Archer stood alone in the restroom, thinking, He actually likes her. He smiled while looking at himself in the mirror.
Gilbert angrily left the restroom and said to Ray, "Let's go."
Ray asked worriedly, "What happened?"
"Let's leave first," Gilbert said.
Ray immediately paid the bill, and they both went to the parking lot. Gilbert looked extremely angry. Ray worriedly thought that Gilbert was definitely hiding something from him.
Gilbert sat inside the car in the passenger seat.
"Take me home," Gilbert said.
Ray looked at him. "Why suddenly?"
"I want to go home."
Ray silently drove toward his house. After a while, Gilbert said furiously, "That bastard is trying to provoke me."
"Who?" Ray asked.
"Who else? Archer."
Ray calmly asked, "What did he do?"
After thinking for a moment, Gilbert replied, "He and Rita are friends." He did not know how to explain to Ray what had actually happened.
"So why are you getting worked up over this?" Ray asked.
"I'm telling you, he wants to… take revenge on me." Gilbert felt like he did not have the right words to express himself at that moment.
Ray looked at him and thought, He is really losing his mind.
"Yeah," Ray replied quietly.
During the whole ride, neither Gilbert nor Ray spoke another word. When they reached home, Gilbert hurriedly got out of the car and only said, "Thanks."
"Just don't do anything you'll regret later," Ray called out from behind him.
Gilbert walked straight into the house, ignoring Ray's advice. He saw Rita lying on the bed, peacefully reading a novel. Somehow, that annoyed him even more. He was stuck dealing with all these confusing emotions, yet she looked so calm.
Rita said cheerfully, "You came home early today."
Gilbert silently stared at her.
She continued, "I want to talk to you about something."
"When did you become friends with Archer?" Gilbert asked.
Rita became confused by his question. She wondered why he was asking about Archer when they had something important to discuss.
"Since Friday. When he dropped me home, we chatted a little," she replied.
Gilbert asked harshly, "Why did you have to come home with him? Were all the drivers dead?"
Rita frowned. "Don't you think we have something more important to talk about?"
But in Gilbert's mind, he could only think about what Archer had said.
"And when did you get time to cook for him?" Gilbert asked.
"Are you even listening to what I'm saying?" Rita replied in frustration.
"So, you did cook for him," Gilbert said.
Rita got off the bed furiously. "Can you stop bullying him?" She could not believe how unreasonable he was being. She understood why Archer disliked him, but why did he have to behave like this?
"What nonsense," Gilbert said irritably.
Rita reached for his hand, but in shock, Gilbert immediately pulled his hand away.
The action startled both of them. They looked at each other silently as memories of that night flashed through Gilbert's mind again.
Rita stepped back, thinking, Is this my answer? Does he really feel disgusted by the kiss?
While trying to control her emotions, Rita said, "You move on with your life so easily, but do you know how difficult it is for people like us to live?"
Gilbert stood there silently, confused about how her words were related to Archer.
"Even if you apologize, you will never understand the feelings we go through," Rita continued.
"Rita, I didn't mean to…" Gilbert tried to explain that he had not intended to pull his hand away.
But Rita interrupted him.
"I live my life in constant fear, wondering whether people will like me or not. Every time I meet a stranger, do you know how scary it feels for me?"
Gilbert quietly looked at her, feeling guilty but unable to find the words to express his emotions.
He walked closer to her and held her hand.
Tears rolled down Rita's cheeks as she removed his hand from hers.
"You made me feel disgusted with myself," she said while looking into his eyes. "I don't want to stay in the same room with you. Get out."
Without saying anything, Gilbert walked outside to sleep.
While sitting alone in the garden, he could only think about her.
Am I really that bad? I should have listened to Ray.
He went into the kitchen, grabbed a beer, and then went to the living room to sleep. There, he noticed some documents on the table. He opened them—it was the file Grandpa had sent.
While drinking, he read through the papers and thought, All this happened because of him. But why does this bother me so much? Even if Archer gets close to her, why do I care? Didn't I want to divorce her?
