Chapter 5

John was silent on the other end of the phone for a few seconds.

"When did that happen?" John's voice was tinged with anger and panic.

"About half a month ago," I replied.

"Your divorce was too hasty, wasn't it? You didn't even call Mum and Dad. They think you are getting along well and expect a grandchild next year." He said in a somewhat questioning way.

I laughed at the word "grandchild". Jacob's mother had been urging us to have children since he and I got married and she had advised me to quit my job and stay at home to prepare for the pregnancy on more than one occasion. We had a lot of bad blood over it.

But now she was getting what she wanted.

"Don't worry. Your parents will have their grandchildren next year." I "reassured" him.

"What do you mean?" John was confused for a moment.

I didn't want to mention that again and just said, "Ask Jacob by yourself."

Less than ten minutes after John hung up, Jacob's call came. Because I had already blacklisted him, he was using an unfamiliar number.

"What did you say to John?" I had just pressed the answer button. Before I could raise the phone to my ear, I heard Jacob's manic rant.

I couldn't see his face, but I could imagine that he was in a rage.

"I told him we're divorced." I acted extraordinarily calm in contrast to him, "I don't care why you kept it from your family. John called me and it's reasonable that I explain it to him. I also wish you would have come clean with them sooner so they wouldn't have to call me next time something comes up."

"Amy, why are you so uncaring?" Jacob not only wasn't ashamed of himself, but he lashed out, "Even if we got divorced, you and John still have a friendship, right? It's a small favor. What's wrong with that?"

I was speechless at his impertinence.

It was true that I got along well with Jacob's two brothers, but only in terms of kinship, not to the extent that we could be friends apart from that level of relationship.

Besides, Jacob had gone too far. I thought it was kind of me not to yell at John out of anger.

"I've been willingly taken advantage of by your family so much. Do you really think I'm easy to bully?" I sneered, "You don't pay attention to your brother and you blame me? Jacob, if you or your family come to me one more time, I'll tell your company about your affairs with Dolores and make a video for everyone in S City to watch."

There was no sound on the receiver, except for Jacob's breathing. He was probably trying to suppress his anger.

After about a minute, he gritted his teeth and said, "Amy, you win!" Then he hung up the phone.

I didn't feel happy even if I had the upper hand in this "battle". I had a feeling that Jacob's parents, given their personality, were going to make some trouble when they found out about our divorce.

I just hoped that the harsh words I'd spoken on the phone would work and Jacob would be able to keep his parents out of my life.

But it turned out that I had overestimated him. In other words, I had underestimated his family's "persistence".

The class party was finally scheduled for the first of October, with the same singing, poker, and dinner activities as previous years.

As soon as we had gathered, the monitor mysteriously revealed to everyone, "There's another classmate coming to this party that we haven't seen in years. So girls here who are still single can look forward to it."

Since he said so, the person who would come must be a man.

A male classmate I hadn't seen in years and was now in S City... Aaron's face suddenly appeared in my mind.

What a coincidence! I was so shocked that I pulled Ultraman over and asked secretly, "Do you know who it is?"

Apparently, Ultraman knew who it was but just kept it to himself. He tapped me twice on the shoulder and said meaningfully, "You'll find out later."

His reaction made me more and more uneasy. Thus I became a little distracted when we were playing poker.

"Amy, your mind wanders." The monitor joked.

I forced a smile and tossed out the card I had just touched.

"Yes!" The monitor shouted excitedly, "Fifty each! Haha ha!"

His laughter was extraordinarily loud, even drowning out the sound of the music next door. It drew everyone's attention.

"Why are you so happy?" A somewhat familiar voice came from the door. My hand couldn't help but tremble as I counted the money.

"Mr. White, are you done with your business worth tens of millions of dollars?" As soon as the monitor saw the man who was coming, he didn't even want the money he had just won. He hurriedly got up and greeted him.

"I'm just a junior employee. Don't brag for me." Aaron's attitude was nonchalant, with a shallow smile on his face. I couldn't tell from his tone whether he was happy or angry.

Unlike the previous two times, he was dressed more casually today. His white shirt was paired with jeans and trainers. He was handsome and sunny.

All the girls in the room, whether they had boyfriends or not, looked at him with admiration.

This was not surprising.

For three years in junior high school, Aaron was the most handsome guy in our class. Even though his grades were shit, there were still a lot of girls attracted to him. He had done everything out of the ordinary at that time, provoking teachers, fighting, smoking, drinking, and dyeing his hair, but he had never fallen in love with a girl.

"QX Group's employees earn a lot more than the average person." The monitor put his arm around Aaron's shoulder and said with a smile, "Do your company need more staff now? Give me a hand."

I didn't hear Aaron's reply because my attention had already drifted away with the monitor's words.

QX Group... The man who showed up at the WH Hotel that day... was indeed him.

But since he already had a decent job, why did he go to the entertainment club? Was it because his salary was not enough? Or did he simply want to experience a completely different life?

I couldn't figure it out.

"Are you still short of people to play poker here?" Unknowingly, Aaron had already walked up to me. I was shocked and instantly came back to my senses.

I didn't dare look up, not knowing who he was directing this at, but the other two girls both scrambled to answer, "Yes, yes. You sit here. The monitor will just go next door."

"Hey! What are you doing?" The monitor pretended to be displeased.

Aaron chuckled and naturally sat down in the empty seat next to me.

"I'm not good at playing poker. Please hold back."

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