Chapter 6
Rachel came home late that night. The rain had poured all the way back, leaving her drenched from head to toe.
When she opened the door, Benjamin was already home. She didn’t so much as glance at him and headed straight for the stairs.
Just as she reached the landing, a towel wrapped around her from behind. His voice followed, tinged with worry. “Why didn’t you call me to pick you up? You’re soaked through.”
“Call you? Would you even come?” she thought. A bitter glint flashed in her eyes as she shoved his hand away and went upstairs.
She showered and changed, only to walk out and find him waiting with a cup of herbal tea, cooling it with gentle breaths.
Benjamin was, in many ways, a responsible man. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have cared for her so consistently for over a decade. That constant care had blurred the line in her mind between responsibility and love.
When he saw her emerge, he drew her to the bed and brought the drink to her carefully. “Is it too hot? Drink it all. The wedding’s just around the corner. You can’t afford to catch a cold now.”
She lowered her gaze and drank in silence. Watching his back retreat from the room, she felt her heart was utterly lifeless.
“Benjamin, just as you wished, there
on’t be a wedding…” she thought.
The next day, Rachel went to the consulate to apply for a visa. As she stepped out of the building, she ran into Benjamin with a group of interns
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trailing behind him.
His brows drew together as he glanced at the sign behind her. “What are you doing here?”
Calmly, she replied, “A friend from my band is going abroad. I came to help her with the paperwork.”
He didn’t press further. The thought that she might be the one leaving never even crossed his mind.
An intern piped up cheerfully, “We’re having a team dinner tonight. Why don’t you come with us, Mrs. Garza?”
“Come along,” Benjamin added. “We’ll head home afterward.”
They ended up at a barbecue restaurant. Rachel glanced at him instinctively. In the past, whenever she asked him to join her for barbecue, he had refused, saying the smell was too strong.
“You’re curious as to why Dr. Garza would eat at a place like this, right?” an intern said, arms crossed. “It’s because Angie loves barbecue. Actually, whatever she enjoys, he’ll eat it with her, be it street food or even Limburger cheese.”
Rachel lowered her eyes, a wry smile tugging at her lips. She said nothing.
Inside, the group seated Benjamin right next to Angelina. Then, as if just remembering, one exclaimed, “Oh! Sorry, Mrs. Garza, I forgot you were here. Usually, Dr. Garza sits with Angie at these dinners. You don’t mind, right?”
A sharp pain stirred in her chest. She shook her head calmly and sat down across from him.
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From where she sat, she could see everything clearly–him tying an apron around Angelina, mixing her dipping sauce exactly how she liked it, cooking the meat just for her, though he never touched any himself.
Rachel gripped her fork tightly, staring blankly into her plate.
At last, Benjamin noticed her silence. He casually dropped a piece of food on her plate. “Eat more.”
It was shrimp. Her lips curved into a bitter smile as she pushed it aside.
She had been severely allergic to shrimp since childhood–so much so that it had nearly cost her life once. He had forgotten about it.
She kept her head down for the rest of the meal, never once looking at
him.
Then, Angelina spoke up sweetly. “Ms. Hudson, your necklace is so beautiful. May I see it?”
Rachel instinctively clutched the necklace at her chest and was ready to refuse, but someone beside her reached over and yanked it off her neck, thrusting it toward Angelina.
“Mrs. Garza isn’t a stingy person. Go ahead and take a look.”
Her hand shot out to block them. “No!” she said sharply, staring at Benjamin.
He frowned at her tone. “It’s just a necklace. What’s the harm in letting Angelina see it? Haven’t we talked about this before?”
“Talked about this before? How dare he bring that up?” she thought, watching in disbelief as he reached for the necklace to pass it over, and she tried to snatch it back.
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Feigning reluctance, Angelina murmured, “Since Ms. Hudson isn’t willing, let’s forget it then, Dr. Garza.”
But in the scuffle, the necklace slipped, tumbling straight into the fiery pit. Ash splashed out, scalding their hands.
Panicked, Rachel reached in to grab it, only to sear her fingers on the charcoal. The pain was sharp, almost blinding.
In the past, Benjamin would have rushed to her side. Dizzy from the agony, she turned instinctively toward him–only to see him bent over Angelina’s reddened hand, blowing on it tenderly.
When Angelina’s eyes welled with tears, he didn’t hesitate. He scooped her up and rushed her to the hospital without sparing Rachel so much as a glance.
By the time she collected herself, the barbecue restaurant was closing.
She asked the staff to fish the necklace out for her. The chain was burnt black, and when she opened the locket, the ashes inside had mixed with the ashes from the charcoal.
Clutching it to her chest, she collapsed to the floor, her sobs echoing through the empty restaurant until her voice was raw.
In this lifetime, she would never forgive Benjamin again.
