Hospital.
Emma lay on the hospital bed, staring at the chat box with Daniel, her mind absent-minded.
[Honey, my stomach hurts.]
This was the message she sent to Daniel Williams at 10 o'clock last night, and then, because she vomited until she fainted, she was taken to the hospital, and finally received his reply.
[Don't pretend to be sick, I'm busy with social affairs tonight, I won't be home.]
Looking at the message on the screen, Emma's heart suddenly ached.
Daniel seemed to have gotten used to ignoring her messages. Yesterday, she knew he was busy with social affairs, but her stomach hurt so much, she couldn't bear it, so she sent that message.
Married for three years, every time he came home late from social affairs, he would sleep at the company.
But she was so sick, how could he still be so indifferent and heartless?
Emma's eyes were covered with a layer of mist; she didn't dare to think anymore.
Just as she was about to lock the screen, she suddenly saw a red notification icon on the profile picture of Daniel's younger sister, Elenore, in her friend circle. She hesitated for half a second before clicking to view, and a photo appeared before her eyes.
In the photo, the man sitting on the sofa looked at the woman beside him with gentle, affectionate eyes. The two leaned against each other intimately, and anyone who saw it could tell that they were a couple who were deeply in love.
Her heart suddenly trembled.
Was this his so-called communication?
What was even more heartbreaking was Elenore's caption that accompanied the photo.
[I'm about to cry, I didn't expect Veronika to die. Seeing my brother smile so brightly, it's so sweet.]
The time it was posted was eight hours ago, right when she was vomiting continuously and texting him.
The woman in the photo with that bright smile, she knew. It was Veronika, Daniel's first love. After four years of being in love, after Veronika went abroad, there was news that she had passed away due to illness.
From then on, her name became the inviolable inverse of Daniel.
So she was still alive.
Emma felt a lump in her throat. So he had been with her all night?
Below the post in Elenore's group of friends, there were quite a few comments from mutual friends; it seemed like no one cared whether she saw this post or not.
[Veronika is still alive. Oh my god, that's great, the two of them sitting next to each other are truly a match made in heaven.]
[They were the most admired couple in college, and they finally reunited. Your brother even used the blue cat he and Veronika raised as his profile picture when they were in love.]
[Didn't you guys notice? Actually, her eyes and Veronika's are very similar.]
Her? Are they talking about her?
Emma's face paled. She panicked, anxiously dialing the phone number she had memorized.
Finally, the call was connected.
"What?" A low voice with a hint of annoyance rang out.
"Where are you?" Emma asked with a choked voice.
"At the company. Emma, it's 6 am now. Yesterday I socialized until 3 am before going to bed. Can you be quiet for a bit?"
Emma still had a glimmer of hope, "Socialized with who? Do I know them?"
The other end of the line was silent for a while before replying: "You don't know them, they are all men."
His voice grew more and more annoyed: "Emma, are you interrogating me?"
These words were the death sentence for her last ray of hope.
Despair, failure, pain — all these emotions filled her chest, making her unable to breathe.
"Enough."
Tears silently rolled down her cheeks.
Emma's voice trembled, finally blurting out the question she had always wanted to ask but never dared:
"So I'm just her replacement?"
Daniel was stunned, but quickly regained his annoyed expression:
"What nonsense are you talking about again? You're jealous every day, aren't you tired?"
Emma gently closed her eyes, her voice filled with determination:
"Daniel, we're over. Let's get a divorce."
After saying that, she hung up.
Daniel looked at the disconnected phone, not daring to believe his eyes. He rubbed his eyes, trying to confirm whether the name displayed on the screen was indeed Emma.
What did she just say? Divorce?
How could she ask for a divorce? Who knew Emma loved him to death?
Moreover, her family was already bankrupt; how could she bear to leave him?
Daniel naturally thought he had misheard. After all, he had only slept for a few hours after staying up until 3 am, and there was an important meeting at 10 am tomorrow. He didn't think much of it, locked the screen, closed his eyes, and continued sleeping.
Actually, Emma's "divorce" wasn't a spur-of-the-moment thing. That thought had been lingering in her mind for a long time.
When he was alive, her father had once said:
"Emma, I can give you money, but what I want most is for you to be able to marry a man who loves you as much as I love you."
But Dad, is it that hard to find someone who loves me like you love me?
During the days when Daniel was drowning in the pain of losing Veronika, Emma was the one who took the initiative to step in, trying to warm him up and lift him. She thought a loyal man would be better than a heartless, indifferent one.
But when she actually married Daniel, she realized that his loyalty was only to one person.
Three years together, no matter how hard Emma tried, his heart still couldn't warm up. Suddenly, she felt like she didn't want to continue anymore.
Now, the person he missed day and night, the first love in his heart, had returned.
---
A month after Emma's divorce, she felt like she had been reborn. She focused on her work and didn't want to think about love anymore.
One day, Mrs. Carter - her mother - proposed to her daughter again. "I've arranged a meeting for you with a decent, worthy man. Forget that bad guy and go on a blind date to prove that there are many better people out there."
Emma used to hate matchmaking. She had refused her mother's offer many times, but this time, in anger and despair, she blurted out: "Yes, Mom. I'll go. When and where?"
"La Vienne teahouse. 3 p.m. Sunday."
Emma agreed to go on a blind date, not to find love, but to prove to herself that her heart still beat for something other than pain.