"Jessie, happy birthday," Julian Grant said, his voice hoarse.
His words still hanging in the air, he cupped Jessie's waist with his large hand and lowered his head, moving in for a kiss.
Jessie, having just been woken by him, was still groggy. But as Julian leaned down, she abruptly turned her head away.
The kiss landed on the side of her neck instead.
Julian seemed displeased by her evasion. He sucked hard on the side of her neck, nipping at the soft flesh as he mumbled, "Upset?"
Jessie hummed in response, then pushed him off her.
"I don't want to," she said.
Julian's brow furrowed for a moment before understanding dawned on him. He sat up, opened the box on the nightstand, and handed it to Jessie.
"Sorry I'm so late. But I didn't forget your birthday present," Julian said, turning on the floor lamp.
In the lamplight, Jessie could see the gift in Julian's hands clearly.
It was a ring.
"Christie's in Hong Kong was auctioning off this pink diamond during my last business trip. You liked it, didn't you? Let's see if it fits." As he spoke, Julian had already taken Jessie's hand, ready to slide the pink diamond ring onto her finger.
Jessie watched him, her mind drifting.
The one thing her jewelry box wasn't short on was rings.
When they were younger, she had once casually mentioned that she liked collecting different kinds of rings. Ever since then, every gift Julian gave her was a ring.
Rings with all sorts of meanings.
But Julian didn't know that what her younger, more vulnerable self had truly hoped for was a diamond engagement ring.
The truth was, she didn't even like rings that much.
Today, Lynn Jennings had sent her a lot of gifts.
There was the purse in a color she'd complained about not finding on social media last month, the Lego set she'd recently become obsessed with, and even a newly signed book from her favorite artist's recent event in Meridia.
Seeing Jessie staring blankly, Julian couldn't help but ask, "Don't you like it?"
Jessie pulled her hand back and twisted the ring on her finger.
The band was actually a bit loose. Even though they'd had a housekeeper to cook for them all these years, she had never liked living abroad. She weighed much less than before she'd left her home country, so her fingers were naturally slenderer. The ring didn't quite fit.
'It's like people,' she thought. 'Sometimes, you walk along together for a while only to realize you were never a good fit to begin with.'
"Julian." Jessie suddenly looked up at the man beside her. She was about to say, 'We need to talk,' but at that exact moment, Julian's phone rang.
They were so close that as Julian reached for his phone, Jessie clearly saw the caller ID on the screen.
It was Arya Thorne again.
Julian subconsciously glanced at Jessie.
Jessie didn't say a word, but the look in her eyes was unmistakable.
She didn't want him to answer.
'Doesn't Arya Thorne know Julian is married? Doesn't she realize that when she calls a married man at this hour, his wife is going to know about it?'
'If he had any space left for me in his heart, if he had any respect for me at all, he wouldn't answer this call in front of me.'
The air in the room grew heavy and still. It was so quiet that Julian's ringing phone seemed to be the only sound left in the world.
The ringing finally stopped. Just as Jessie was about to exhale in relief, the phone started ringing again.
The same person.
This time, Julian avoided Jessie's gaze. He got straight out of bed. "I'm going to take this."
Julian walked out onto the bedroom balcony, phone in one hand, the other tucked into his pants pocket. Even in the dark, his silhouette was tall and imposing.
Jessie sat on the bed, watching Julian through the glass balcony door.
There was always a door between them.
A moment later, Julian came back from the balcony and snatched his jacket from the back of a chair.
The motion made Jessie's brow furrow. "You're going out?" she asked.
Julian paused. "Yeah," he nodded.
"Was that Arya Thorne?"
Jessie knew she was asking the obvious.
"She's not feeling well, so..." Julian trailed off.
Jessie glanced at the clock. 11:40 PM.
Jessie took a deep breath, her gaze hardening as she looked up at him. "Julian, do you even know what day today is?"
A wave of panic washed over Julian as he saw Jessie's serious expression.
He pressed his lips together, avoiding her question. "She's all alone in Washington..." he explained in a low voice.
"And what if I asked you to stay?" Jessie felt a profound weariness wash over her. It might have been Julian's evasiveness, or perhaps just the accumulated exhaustion of recent days.
"I'll explain when I get back," Julian said.
"You said you would spend the day with me," Jessie said, her voice steady, just as Julian reached the bedroom door.
Julian faltered. He had broken his promise.
"And you came home with only half an hour left in the day." Jessie looked up, her eyes meeting Julian's as he turned back to face her.
She gripped the sheet beneath her, her knuckles white, as if the physical strain could help her keep her composure and stop her emotions from shattering through.
"There are only ten minutes left of today," Jessie said softly. "You're leaving now?"
Julian was silent.
His phone, with impeccable timing, began to ring again.
Julian glanced at the screen. "I'm sorry."
He said it before he even answered the call.
And then he was gone.
Sitting on the bed, Jessie didn't register when her hands, once clenched tightly around the sheets, finally went limp. The mask she wore crumbled, and there was no longer any need to suppress the storm of emotions raging within her.
Tears streamed from her eyes, silently soaking the sheets.
'It's not just that I've been tired lately,' she thought. 'Ever since I married Julian and followed him abroad, there hasn't been a single day I haven't felt bone-tired.'
Even her years studying abroad in college hadn't prepared her to get used to this place.
But she had gritted her teeth and endured it all for Julian.
She had given up her comfortable life back home to be with him. She couldn't get used to the climate, the culture, or anything else about this place. She had only adapted to what *he* had adapted to.
But Julian never saw her struggle.
She thought back to two weeks ago, when she and Julian had gone out for dinner. She'd taken his phone to pay, but the line was long, so she had to wait.
A notification popped up on Julian's phone. Jessie normally respected his privacy and would never snoop through his phone.
But this notification wasn't hidden. The screen lit up, and Jessie saw it all in a single glance.
It wasn't from a friend, but from a random stranger online.
It was a notification from an account Julian used on a Q&A website.
[SilentNightEatsPineapple replied to your comment in the thread "To all my married brothers out there: what made you lose your mind and jump into the dumpster fire of marriage?"]
Jessie tapped the notification.
She knew the passcode.
Tapping it opened the app directly to the reply. And Julian's original comment was laid bare for her to see.
[GY: It was a suitable match for our families.]
[SilentNightEatsPineapple replied to @GY: So how's that working out for you, man? Suitable isn't the same as being in love. Can you really spend your whole life with someone you don't love?]
Jessie's gaze fixated on the stranger's reply—
Suitable isn't the same as being in love.
Not love.
They had known each other since they were children. They had been married for years. But to Julian, it was all just "a suitable match."
It wasn't even that *they* were a suitable match, but that their *families* were.
It wasn't as if she'd had no other options when she decided to get married. But she had chosen Julian herself—not because it was a suitable match, but because she was in love.
"Let's get a divorce."
Jessie sat on the bed, phone in hand, and typed out four words.
Her finger hovered over the send button. After a moment's hesitation, she pressed it.