Zed put his phone away. He had been waiting for a message from Jean, but she never texted him.
"Hmm..." He frowned and had a drink.
"Was it because of me?" Julie joked. She laughed awkwardly but all the while her eyes were intently on Zed watching his expression closely to see if she was right in what she said.
Zed didn't respond. He just had another drink.
Julie let out a deep sigh and continued, "Tell me what I did wrong? Now, everyone thinks I'm a horrible person."
"It's not your fault. It's mine," he finally responded. Zed heaved a sigh, then he said, "I am sorry about that. I hope you can understand."
"You don't have to keep apologizing. It's not your fault either," said Julie. She gazed at him with sympathy in her eyes. "Zed, I feel sorry for what you went through."
Then she smiled bitterly and continued, "My parents had a failed marriage. As a result, I never had any hope for it. Now, after I saw you, I truly believe that marriage is nothing more than a grave to bury any real love." She raised her glass as if to make a toast. "Here's to the institution of marriage!"
Zed didn't react. He felt like he really needed a drink right now and sculled the rest of the drink from his glass.
Julie was very outgoing and easy to talk to. They drank and talked through the night where Julie shared many interesting stories with him to distract him from all the craziness that he was going through. Soon Zed's demeanor had changed, and he lit up.
The next day when Jean
had woken up, she immediately reached for her mobile to check if there were any messages or calls from Zed, but there were none. Ever since she added Julie as a friend on WeChat, it became a daily ritual for her to check her profile.
As Jean expected, Julie had a new post. There were a few pictures that she took with her coworkers at a bar. Jean carefully examined them all and didn't find anything suspicious. Just as she breathed a sigh of relief, she noticed a familiar figure in the corner of a photo.
It was very blurry, but Jean knew without a doubt that it was Zed.
Holding the phone tightly in her shaky han
"You're my wife in name only, on paper only. My heart and love will never be yours."
Edward made it clear to Daisy that she was nothing to him. They were both victims of family greed -- the marriage was arranged for them.
Six years passed. She remained quiet, gaining a reputation in the army as a tough-as-nails colonel. When she walked into his life again, Edward fell in love with this woman...
about yourself, and you won't be upset when you see Julie's photos anymore."
Jean looked up at him and sneered with a mouth full of burger, "What Zed and I have is true love. Looks don't mean anything to him. Even if I don't look that great, he'll still be with me!"
"All right! My mistake. I'm just trying to help you feel better about yourself so that you won't be upset about how she looks," James shrugged as he replied.
"Okay. Why don't you tell me about that plan?" Jean suddenly changed her mind. She was jealous of Julie, and she wanted to look better. Her body wasn't in any shape at the moment.
James smiled, sat next to her and started to tell her about the plan.
While Jean and James were engrossed in the topic of getting her figure back into shape, they hadn't noticed that Zed had walked in. When Zed saw them sitting snugly next to each other on the couch, he was stunned.
"Zed?" Jean called. She wasn't expecting that Zed would be home at this time.
"Hello," said James as he stood up and reached his hand out.
Zed was on the defense and didn't shake James' hand. "Who are you?" he asked suspiciously.
Jean didn't know how to explain the situation to Zed. She was in a bit of a panic.
However, James was brilliant. He answered, "Hello, I work for the gym close by. I'm here to recommend our programs to the households in this area. Would you like to hear about it too, sir?"