His Perfect Wife Strikes Back

114 Tell Him You Love Him

Frade is gone, but his scent is still in the room. My body began to cool down, and all desire disappeared with his departure. I couldn't stay in the room alone. I couldn't forget the intimacy I had with him.

So I rushed out of the room and knocked on Liv's door. When she opened the door to meet me, I finally couldn't help crying. Liv put her arm around me and sat me down on the couch. She kept handing me tissues to wipe my tears. After I had calmed down a little, she said to me.

"Eva, are you all right?" She said, wiping the tears from my eyes with a tissue. "Tell me what happened."

"I'm in pain." My voice was hoarse after I cried. "My heart is dead."

"Oh, silly," Liv whispered. "Who hurt you? Tell me."

"It was me, I killed myself." I hugged her.

"Calm down." Liv kissed my forehead, her hand caressing my back. "I'm right here with you."

I lay in her arms until the tears ran dry. I looked out of the window in silence. Liv let me lean on her, and she kept me company until I said something. Sometimes the best comfort between friends is companionship. I lay in her arms and felt the warmth of her body. I want time to stop here, and I do not want to think about everything about Frade.

"Liv, am I a stupid woman?" I asked her.

"No, you're the bravest woman I've ever met," Liv said gently. "Sometimes people make decisions that seem stupid, not because they want to, but because they have to."

"Frade said he loved me, but I refused him." At the mention of Frade, sadness began to attack me again.

"I knew exactly how I felt about him, but I had to push him away."

"Since you know very well how you feel about him, why did you reject him?" Liv said earnestly. "Your decision will not only cause you pain, but it will also hurt Frade."

"He loved Mia, my identical sister, even though she was dead," I said. "I was Mia's stand-in from the beginning."

"Oh, Eva," Liv says, "If Milhas is dead, why should we care? We can't live in the past. We have to move on."

"When I was with Jeff, I thought my life was going to be miserable forever, and it wasn't that I couldn't divorce him, it was that I lacked the courage to leave him.", Liv sounded sad, "Sometimes I wonder if Jeff would have hit me a second time if I had resisted the first time he hit me. But the truth is, I didn't fight back, and I didn't run away. When he hit me a second time, I thought he would just let off steam and stop. But my patience will only result in more violence against me. Sheep always forget how to resist after being tamed."

"Liv, I'm sorry." In the last life, my failure to help Liv leave Jeff led to her disappearance.

"When Jeff died, I tried to date different men," Liv says, "When I meet men I like, I have one-night stands with them. But I soon got tired of it. Because every man I've ever met has let me down. They're either after my money or they just want to have sex with me. When they get me, they will forget me quickly. A lot of guys try to seduce me, and when I find out they're married, not only do I turn them down, but sometimes I just kick them. I am sick of men who cheat on their wives. Men never think cheating is shameful. And when men cheat, they don't think it's their fault. Instead, they point the finger at women. What a selfish man."

I listened quietly, as if there was something magical about Liv's words that calmed my emotions.

"Just when I was feeling hopeless about men, Mark came into my life. When I first saw him, he was fighting with some strong men to save me." Liv's tone became cheerful, "I was strapped to the conveyor belt of a cutting machine, and the sound of the machine rang in my ears like a messenger from hell. Just when I thought I was going to be cut into pieces like wood, the machine stopped. I opened my eyes to see a man's wounded face. Without a word, he untied the ropes around me. My heart beat faster as he carried me away. I stared at him. I thought I'd never forget him. Mark, that's him. I'm sure I'm in love with him."

"If you meet someone you really love, you know right away it's him at first sight." Liv told me to sit up and face her, "What about you? When you first met Frade, did he strike a chord with you, or was his face etched into your mind?"

I was silent for a few seconds before admitting, "Yes."

I don't want to lie to Liv. I can face my heart with her.

"Then tell him," Liv encouraged me. "Tell him you love him, too."

"I can't," I said. "Daley will kill him if I call off the engagement."

"F.uck Daley," Liv said. "Why do you care how he feels? I mean, why be with someone you don't love? Why are you hesitating? This is not the brave girl I know."

"I'm a coward." I smiled wryly.

"Don't talk about yourself that way," Liv says. "If you miss the most important person in your life, you will live in endless regret and pain."

"I already know what it's like to be in pain." I didn't want to continue the conversation, so I offered to have a drink. So Liv pulls out a couple of cans of beer from the fridge in her room.

"This is all I have," Liv said. "This isn't my home, after all, or I would have gotten you drunk."

"That's enough." I opened the beer and the white foam immediately overflowed.

"For us and our loved ones." Liv holds up her beer.

"For us and our loved ones," I said.

The two bottles clashed and I finished the wine in one gulp. Liv nearly choked on her drink and coughed twice before continuing.

"Eva, I want you to be with someone you love," Liv says, blushing. "I want you to be happy."

"You too," I said and fell on the couch.

The next morning, I was woken up by the ringing of the telephone. When I pressed the answer button, a cold voice came from the other end of the line.

"I'm back. Where's my fiancee?"