02
I started to refuse, but Jasmine Sue drowned me out by switching on the television.
“Ricky, I’m starving! How about we eat some crayfish while we watch our Reality Dating
Show?”
Ricky Lancaster looked utterly besotted.
After peeling the crayfish, he rinsed it in clear water before feeding it to Jasmine Sue.
So, he could be attentive, just not to me, apparently.
The television screen practically vibrated with pink hearts; it was Ricky Lancaster proposing
to Jasmine Sue on their Reality Dating Show.
Ricky Lancaster chartered nine hundred and ninety–nine drones to form a heart in the sky. Kneeling on one knee amidst an endless sea of roses, he held a diamond ring worth 990,000,
gazing at Jasmine Sue with burning eyes.
Even my estranged Chairman father, whom I’d never even met, was there.
They were smiling so sickeningly sweet.
My eyes burned, on the verge of a hysterical, tearful laugh.
When Ricky Lancaster married me, he didn’t give me a single cent of bride price, and even the diamond ring for the ceremony was borrowed, can you believe it?
Grandma, bless her heart, felt sorry for me, took off the gold ring she’d worn all her life, and slipped it onto my hand.
But he remained willfully blind, and even now, I don’t even possess a proper wedding ring.
Now I finally understand that saying: if a man isn’t even willing to spend money on you, how can you expect him to give you his heart?
Ricky Lancaster would always sweet–talk me, putting me on a pedestal, saying things like, “I know you’re not a materialistic girl.”
- me.
And each time, I’d soften and delude myself, desperately clinging to the belief that he loved
I shook my head, wanting nothing more than to quickly pack and escape this place. Just then, the doorbell rang; a delivery guy was there with a huge bouquet of Tulips. I’m allergic to Tulips. I’m already breaking out in hives and can’t stop sneezing. “Ricky Lancaster, don’t you know I’m allergic to Tulips? Could you at least leave them by the
door?”
Ricky Lancaster deliberately put the flowers right in front of me and said, without a shred of
emotion:
“Oh, stop being so dramatic. The best way to deal with allergies is desensitization, you kr
D Just keep smelling them; you’ll get over it.”
“These are Jasmine’s favorite flowers. You’ll have to get used to them from now on.”
My breathing became increasingly shallow and rapid.
3:55 pm G D G
I shoved Ricky Lancaster away, grabbed the vase, and rushed to the door to throw it out.
But I was tripped by Jasmine Sue’s Pet Pig; the vase shattered, and pollen went everywhere. gasped for breath, tears streaming down.
I remembered my first Valentine’s Day with Ricky Lancaster, when he also gave me a
bouquet of Tulips.
Back then, desperate to show how happy I was, I pretended to adore Tulips.
But before I knew it, I was rushed to the hospital, suffering from a full–blown allergic reaction
and asthma attack.
That time, Ricky Lancaster went deathly pale, cried while calling me an idiot, and never gave
me Tulips again.
And now, for Jasmine Sue, he couldn’t care less whether I lived or died.
Jasmine Sue watched me fall, then tearfully embraced her Pet Pig.
“Ricky, it’s one thing if my sister doesn’t like Pet Pig, but she actually broke its leg!”
Ricky Lancaster frowned, his face a thundercloud:
“Cynthia Thompson, stay if you can stomach it, get out if you can’t!”
To see the man who was once so gentle and considerate towards me now so hostile, felt like
a thousand needles piercing my heart.
I staggered up, accidentally brushing against Jasmine Sue.
She fell onto the broken glass, seemingly by accident, and cried out, “Ah!” As blood flowed from her hand, she wept weakly:
“I know my sister doesn’t like me; I should be the one to leave.”
Ricky Lancaster rushed over and swept Jasmine Sue into his arms, his eyes brimming with
concern.
Turning to face me, the veins in his forehead bulged as he roared:
“Cynthia Thompson, how utterly vile can you be? To hurt Jasmine right in front of me!”
“If Jasmine is left with even a scar, I’ll never forgive you.”
3:55 pm G D G
