IT’S MY PRIVATE TIME, CALL 911- My Husband Blunted My 99 SOS Calls as an On-the-Job Injury Chapter 08

IT’S MY PRIVATE TIME, CALL 911- My Husband Blunted My 99 SOS Calls as an On-the-Job Injury Chapter 08

Jared stood a short distance away, his eyes bloodshot and his whole body trembling.

He glanced at the orchid on the table, then at Arthur sitting across from me. His lips moved, but he could not find the right words. At last, his gaze locked onto me.

“You’re alive. Thank God.”

I let out a cold huff. “Disappointed I’m still breathing?”

He shook his head frantically, his eyes bloodshot and raw. “Of course not. I thought you were gone. I’ve been in agony ever since you disappeared.”

I looked at him, feigning confusion. “Agony? Why? You never cared for me.”

“That’s not true,” he said, his voice hoarse. “You have always been in my heart. When you left, it felt like a huge part of me was gone.”

I let out a mocking laugh. “Mr. Howard, are you out of your mind? When I lived under the same roof as you, you never spared me a glance. Now that I’m gone, you suddenly claim you have feelings for me?”

A dark flush of shame crept up his neck, but he pressed on. “Please, give me a chance to explain.”

I studied him quietly. He was still handsome, the same face that had once stolen my heart, yet now gaunt and worn.

Slowly, he began to speak. “My younger sister took her own life because of heartbreak years ago. It has been my greatest regret ever since.”

“When Cecilia came along, I just wanted to make up for my sister. I projected all my guilt onto her. It was never love, Rachel. Just penance. I swear.”

I shook my head. “You gave every single moment of your time to her. I still remember the text you sent me when I suffered my first severe hemorrhage.”

His face drained of all color.

“Do you know?” I spoke calmly, as if talking about a stranger. “When you were in a bad car accident once, I would have traded my own life to take your pain away. For six years, I answered to ‘Miss Wright’ at work, and I accepted it willingly.”

“But then you gave the director position to Cecilia. Everything you did after that pushed me to end my pregnancy, even though I had struggled so hard to conceive this child again.”

Tears streamed down his cheeks. “Rachel, please give me a chance. Let me make it up to you.”

I shook my head gently. “Since you cared so deeply for Cecilia, stay with her. You can spend the rest of your life making amends to her instead.”

He squeezed his eyes shut in torment. “No. I do not love her. I will never be with her. Rachel, you are the one I love.”

Arthur stood up and stepped in front of me. “Sir, you took her for granted when she loved you. Now that she’s moved on, you have no right to bother her.”

Jared’s sobs echoed behind us. I didn’t even look back.

After that, rumors about Jared trickled in.

He handed numerous projects over to Cecilia, but every single one collapsed in disaster.

His company fell into severe financial trouble. Investors pulled out, suppliers staged protests, and in the end, the business went bankrupt completely.

Word had it he drank himself into a stupor, ending up in the hospital with severe stomach bleeding.

I accepted Arthur’s confession. One year later, we got married. It was a small wedding, attended only by his closest friends.

During a prenatal checkup, I spotted Jared in the hospital corridor. His eyes lit up the second he saw me.

“Rachel, you finally came to see me. Does this mean you’ve forgiven me?”

I rested a hand on my slightly swollen belly and shook my head. “No. My husband and I are here for my prenatal exam.”

All the hope faded from his face, his expression crumbling completely. “Of course. How could you ever forgive me?”

Heavy rain poured down outside that day. I linked arms with Arthur and walked out of the hospital. The rain-washed ground glistened under the light.

I heard afterward that Jared’s health continued to decline, and he stayed home to rest all the time. The once vibrant, ambitious man had lost all his spirit.

As for me? The storm had finally passed.