The burning sensation enveloped my whole body, and as I tried to draw a breath of air, I instantly felt even more tearing pain. I couldn’t catch my breath. It was as if the air was replaced by water.

I woke up, startled. Cold sweat dripped down to my neck. I just had a nightmare about drowning in that pool again.

It was such a relief to know that it was merely a nightmare, and I couldn’t help but take in as much air as I could until I calmed down.

I reached for my phone to check the time. It was nearly midnight. I was about to return the phone back to the table until a notification caught my attention.

Amanda had sent another picture, a jacket that I couldn’t be more familiar with. It was Charles’. That jacket was a gift for Amanda herself, and after he received that gift, he never wore the jacket that I had given him again.

[Alicia, please tell Charles that he left his jacket at my home. He will have none to wear later and the temperature is getting colder now.]

She could have contacted Charles directly. Why bother telling her? Of course, there was a hidden message.

The message was delivered less than thirty minutes ago, and Charles must have spent an entire afternoon until near midnight at her place.

[You can tell him yourself tomorrow]

I sent the message to her. The reply came less than a minute later.

[Of course, I will also tell Charles tomorrow. His phone was out of battery earlier. I am just telling you in case I forget later]

She was showing off how long the time they had spent together until he didn’t realize his phone was out of battery, right?

I felt slightly bitter, and the mood to continue this meaningless conversation was gone. In a case her goal had been achieved.

However, it seemed that Amanda wasn’t satisfied with just that.

[I am sorry, Alicia. Charles should have stayed at the hospital to take care of you, but he was helping me to cope with my trauma…]

I closed my eyes, tossing the phone to the table, and no longer bothered to read her other messages. Still, that night, sleep completely evaded me.

Tiredness had taken over my whole body, but I still forced myself to pack the remaining dirty clothes into the bag. Today, I am going to be discharged and Charles had specially taken permission from his boss to come late to the office.

The frown was still present on his face as soon as he laid his eyes on me. I glanced at him and continued to scroll through my phone.

“What’s the matter?” He asked out of the blue, then he stopped himself. As if he was restraining something, he kept silent during the entire process.

As soon as we got in the car, he opened his mouth again. “What’s wrong with you?”

I threw him a confused look, completely unable to understand his question. He sighed, and that was when I noticed he was getting more impatient with me lately.

“Are you mad at Amanda?” He started the car engine, pulling out of the hospital parking lot as he asked.

Ah, the little princess tattled again.

“Mad, why?” I continued to look at the moving trees outside the window.

“You didn’t answer her message, and she was worried she had offended you somehow.”

Amanda had become his priority the moment she came jumping into the middle of our marriage life.

“I forgot.” I said the first thing that came to my mind. When I saw that his frown was getting deeper, I knew that this reason wasn’t enough to convince him. “It was midnight when she texted me. I fell asleep and when the morning came, her messages were buried by other notifications.”

Charles seemed to find my explanation convincing enough; his frown was eased a bit, but he still told me, “Don’t forget to reply to her or she would get more anxious.”

I just nodded at that and I didn’t know what came over me that I blurted out my next words just like that, “You forgot your jacket at her place.”

His expression visibly froze at my words, and his shoulders seemed tense. He had told me that his boss wanted him to do overtime. Hence, the reason he couldn’t accompany me.

Now, he knew that I knew he spent his time at Amanda’s place instead.

“I am sorry.” He instantly apologized. “When I was about to leave, she wasn’t feeling well, so I had to accompany her. I didn’t mean to lie to you.”

I kept my silence for the entire ride home and I guess that Charles took it as me being angry at him.

We didn’t speak, and for the first time, an awkward silence hung between us. There had been some instances when we just enjoyed each other’s company without anyone uttering a single word. This time, it was different.

“You were so sensible and kind before. I don’t know where the past Alicia had gone.” He heaved a sigh and his disappointed eyes met mine.

“I can assure you that she is just a little sister to me. Think about it, Alicia.” Charles threw a bag to the floor and left.

I stood rooted to the ground and my belief started to shake a bit because of his words. Was it him or me who had changed between us? How was I before everything had changed?

Things that have been happening since yesterday flooded my mind. Charles had been the one who jumped into the pool to save me. I was declared alright since he managed to bring me out of the water in time.

He had been the one who insisted on bringing me to the hospital. Although he couldn’t accompany me, he made me stay a bit longer there even though the attending doctor said that I was fine.

Charles reasoned that in case unknown complications arise, medical help was close to help me.

His words repeated repeatedly in my head, and I began to doubt myself.

I let out a sigh and decided that I need enough rest to think rationally.

It was a few hours later that I woke up feeling more refreshed. I thought about it and decided that I needed to be more positive and believe Charles once more.

After all, he had been my husband for more than five years and some misunderstanding will be solved if we could work on it later together. With a renewed perspective, I walked toward the kitchen.

I thought about it and decided to let him know that I was no longer angry. When I thought about it, he also must have been exhausted from all the ruckus yesterday, and on top of that, he still had to wake up early to prepare for my discharging process.

Charles wasn’t a picky eater, and he always ate whatever food I prepared for him, but there he still got a preference for spicy food. With a slight smile on my face, I began to busy myself with cooking a few dishes according to his preference.

It took me an entire afternoon to make all the dishes. As I set the table, I felt a bit satisfied, knowing that it was also a show of sincerity for him.

After everything was ready, I took a photo of it and sent it to him. Charles might still be busy working in the office, but I know that the message was successfully delivered.

[I will return home soon, wait for me.]

He answered fifteen minutes later, and after seeing his message, I patiently waited until I heard a car engine from outside the house.

