Chapter 3

Rosalyn's words left the room steeped in awkward silence.

Her husband had cooked an entire meal, yet not one dish was safe for her to eat.

Her so-called best friend didn't even remember her seafood allergy.

If either of them had cared about her even a little, they wouldn't have forgotten.

Saul's voice was low as he spoke. "I'm sorry. I didn't know you were allergic to seafood."

Rosalyn gave a faint, bitter smile. "It's fine."

She had already decided to leave. Whether he remembered didn't matter anymore.

With little on the table she could eat, Rosalyn went to the kitchen and cooked herself some noodles.

During the meal, Saul peeled shrimp for Norene, dipping them in sauce, unwilling to let her do it herself.

Rosalyn recalled their first year together, when they went out with friends.

She had playfully asked Saul to peel shrimp for her, but he had replied coldly, "If you don't want to peel them, don't eat."

Shrimp was the only seafood Rosalyn wasn't allergic to.

After that, she never ate it again.

As a child, her father used to peel them for her. As an adult, with no one willing to do it, she simply stopped.

Now she understood. It wasn't that Saul couldn't peel shrimp. He just didn't want to do it for her.

After dinner, Rosalyn started to head upstairs, but Norene stopped her, insisting on making coffee for everyone.

As Norene carried a pot of boiling water, she stumbled, and the scalding liquid splashed toward Rosalyn.

Saul was right beside them.

In that critical moment, he pulled Norene into his arms, his eyes filled with unmistakable concern. "Norene, are you burned?"

Norene's eyes teared up as she pointed to her slightly reddened arm. "My fingers got splashed."

Panic crossed Saul's face. He scooped Norene up and rushed her to the hospital.

Meanwhile, Rosalyn sat on the floor, her arm and thigh blistered and raw from the boiling water.

She was his wife. She was the one who needed a hospital. But Saul didn't care.

Later, Rosalyn bandaged her wounds alone at home.

She told herself to remember this pain. Only pain this sharp would teach her a lesson.

At one in the morning, Saul returned with Norene. She came to Rosalyn's room alone.

"Rosalyn, I came to check on you," Norene said.

Without waiting for permission, she pushed the door open. "Rosalyn, I'm so sorry about tonight. Are your wounds okay? Let me see."

Rosalyn was already in pain and in a foul mood. Now, interrupted while trying to sleep, she snapped, "Norene, it's just us here. Stop pretending. Aren't you tired? Best friends, huh? I never thought the one to stab me in the back would be you."

When Norene's family faced bankruptcy years ago, Rosalyn had begged her father to help them survive.

She never imagined she had saved an ungrateful snake.

Seeing Rosalyn knew the truth, Norene dropped her act, her voice smug. "Rosalyn, we're not the same. You just have a rich dad. I don't rely on any man. They're just stepping stones for me. As for Saul, he's the one chasing me. If you can't keep your husband, that's on you. Don't pin it all on me."

Rosalyn found Norene's shamelessness astounding, dressing up her betrayal as something noble.

Before Rosalyn could respond, Norene leaned closer, taunting. "I also know you call Saul every night at ten. Want to know why he never picked up this past month? He was in my bed."

Her nails grazed Rosalyn's jaw as she smirked. "I heard you destroyed the robot I gave him? Thanks for that. If you hadn't, he wouldn't have come running to me abroad. My divorce wouldn't have happened so fast."

Rosalyn's eyes widened in shock.

That robot was a gift from Norene? They were beyond disgusting.

Seeing Rosalyn's furious expression, Norene laughed gleefully. "No need for that robot now. I'm back. You've had the title of Mrs. Wright for three years. Time to step aside."

Rosalyn's gaze turned icy. She slapped Norene hard, her voice sharp. "Norene, did you ever learn decency?"

Norene was stunned. "You dare hit me?"

"Hit you? I don't need to pick a special day for it. For a homewrecker like you, a slap is letting you off easy."

Before Rosalyn could say more, Saul walked in, his face darkening. "Norene was never the other woman. If anyone's the other woman here, it's you."