CHAPTER 60: HE’S HERE... YOUR HUSBAND

Lyra lifted her hand and showed her the ring. "I’m married to someone else now."

Pearl grabbed Lyra’s hand and stared at the ring.

"No way. It’s a real wedding ring?" Pearl looked at Lyra, who nodded repeatedly.

"You’re full of surprises, my dear. How did you end up married to another man? Your grandmother forced you, didn’t she?"

Pearl pitied Lyra. Her grandmother was always acting like a dictator in the name of protection.

"Maybe, but... I was the one who agreed. Besides, he’s super handsome, ten times better than Lucas," Lyra said proudly, lifting her chin with a smug little grin.

Lyra began to share everything that happened after Lucas left, until she ended up marrying Rowan.

At first, Pearl cheered up when Lyra said she had met a better man after she ended things with Lucas.

But her expression changed instantly when Lyra told her she had been kidnapped and that James had died.

Pearl sat there holding her mug, frozen, as the story slowly sank in and she tried to process it.

"I think you need some kind of cleansing ritual," she said. "Bad luck keeps following you."

Lyra leaned back lazily against the sofa after she was full, both hands resting on her flat stomach.

She didn’t mind what Pearl had said about her.

"Lucas already moved to the US and never came back. And before he left, he revealed something shocking."

"What is it?" Pearl asked, sounding uninterested at the mention of Lucas. She lay on her stomach while clicking the TV remote, flipping through channels.

"You know what happened on masquerade night, right?" Lyra said. "Owen was the one who saved me and got hurt, not Lucas."

Pearl abruptly sat up. She stared at Lyra, and Lyra nodded.

"Wait, I’ll show you the proof." Lyra ran to get the envelope, showed it to Pearl, and spilled everything.

"How could you just let him walk away after he revealed his crime? If I were you, I would’ve choked him to death right then and there. How dare he waste your love!" Pearl said furiously.

From the moment Lyra started dating Lucas, all her friends sensed that something was wrong with their relationship. He wasn’t romantic at all and only cared about himself.

Pearl pulled Lyra into a hug, patting her back before letting go.

"Lyra, I hope your husband treats you well, not like Lucas," Pearl said with concern.

"Of course," Lyra replied, not feeling like talking about that. She quickly changed the subject.

"So, what about you? Still can’t forget Edris?"

At the mention of Edris’s name, Pearl’s face turned pink.

"Ooo, you’re still in love with him," Lyra teased.

"If you weren’t in love with Edris, Pearl, I would’ve taken him as my substitute groom that day."

A light slap landed on Lyra’s arm.

Pearl put on an angry act, though she knew Lyra would never betray her own friend.

"No, you won’t, Lyra. He’s my man." Pearl grabbed the remote and flipped the channel again.

"Guess what? He’s taken over his father’s private hospital now. You should apply to be a doctor there," Lyra suggested, trying to create an opportunity for Pearl.

"And then what? Confront him when he’s not even interested in me?" Pearl sighed, tired of loving someone who didn’t return her feelings.

Lyra got up and headed to the kitchen. From a distance, Pearl could hear her muttering,

"You haven’t even tried yet and you’re already giving up. If he marries someone else, that’s when you’ll really regret it."

Pearl pulled a pillow over her ear, refusing to listen. She wasn’t ready to face Edris yet. It hurt to see him show no interest in her.

...

Kane lay down on the sofa lazily, quietly observing his boss’s every move.

’Why is he spying on madam like some kind of pervert?’ he thought.

If it were him, he would’ve dragged his wife straight to the bed—made love more than ten rounds in a row to make up for the days they hadn’t seen each other.

Kane sighed and shifted his attention to his phone.

They had arrived in Northvale shortly after Lyra did. With no hotels near Pearl’s apartment, Rowan ended up buying a unit in a nearby block, positioned directly across from her place.

From inside the apartment, Rowan closed all the curtains and watched his wife through a pair of binoculars. Seeing Lyra with her friend eased him a little.

After everything he had done, he didn’t have the courage to face her yet.

For now, he kept his distance and followed her quietly from afar.

On the third night in Northvale, Lyra was alone while Pearl worked the night shift in the emergency ward. Martin’s name suddenly appeared on her phone screen.

"Martin, is there anything I can help with?" Lyra asked on the other line with a yawn. She had just been about to fall asleep.

Martin was leaning comfortably on the sofa in his hotel room.

"So, ma’am... you really did run away from home?" he asked as he took a sip of his drink and set the glass back on the table nearby.

"I told you I’m not running away. Just taking some time for myself. Why are you asking? Did something happen?" Lyra said groggily with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

Martin chuckled.

"Yeah... actually, your husband is here. That’s why I’m asking if you were trying to get away from him."

Martin heard Lyra gasp. "You’re not lying?"

"Why would I lie?"

Martin stood up from the sofa and stretched.

"I ran into him at a convenience store earlier. He was buying cigarettes and bought some instant noodles and ate there."

Martin lit his cigarette and took a puff.

"Can you imagine the way he looked? Pretty rough. I totally believe you two had a fight. You really left him restless," he laughed.

Martin couldn’t help it. He found the whole situation between the couple oddly funny. Especially the fact that the mighty Rowan Pierce had lost to his wife.

"Do you know where he’s staying?" Lyra asked, her voice laced with worry.

"I don’t know. He’s pretty skilled at disappearing after showing up for only a moment."