I got up and walked over to the door. However, before I could open it, the door was pushed open from outside.

The figure walked in and I almost couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

Amanda bounced inside excitedly, and when she noticed me who was standing near the door, she joyously marched toward me.

“Thank you for inviting me for dinner, Alicia.” She took my hands and grasped them with a sincere attitude.

I took a deep breath inwardly and forced a smile, hoping that it didn’t look like I was grimacing. Or else anyone would have misunderstood that I didn’t like her presence here.

After all, it had happened before.

I quickly erased the negative thoughts from my mind and focused on the present event.

It didn’t take long for Charles to catch up and join us, and I led them toward the dinner table. I didn’t want any of them to notice what I was currently feeling, so I walked ahead, making them walk beside each other.

Somehow it made me feel more numb, though this tingling uncomfortable feeling governed my senses more.

I had remembered that I told Charles I wanted the dinner just for the two of us, but now he even brought Amanda along.

“Take a seat, Amanda.” I pulled the chair for her and Charles quickly took a seat beside Amanda.

I expressionlessly watched it all happening and then I took a seat across from them, right in front of Amanda, who just smiled at me.

“Thank you, Alicia. Your cooking looks delicious.” She said enthusiastically, and then turned to Charles, who was sitting beside her, making him quickly adjust his slightly stunned expression.

“Don’t you agree, Charles?”

He just nodded and not long after, we began to dig into our food.

“It’s a bit spicy…” Silence was broken when Amanda suddenly spoke. There was a grimace on her face and her countenance turned red, as if she was uncomfortable and pained.

She acted as if I poisoned the food.

“Here, drink this.” Charles handed her a glass of orange juice and she quickly gulped the whole content down.

“Thank you…” Amanda said after she recovered a bit, but her eyes looked wet as she said her next words in a soft tone. “Sorry, Alicia.”

Before I could respond, it was Charles who spoke first. “I forgot that you can’t eat spicy food.”

His eyes scrutinized the dishes on the table, probably looking for anything that wasn’t spicy, but of course, because I make them according to his preferences, there was none.

“You don’t need to be sorry.” Charles had a slight frown on his face.

To be honest, I knew that too many spicy dishes also weren’t good for the stomach, and thus the dishes I made weren’t that spicy, but I didn’t expect that she couldn’t swallow any spicy food at all.

I convinced myself that it wasn’t my fault. I didn’t invite her in the first place. Charles did.

“Ah,” Amanda let out a sigh as she stared at the dishes in front of her longing, and she sent me an apologetic look as Charles watched.

“Do you feel hungry? We can order a takeaway.” Charles suggested, and I instantly turned my head toward him, then lowered my eyes.

“But… Alicia has prepared all of this for us. We can’t waste her effort.” Amanda tried to convince Charles as she took another spoonful of the dish on the plate, but she ended up getting the same reaction as last time.

Her eyes slightly reddened, and she coughed.

“That’s enough. Don’t force yourself.” Charles scolded, but his tone was soft and it was clear that he wasn’t really angry. He rubbed her back.

“As Charles said, don’t force yourself.” I finally opened my mouth, smiling at her reassuringly. She seemed a bit at a loss at my reaction before she lowered her eyes, as if feeling guilty.

“Do you want to eat my cooking that much?” I asked her.

She peeked at me quietly before she tentatively nodded at my question. Her voice was soft, “Charles said that you are good at cooking, so I want to try it…”

Such behavior made it hard for one to suspect that she held any malice for people at all. She looked more like a girl who yearned for a simple thing that she could not gain, making one feel pity for her.

None would doubt her motive at all.

“I will cook something that isn’t spicy for you. Wait here.” I said kindly and then put the spoon down. Without waiting for any of them to respond, I swiftly headed toward the kitchen.

Luckily, there were still some ingredients left, and I quickly cooked something that was easy to make and passable in terms of taste.

I hadn’t eaten anything since this morning and I was quite eager to go back there and resume my dinner, so I picked anything that was quick to make.

After I finished, I returned to the dining room with the plate in my hand, still warm with the aroma wafted through the air.

However, the sight that greeted me was beyond my expectation. There they were, enjoying the dinner together as Amanda tried to feed a spoonful of roasted chicken to Charles, who accepted it just like that.

Amanda’s plate was already empty; it was unknown who had eaten that much food that had been piled on it. Charles also had finished his dinner, judging from his clean plate.

As soon as I appeared, they stopped what they were doing and looked at me.

I suddenly felt like I had interrupted a couple’s romantic dinner.

“Alicia…” Amanda whispered my name, and then she said shyly, “Thank you for cooking for me. It’s very kind of you.”

She glanced at Charles before she shifted her attention to me again. “I am sorry, but now I feel full. The one I tried earlier was the spiciest food, and um… Charles had picked some less spicy dishes for me.”

I stopped at the table as I put down the plate near her. She glanced at it and took a deep breath, then showering me with compliments. “It smells delicious. You are indeed good at cooking.”

Amanda looked apologetic as she said, “I would like to try it, but I have something urgent at the moment and I have to return home quickly. Sorry, Alicia. Thank you for the delicious dinner.”

I didn’t react much, but as sanity returned to my mind. I just waved it off and reassured her, “You can try another time. Be careful on the way home.”

Amanda nodded, and she stood up. At the same time, Charles also stood up.

“I am going to escort her back home. You don’t need to send us off. You should finish your dinner.” Charles said to her.

I almost couldn’t process entirely what he was saying. It was until they exited the door and silence reigned the entire room that his words sank in.

The food on the plate suddenly felt bitter, or was it my heart that was feeling it instead of my tongue?