"It's a friend of mine," Emily said. "She lost her passport and asked me how to get it replaced."
Samuel hurried over to Emily and hugged her tightly. "You scared me. I thought you were going abroad without me."
Emily turned away and started retching again. She caught a mildly sweet yet salty stench coming off him, mixed with the smell of a woman's perfume.
Patting her back tenderly, Samuel asked, "What did they feed you? I told them you've been having an upset stomach, and that they needed to be careful with what they prepared for you. Just you wait. I'll fire the lot of them!"
This time, Emily used all her strength to shove him away.
"If you want to fire someone, just do it! Stop using me as your excuse."
Her sudden outburst left Samuel feeling a little perplexed. "Are you mad at me, Emmy? Is it because I've been working and can't spend any time with you?
"How about this—I'll clear my schedule for tomorrow and spend the day with you, okay?"
Emily scoffed. "You'll spend the entire day with me?"
"That's right. I'll be by your side the whole day."
Taking a deep breath, Emily said, "I hope you can keep your word."
…
For some reason, it started raining heavily that night. Emily kept vomiting the moment she got back to the house.
Samuel tried to approach her, but she adamantly refused to let him. "Don't come near me. The smell on you makes me want to vomit even more."
He sniffed at his sleeve before saying, "Maybe you don't like the cologne I'm using. I'll switch to a different one."
"Samuel, you should know very well it's not because of the cologne!"
"Yes, yes, alright. I won't use any type of cologne anymore, okay?"
Emily washed her face with cold water before staring at her reflection in the mirror. Samuel was still waiting anxiously outside the bathroom.
She still couldn't figure it out. Even now, when he reeked of Jessica's perfume and the stench of their sexual escapades, he was still able to keep a straight face and act like he loved her. How did he manage that?
Emily couldn't understand why. Even though he seemed to care about her, he was still able to brazenly betray their relationship.
Was it just like what she overheard the senior executive saying earlier today? That it didn't matter if a guy fooled around with other women, so long as he kept it from his wife?
Well, he was wrong. She wasn't all that gullible and easily tricked. She wasn't the type to give up on her principles either.
Since Samuel's love for her wasn't whole-hearted, she didn't want even the tiniest bit of it.
…
The next morning, Samuel took Emily to the hospital. After a series of check-ups, the doctor said, "It seems to be stress-induced gastritis."
"What is that?" Samuel asked.
"Usually, it means the patient has gone through some kind of emotional upheaval that led to a physiological reaction as well. It has caused an imbalance in her digestive system, leading to her vomiting."
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