Chapter 4
Grace got even angrier when she saw that Andrew didn't show any concern for me at all.
"Do you even realize Natalie collapsed on the street all by herself? An ambulance showed up. If you can't treat her as your wife, then maybe you should get a divorce," Grace snapped.
Andrew went silent again.
After a long pause, he finally managed to squeeze out a few words through gritted teeth.
"If that's what Natalie wants, then let her tell me herself," he said.
Before the call ended, a sweet, feminine voice came through from Andrew's side.
She said, "Andrew, come help me pick out what to wear when I go with you."
That day, after Andrew hung up on her, Grace spent the whole afternoon cursing him out in the hospital room.
She said Emily had been married before and even had a kid.
So she didn't know what Andrew even liked about Emily.
Honestly, I thought I knew why.
Back then, Andrew bent the rules to hire Emily, even though she only had a high school diploma, for his secretary team.
I asked him at that time, "Why is she so special to you? Is she really worth all the rumors and drama?"
Andrew's eyes narrowed, with a cold glint flashing in them.
He said, "Even you think that?
"Natalie, everyone else can misunderstand me, but not you. I'm really disappointed in you today."
Andrew slammed his fork down on the table.
I didn't think my question was anything to get upset about.
But until he finally admitted he had feelings for Emily, Andrew never gave me a real explanation.
That was when I realized it.
Maybe his anger that day wasn't actually about me.
Maybe even he didn't know why he kept Emily by his side, despite her being so clueless.
Maybe he couldn't help himself.
Or maybe it was because of love at first sight.
During my whole stay in the hospital, Andrew didn't even bother to check in on me.
When Grace came to pick me up, she was indignant on my behalf again.
She winked at me with a mischievous grin. "Natalie, tonight I'm taking you somewhere that'll blow your mind."
I knew exactly what she meant.
Grace met the guy she was seeing now at that place.
But I only time-traveled from ancient times when I was eighteen.
Those conservative ideas really messed with my head after all those years.
I could deal with a guy cheating on me. If he did, I'd stop loving him, simple as that.
But I wasn't ready to go along with her suggestion myself.
After things went south between Andrew and me, Grace jumped at the chance to confront him.
She said, "How come guys can cheat and get away with it, but women can't?
"I'm going to find Natalie a guy who's way better than you."
Andrew brushed it off.
With his hands shoved in his pockets, he looked bored as his gaze finally settled on me.
"Go ahead. Try it. Let's see if Natalie actually agrees," he said.
Andrew knew exactly what kind of person I was.
He could tell Grace was the one calling all the shots from start to finish.
Just thinking about the mocking look on Andrew's face back then still made me cringe.
But he was the one who betrayed our marriage. I didn't do anything wrong.
So why was I the one left feeling humiliated?
"What? Natalie, are you really sure about this?" Grace blurted out.
When I nodded, Grace acted like she was terrified I'd back out at the last second.
She rushed to call in the makeup artist and stylist, and they worked their magic on me in no time.
She picked out a red, off-the-shoulder dress with a thigh-high slit for me.
I'd never gone for that kind of look before.
As soon as I stepped into the dimly lit club, someone was staring right at me.
I turned my head and saw Frank, Andrew's notorious party animal friend.
His mouth was wide open, and his nose was bleeding so much that it was about to drip into his mouth.
Once he snapped out of it, he scrambled for his phone and frantically started calling Andrew.
Frank said, "Andrew, your wife's out here hunting for guys while you're not around."