As he lay down on the couch, he came to one conclusion:
It's not about her. I just don't like it when someone tries to take something that belongs to me.
He slept on the couch in his office clothes and shoes.
The next morning, Jenny came to wake him up.
"Sir, your phone has been ringing," she said.
Gilbert woke up and checked his phone. It was his assistant.
"Hello?"
"Sir, are you coming to the office today?"
"Yes, but I'll be late."
"Okay, sir."
Gilbert then asked Jenny, "Is she awake?"
"No, sir. Madam is still sleeping."
"Today, make everything according to her choice."
Jenny nodded.
Gilbert went back to the room to get ready. He saw Rita still lying on the bed, but he could not tell whether she was pretending to sleep or actually asleep.
Maybe she just wants to ignore me the same way I ignored her these past few days, he thought.
He went to the kitchen, brought breakfast for her, and placed it beside the bed. Thinking she was already awake, he also left a note beside the plate:
I am sorry. Please eat properly and take care.
After he left, Rita slowly removed the blanket from her face. She saw the breakfast on the table and noticed the note beside it.
She picked up the note, read it, and then placed it back down.
I can't understand him. If he feels disgusted by me, then why does he behave like this?
At the office, Mr. Marchantia had been waiting for his son for almost forty minutes. He stared at the secretary and asked irritably, "Is this how he works? It's almost eleven. Where is he?"
"Sir is on the way," the secretary replied nervously. "He has been working really hard these days, so I asked him to rest today."
"There's no need to make excuses for him. I know my son very well."
The secretary became nervous and pretended to focus on the computer so he would not have to look at Mr. Marchantia.
"Dad," Gilbert said as he finally arrived.
The secretary quietly sighed in relief.
"What about the assignment with Mr. Kit?" Mr. Marchantia asked.
"I'm meeting him on Wednesday," Gilbert replied.
"Son, make sure you get this deal. Then we can clear all our debts and won't have to listen to our relatives anymore."
"Yes, Dad," Gilbert said.
"Good."
Gilbert felt relieved after his father left. He had expected his father to be angry, so hearing a simple "good" made him unexpectedly happy.
Meanwhile, Rita wanted to throw away his note, but her heart would not let her do it, so she hid it inside her novel instead.
Jenny came and asked, "Madam, what should the chef cook for sir's lunch today?"
Rita sat at the table eating breakfast. "Do whatever you want."
Jenny hesitated before speaking again. "Madam, sir looked really stressed today. He didn't even have breakfast this morning and had to rush to the office."
Rita did not respond.
Jenny continued softly, "Madam, I'm worried sir will get sick if this continues."
"He's not a child. He can take care of himself," Rita replied.
Jenny nodded and left.
After Jenny left, Rita felt bad—not because she thought she had done something wrong, but because she could not bear to see him so worried.
She went into the kitchen and told the chef, "Cook fish for him."
As she turned to leave, something on the refrigerator caught her attention.
"What is this? It looks beautiful."
The chef smiled. "Madam, two weeks ago I went on vacation and bought this souvenir from there."
Rita nodded, then suddenly realized something.
"Wasn't it two weeks ago that your daughter got into an accident?"
The chef looked at her in confusion. "No, madam. I went on vacation with my wife."
Then he excitedly added, "Gilbert sir booked a honeymoon package for us. Sir is very kind."
Rita stayed silent for a moment before simply saying, "Nice."
But inside, her heart sank.
So he sent the chef on vacation just to make me do all the household work… and he even lied that the chef's daughter had an accident.
Earlier, she would not have cared this much because she had never expected anything from him. But now, it hurt terribly. She felt suffocated, and tears threatened to spill from her eyes.
Meanwhile, Gilbert sat in his office chatting with an AI assistant. He explained what had happened and asked for advice, but the AI repeatedly answered:
Proper communication with your partner is important.
Gilbert still could not understand what Rita meant when she said he had made her feel disgusted with herself.
The AI's explanation was simple:
Because you made her question her appearance and self-worth.
Gilbert did not know what to do. Something inside him was clearly bothering him, but he could not understand what it was or how to fix it.