Chapter 2
"Oh, you little homewrecker! Flirting with my husband right in front of me, huh?" the woman shrieked, her face twisted with fury.
She looked ready to tear me apart.
I was not some pushover, either; I wasn't going to let her keep pushing me around.
Just as I was about to throw down and go all out, James blocked my way.
He forcefully pulled us apart, yanking me behind him.
In the process, I ended up bumping into a passerby and falling on the ground again.
Meanwhile, James pulled his wife into his arms, holding her tight.
James said, his tone gentle, "Why bother with her? Don't lower yourself.
"Sophie, are you really that insecure? I already chose you as my wife. Why would I ever be interested in some ordinary, tacky woman?"
His lips hovered so close to her reddened ear that it was almost intimate.
Her cheeks flushed pink, and she looked adorably shy.
Then she glanced at me again, still looking a little confused.
"That's my ex-wife, Summer Reed," James said, sounding totally indifferent.
As soon as he said it, Sophie finally let her guard down.
She smirked, looking way more relaxed. "Oh, so she's the dumb ex-wife your mother always talks about?"
Memories came flooding back, crashing over me like a tidal wave.
I could hear James' mother, Olivia Easton's voice, ringing out in my ears. "You useless thing! Can't even handle the simplest chores. Every day, you just embarrass my son. What a disaster for my son, marrying such a headache of a wife!"
Her scornful, mocking gaze cut right through every defense I'd ever built around my heart.
It felt like she was right there in front of me again.
Back then, I thought the only thing standing between me and James was our totally different family backgrounds.
But after I married into the Easton family, I finally got it.
It was all the stuff you couldn't see or touch—the way they saw the world, their education, and all those connections.
That was what really put me in my place.
Fluent in foreign tongues, they could blend in seamlessly, laughing and conversing with everyone around them.
But when James had me tagging along, I just stood there, painfully out of place.
Even saying hello to his friends felt humiliating.
My clumsy accent had everyone snickering behind their hands.
I was nothing but a joke to them.
And naturally, that made James look ridiculous, too.
When I came up with some excuse and ducked into the restroom to escape, the laughter and snide remarks kept echoing behind me, lingering in my ears.
"James, your wife's really not much to brag about. With your status, you can't just pick someone for her looks, right?" one of his friends joked.
I slowed my steps, desperate to hear how James would answer.
But just as he started to speak, I lost my nerve and ran off like a coward, my heart pounding, totally humiliated.
I couldn't bear to hear him say he wished he'd never married me.
No matter how hard I worked, Olivia still put me through eighteen-hour days of lessons.
All just to try and learn the stuff they'd already picked up decades ago, like it was nothing.
Back at present, it was freezing cold, the kind of winter that cut right through you.
But cold sweat was pouring down my forehead.
James let go of his wife and rushed over to me, panic written all over his face.
Memories of his past self bled into the present moment.
I didn't want to disappoint him. I didn't want to make him look bad, and I just couldn't bear to be around him anymore.
So, I whipped around and bolted straight for the subway entrance, my heart pounding in my chest.