Kate instinctively touched the ring on her finger. This man was surprisingly observant despite being drunk.
"J—Just because I'm married doesn't mean that my problem stems from my marriage," Kate tried desperately to defend herself, she felt too exposed for her own comfort.
Honestly, Kate still suspected that he was a stalker. But then again, what was the point of stalking her? She was neither an important person nor a beauty worthy of being obsessed with.
She was just an ordinary working woman with too much stress weighing down on her shoulders.
"That's true," the man nodded as he took another gulp. "But relationships are often the main source of problems for a married career woman. Most of them are forced to choose between their husband or their job."
"I know that you must be earning a lot from your job as the Chief Editor, but you also work crazy hours because of it," the man commented. "So the only reason for your meltdown must be a fight between you and your husband regarding your work hours and his uselessness."
The man stopped to give her time to react. She raised a questioning brow as she waited for him to continue.
"Why do I think he is useless? Well, no self-respecting man will allow his wife to work like a robot if he is rich enough to support them."
Kate's jaw dropped as this young man explained his accurate observation of her, and that last sentence was a nail in the coffin.
It was true. No man would want his wife to work herself to the point of exhaustion if he was well off.
"But, I don't think you are crying just because you had a fight with him, right?" The young man said, pulling Kate back from her thoughts. "There must be something more. A deeper reason, a bigger problem."
"And why do you think that?" Kate asked.
There was a little uncertainty on the young man's face for a second, "Because you look like a tough woman. You won't cry over a small argument."
…
Kate scoffed when she realized that she couldn't hide anything in front of this young man. He looked like a university frat boy, the type of young adult who focused on partying all weekend and barely used his brain during classes.
But he caught her off guard with how observant he was.
"You're pretty keen for a drunk frat boy," Kate commented sarcastically. "Not bad, not bad at all."
"Heheh, I'm just drunk, not stupid," the man said. It seemed that he didn't take offense from Kate's comment. He was more amused instead, because it was the first time someone referred to him as a drunk frat boy.
But that was fine, they were supposed to be strangers, so they weren't supposed to know each other's identities.
"Well, if you must know, the answer is yes, it's not just a fight. It's..." Kate took a deep breath, wondering if she could really pour her heart out to this man tonight.. They were strangers, so there was no point hiding anything, they'd forget about each other tomorrow morning.
She took a deep breath and dropped the bomb, "It's because he cheated on me."
Kate waited for a reaction from the man across the table. But he didn't react, he stayed passive, as if he had predicted what she was going to say, as if it was something bound to happen.
Kate was a little disappointed that he wasn't at all surprised, but she continued nonetheless, "And he cheated on me with my own sister. The same sister I raised since she was a child."
"Now that's surprising," the man finally commented, shaking his head and taking another drink from the wine bottle. "I didn't expect him to cheat on you with your sister, seriously, that's messed up."
"But you still expected him to cheat on me?"
"Of course," the man said ruthlessly. "I mean, isn't it bound to happen? A useless man who is a failure at life cheats on his highly successful wife out of spite or boredom, whichever suits him best, and then acts like he is the one who got hurt the most when caught. As if he was the victim and not the other way around."
…
Kate sighed, "You're right. It was bound to happen. How could I have not expected it?"
"Still, it doesn't make him right. Don't worry, I'm on your side," the man reassured her. "So, what happened after you caught him cheating? Did he apologize?"
"Hah! As if!" Kate snorted. "He told me that he wants an open relationship, and I that should accept that he is going to fuck other women because… well, because he wants to!"
Kate was about to say that Matt cheated because she was barren, but that was something too personal and she was too ashamed to say it out loud. She didn't want anyone to know, not even a stranger she would never meet again.
"Unreasonable! don't tell me that you're accepting his open relationship bullshit," the man snorted in contempt. "Unless you want to do that open-relationship stuff as well. You don't, right?"
…
Kate stared at the man and almost said that she wanted to do the same.
It wasn't because she wanted it, no, she could never, but she wanted it as an act of revenge against that useless fucker called Matt. He cheated on her? Then she could do the same!
But in the end, her logic stopped her from saying something stupid, it was a good thing that she wasn't drunk as a dog right now.
"No, I don't want an open relationship. I just want to be in a relationship with one man that loves me, a normal loving relationship," Kate stated. But she was also unsure of her own statement.
"And that man, your husband, will you stay with him?" The man asked.
"Oh fuck no!" Kate denied vehemently as she shook her head, the thought of staying with him after that was outrageous. "I've already done so much for him and this is how he repays me? I'm not an idiot who would reconcile after he cheated and humiliated me!"
