.

Daphne ignored her boyfriend sitting dejectedly next to her. She resumed watching the drama but, the look on her young face still harbored anger.

Not wanting to ignore the situation, Lucas asked cautiously, "Daphne, did I do something wrong? If there was, please tell me. Or, something's bothering you at school?"

Lucas turned his eyes blind in the face of Daphne's frequent outbursts that happened recently. He simply assumed that she was stressed with work but, Lucas also wanted to know if he was the reason behind her fury.

Daphne didn't even look at Lucas when she remarked, "You should know it yourself."

Then, she completely ignored him, putting Lucas' efforts to straighten the situation to waste.

Lucas held back his disappointment. He took the paper bag and brought them to the kitchen. His ears barely caught the whisper coming from Daphne.

"...why can't he be like everyone else? Useless."

Lucas pursed his lips into a straight line. A claw pricked into his heart with the words muttered by Daphne.

If he insisted to talk with her right now, he knew the situation might get worsened. Still, he was discouraged because his girlfriend didn't give him any cooperation.

What was happening?

Were they really... started to have a distance between them?

Lucas disappeared inside the bedroom, hiding how disappointed he was right now. Daphne remained in the living room, seemingly unbothered by the cold atmosphere inside the apartment.

After changing into a thick sweater, Lucas checked his phone. He scrunched his brows once he saw a few unread messages coming from his mother.

Tapping on the screen, several dialogue boxes appeared on the messaging app.

[Mother: Can't you ask your boss to give it to you one day early?]

[Mother: Your dad can't give more allowance to Kevin this month. Poor him can't eat properly at college]

[Mother: Come home tomorrow, okay? Mom will cook your favorite dishes]

[Mother: Kevin said he'd bring his girlfriend home for dinner]

Throwing his head back, Lucas groaned. His eyes wandered to the ceiling, finding a new spider web dangled in one corner of the ceiling.

"...yeah, better if I work overtime tomorrow."

Succumbing to his tired body and mind, Lucas slid under the thick duvet.

He wasn't comfortable with the state between him and Daphne. He also disliked how unwelcoming his family home was.

But...

What could he do?

Lucas's half-closed eyes darted to the windows showing the dark winter sky outside.

Flurries of snowflakes descended from the sky. He already imagined another pile of snow would blanket the entire area tomorrow.

This was so... frustrating.

Was this what the lady felt earlier? When her husband accused her of committing adultery?

Lucas forced himself not to think of other people's situations. He already had enough on his plate.

No high-tier education.

Working jobs that drained him physically and mentally.

An almost non-existing balance in his bank account.

He was really useless. Someone that couldn't make anyone proud of him.

Closing his eyes, Lucas drifted off to his dreamland.

A place where he could have a short escape before he needed to face the harsh realities of life again.

At the same time, Liliana had been treated by the doctor. She slept throughout the treatment, only stirring awake right now. Slowly opening her eyes, she stared dazedly at the ceiling.

"You're awake."

The familiar frosty voice jolted Liliana to be fully awake. Abruptly turning her head to her right side, she found Asher sitting on the chair. A laptop was placed on his lap.

"...Asher?"

What was he doing here?


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