Chapter 2

When love and passion faded away, what should lovers do?

I asked Reid this question when he proposed to me.

After a moment of silence, he held my hand and softly kissed it.

He said, "I don't think that will happen to us. It must be you who are tired of me if that day comes. Anne, you are the only light in my miserable life.

"Without you, I would have died. I will stay true to you for the rest of my life."

His mother had died at a young age, and his father was a violent alcoholic. Before I interfered with his life, his clothes were shabby, and he retreated into a corner whenever his classmates bullied him.

On a sunny morning, I popped up and walked to the pathetic boy.

Reid once asked with confusion, "Why did you help me?"

"Everything is fated." Smiling, I held his hand. "Reid, do you believe in fate?"

"I don't," Reid murmured. "I am grateful if fate brought you to me."

When Reid came home, I was smoking on the balcony.

My face must be blurred by the smoke. Frowning, Reid took my cigarette away, dumped it on the floor, and stomped on it.

"Why do you smoke?" His expression was unhappy. "Anne, answer me."

"I was thinking about your secretary." I asked, "Reid, can you fire her?"

"Why?" Besides shock, there was something else in his eyes, and I didn't bother to discern it. "She is capable..."

"I hate her." I repeated, "Reid, fire her. I hate seeing her by your side."

Reid stared at me for a long time and then laughed. "Jealous of her? Fine. I will dismiss her and get myself a male secretary, okay?"

His finger tapped my forehead as he said with indulgence, "We have been married for years, and our kid is already five years old. However, you are jealous of my secretary. Don't you think it ridiculous?"

I smiled and said nothing.

After a bath, I lay on the bed and chatted with him about our kids. Soon, I had nothing to talk with him.

When I was drifting off to sleep, he said, "Anne, our current life is boring, isn't it?"

Then, silence pervaded the room.

Reid fired his secretary right before me.

From that day on, he came home a bit earlier than before. He kept me company, teased me with my sensitivity, and called me a moody kitten.

It seemed our life was back on the right track.

I went to work every day, and I had a lot on my plate.

Soon, I forgot the affair till the activity held in the kindergarten of my daughter, Grace Haywood.

I called Reid, and there came a lot of voices from the other end of the line.

I inquired, and he wearily answered, "There is nothing to worry about. I don't think I can make it. Anne, let your assistant go with you. I will bring you a gift after I solve the problem here."

"Okay. Take good care of yourself." I hung up the phone.

That afternoon, I went to the hospital for a checkup with my best friend.

In the corridor of the hospital, I saw that secretary fired by Reid.

Haggard, she held a gray-haired woman whose body was bent.

The elderly woman seemed sick, and she babbled, "We owe Mr. Haywood a lot. I bet he is interested in you.

"Seize the chance and make good use of your appearance. If you marry him, your little brother can benefit from it."

"Mom!" Gritting her teeth, the woman interrupted her mother. "Mr. Haywood is married."

"So what?" The elderly woman coldly shot back. "How can a woman in her 30s beat you? Mr. Haywood said that you looked like her in her youth. Perhaps, you are the type of woman he is interested in..."

"Mom, enough..." The woman saw me.

She nervously made her mother shut up by shaking the latter's arm, bowed her head, and greeted, "Good afternoon, Mrs. Haywood."

After a slight nod, I casually looked her up and down. "What did Reid do for you?"

"My mom needs an operation. For old time's sake, Mr. Haywood found us a doctor."

She pursed her lips, and her head dropped still lower. "Mrs. Haywood, look, I begged Mr. Haywood for help..."

"Relax. I understand. He did what he should." I flashed the woman a smile. "Go continue the checkup. I wish your mother good luck."

"Thank, thank you, Mrs. Haywood," she stammered. Then, she led her mother away.

Waiting, I thought for a moment and then let my assistant, Mike Hacker, find out the ward, where the woman's mom was, and kept an eye on Reid.