"Well, what are you waiting for then?" The man got up from the sofa and walked up to Kate. He stretched his hand and opened his palm. "Give me your ring."
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"Give me your ring."
…
Kate blinked a few times at the man who opened his palm before her. She didn't understand what he said just now.
"What?"
"I said, give me your ring. I will throw it away."
"T—Throw it away?!" Kate quickly pulled her hand away and covered it with the other. She became sober instantly. "Why would I throw away my wedding ring? Are you crazy?!"
"No, I'm not," as the man spoke his voice didn't falter. His deep green eyes looked into hers, reassuring her for some reason, telling her not to worry about anything. "You told me that you don't want to reconcile with that scum, then let me help you move on by throwing that wedding ring away."
"What the—" Kate was startled by his sudden demand, she thought he was joking, but he looked serious.
His palm remained open, ready to accept the ring from Kate.
"Are you refusing because it's expensive?" he asked.
"No, I can buy ten or even twenty of this ring," Kate said, shaking her head. Indeed, the cost of the ring wasn't the problem. But it was the memories that were attached to the ring that made it precious.
She subconsciously caressed the ring on her finger, "But this is my wedding ring… it has a history and memories in it…."
"I know, that's why I want to throw it away," the man explained. "You told me that you don't want to reconcile with him after what he did to you. But you will keep thinking about him and what he did to you as long as you have that ring. So, if you really want to leave him, to move on from him, then give me your wedding ring."
Kate paused and thought for a moment. She'd be lying if she said that she didn't treasure her wedding with Matt.
In the beginning, she and Matt truly married for love. They were childhood sweethearts who grew up together from elementary up to high school. They had always been a couple, and she was over the moon when Matt proposed to her after they graduated from university.
Who could have predicted that her marriage would crumble after just five years because Matt cheated on her… and also because she was infertile.
Kate looked down and stared at her wedding ring. A memory flashed in her mind as she remembered the moment she began turning into a workaholic.
It was around the time when she started working in this publishing company three years ago. She had invited Matt to go to the hospital to have their health and fertility checked together and see what they could do so she could conceive.
But he scoffed and ridiculed her instead.
-
'Why should I do a check-up when you're obviously the one that's barren?' Matt asked.
'W—Well, who knows there might be a problem for you as well. Let's do a check-up together and see what we can do.'
'Hah, I'd rather save the money for my next casting rather than go for a check-up for something so obvious,' Matt scorned. 'Just accept it, Kate. It's the job of a woman to conceive a baby, and you have failed to do so, there is nothing to change about that.'
'Also, if you have the time to ask about something as useless as this, you have the time to work. Go to work and earn us some money. We're on a tight budget this month after a nepo baby took the lead role from me!' Matt complained. Kate was displeased and heartbroken at his words. She knew that Matt was nowhere close to being a lead actor. He was only good enough to play an extra or a one-episode character most of the time. But he had a point about their financial situation, so she worked harder. After all, if they had more money, Matt would be happier. So she worked her ass off until she got promotion after promotion, until she became the Chief Editor.
She managed to give him a comfortable life, and yet he still wasn't happy, wasn't grateful and cheated on her.
Kate's tears threatened to roll down her cheeks, so she quickly wiped them away. It was ridiculous for her to cry for that deadbeat, especially in front of a stranger.
"Kate?" The man called her name, pulling her out of her daze. "Give me the ring if you want to move on."
"Mm, it can't be helped," she said before she pulled the ring off of her finger.
She felt liberated the moment that ring was off. She felt her burden had been lifted, and thus she believed that she had made the right choice.
She put her ring on his palm and stared at him, "Please throw it away for me. I want to forget about him. I want to forget everything about us. I want to be free"
The man cupped his hand and stared back at Kate. He noticed a tear at the corner of her eyes, and his conscience shook because of it, "You will find a man who will treat you much better than he ever did. You're beautiful. You should know that."
"Haha! Sure, whatever. Just throw that ring away," Kate instructed, feeling a little happier because of the man's small compliment.
She'd usually laugh when someone complimented her looks. She was plain Jane at best. Matt wouldn't even think of cheating on her if she was truly beautiful.
"Alright, let me throw this away," the man turned around and walked to the glass pane facing the city. There was a small window in the corner, and he opened it.
The breeze of summer night hit his face in an instant. He clenched the wedding ring and threw it out of the window.
Kate watched as the young man threw the ring away. Kate saw a glint of the diamond before the ring was swallowed by the darkness outside and disappeared from her sight.
She felt as her heart was crushed and torn to pieces , but she also felt free at the same time.
'Goodbye, the love of my life. I hope I can forget you and move on.'
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