Chapter 123:
He stopped at the door and turned his face toward me, his voice cold.
“I am your husband. I have the right to keep you from seeing other men!”
And with that, he left, slamming the door behind him.
“Herbert, you bastard!” I screamed, the door still echoing his departure.
After he left, the room fell into a deep, oppressive silence. I felt utterly wronged. He could be with her, spending time with her until late at night. He could leave for a week to be with her, doing whatever he wanted. And yet, he treated me like this.
Unable to hold back, I began crying quietly. Miranda, ever comforted me.
“Mrs. Wharton, don’t cry. It’s not good for the baby! How did you provoke Mr. Wharton? Why did he lose his temper? Go and apologize to him. From now on, don’t associate with those men…”
Miranda’s nagging in my ear only made me more upset. I got up and ran upstairs, my emotions on the brink of collapse. I was afraid that my stress would affect the baby, so I spent the rest of the day in bed trying to calm myself. But life had to go on.
Betty had successfully transferred her major, and her ambition was clear. She wanted to take the CPA exam in the future. I was planning to buy her a few books on the basics of accounting. After gathering the energy, I finally got up, got dressed, and grabbed my bag. I was about to leave. In fact, I was deliberately defying Herbert’s authority. Didn’t he forbid me to go out? I was determined to leave anyway.
Miranda quickly rushed over and stopped me.
“Mrs. Wharton, you can’t go out. Mr. Wharton gave a clear instruction.”
“He has no right to restrict my personal freedom.”
I ignored her and kept putting on my shoes. Miranda moved to the door and spread her arms to block me.
“Mrs. Wharton, please don’t go out.”
“If he finds out, he’ll come looking for me.”
I pushed open the door and walked out without looking back. I could hear Miranda shouting from behind, “Mrs. Wharton, you have to come back soon. You must come back early!”
I didn’t respond.
After leaving Herbert’s house, I went to the bookstore to buy a book for Betty and sent it back to my mother’s house. After having lunch with my mother, I spent the afternoon at the ground floor of the Wharton Group, having afternoon tea with Joey. I knew I was deliberately trying to infuriate Herbert, but I couldn’t help it. Maybe I could push him to his breaking point. I knew it would bring trouble, but I did it anyway. I was waiting for him to confront me.
I didn’t return home until evening.
I saw Herbert’s leather shoes by the door. He was back.
“Mrs. Wharton, Mr. Wharton is in the living room. He is very unhappy after finding out that you went out. You should go over and say a few gentle words to him.”
I knew Miranda meant well, but I wasn’t in the mood to appease him. I lifted my foot and walked into the living room. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a figure smoking in front of the French windows. I didn’t stop and went straight upstairs.“Stop!”
As soon as I reached the stairs, a stern voice came from behind me. My hand gripped the railing, but I didn’t look back.
“I instructed you not to go out, but you stayed outside for a whole day before coming back! You did it on purpose!”
