Your Love, Now a Memory

I agreed to be his girlfriend after Charles confessed to me twentynine times.

After three years of marriage, he spoiled me to the extreme.

I thought he loved me very much,

until I stumbled upon his chat records with other people.

——

I looked through Charles's chat records with a girl.

That girl asked him what he regretted the most.

He said, "It's marrying someone just to get by.

Saying I love her every day, it's really disgusting."

It turned out that his affections of years were just acting.

I have known him for five years and been married for three years.

At that time, I didn't like him and rejected him many times.

But every time I rejected him, he didn't give up and smiled at me.

"It's okay to reject this time. You'll like me sooner or later."

And then after a while, he would come and confess to me, asking if I liked him a little more.

When I said yes, it was his twentyninth confession to me.

I used to think he loved me very much, and I also thought he would love me forever.

Until I saw the chat records now, I realized that it was all a joke.

"Norah, I love you so much!"

He said the most beautiful words as usual, and if it were before, I would also say that I love you so much.

Today we went to my parents' house. He carried the gifts he bought for my parents and opened the car door for me with one hand, carefully protecting my head.

"Be careful. Don't hit your head."

As soon as we entered the house, my mother held my hand and looked at my face.

"Oh, sweetie, why did you look thinner than before?"

"No way. I even gained a few pounds."

I acted coquettishly towards my mother.

"Welcome back. Your mom has been waiting for you since noon. She even refused to hang out with her friends."

My father sat on the sofa, looking at the newspaper, his voice gentle.

"Mom, Dad, how about we move back and live together?

Norah also misses you very much and often nags me to come back."

He gently raised his hand and rubbed my hair with a doting expression on his face.

"No need. It's not convenient for you two to live with us."

After Charles and I got married, we originally lived with my parents.

We moved out because Charles's mother often hinted to my parents that it was inconvenient for us to live together after staying for a year.

Actually, I had been thinking about it recently.

Charles's mother had always been an overbearing person. And Charles always listened to his mother.

If he wanted to stay here, his mother wouldn't come to visit us too often.

I felt a bit tired because of the chat records between Charles and that girl, as well as recent business matters.

I declined Charles's invitation to have a meal together and planned to go to the balcony to get some fresh air.

I heard Charles's voice as soon as I arrived at the door, sounding relaxed.

"Finally, I don't have to have meals with Norah today. You have no idea how gross I fell when facing that face every day."

"Mr. Graham, then how about having meals with me? You don't like it either?"

"No way. She has nothing to compare with you!"

After saying that, he wiped off the rice from the corner of her mouth.

"You are my friend."

So it turned out he felt impatient when having meals with me.

"Norah, there are still some matters at the company today. I'll come back a bit late. You can eat first."

At eight o'clock in the evening, Charles called me.

"Norah, have you eaten dinner?"

"Yeah."

"Go to sleep first tonight. You don't have to wait for me. There's something going on at the company."

Just as I was about to agree, I heard a woman's voice from the other end.

"Charles."

It was the voice from the balcony that day.

He explained anxiously, "Norah, don't misunderstand. That's my assistant."

I made a sound of agreement and hung up the phone.

Maybe afraid that I would misunderstand, he came back in less than an hour and brought me my favorite cake.

He shared the little things with me every day, but later I found out that he would send them to Annie first and then forward them to me.

Including replying our messages, Annie was always before me.

When encountering an interesting video, he and I ended the topic early.

But he could chat with her for a long time.

Today was our wedding anniversary. He finished work early and booked a restaurant.

"Norah, happy anniversary."

He took a necklace from his bag and put it on me.

It was one that I particularly liked recently.

I smiled and said, "You too, happy anniversary."

After dinner, he took me to see a fireworks show.

Our names were shown with the fireworks display. There was also a big heart behind them.

The next day, I brought the necklace to the company.

I used to really like this necklace.

But I ran into Annie at the corner.

I walked up to her and glanced coldly at the necklace around her neck.

It was exactly the same as the one Charles gave me.

"Miss Cook, did you buy this necklace yourself?"

"A friend bought it for me."

She raised her hand and touched the necklace, looking proud.

"Oh, how come this necklace is exactly the same as yours?"

I just smiled and took off the necklace around my neck, throwing it into the trash can.

"This necklace is nearly 800 thousand dollars. It seems that Miss Cook has some money!"

She looked pale and forced a smile.

"It should be an imitation, right?"

I sneered and left.

After work, Charles said he would cook dinner tonight to celebrate my success in winning the big project.

I went to the supermarket with him, and he bought a lot of vegetables I loved to eat.

"Congratulations, Norah. The company has made another breakthrough."

After the toast, he paused and spoke again.

"Norah, I heard about the company's situation this morning. You used to like that necklace. Why did you throw it in the trash can?"

"Nothing, I just suddenly don't like it anymore."

"You need to change your temper."

He shook his head and thought I was a bit willful.

"Next time, if you don't like it, don't say misleading things.

Today, Annie cried. How will her colleagues at the company see her in the future?"

The smile on my face disappeared, and I looked at him steadily. It turned out that he was standing up for Annie.

"I didn't name the price, did I? Or is her friend that rich?

I just said the truth. Why do I have to care how others see her? What does it have to do with me?"

"Norah, can you stop being willful?"

He almost shouted, as if he had been tolerating me for a long time.

I lost my appetite, dropped my chopsticks, and went back to the bedroom.

After a while, Charles came over to apologize to me.

"Norah, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be mean to you."

"Hit me to vent your anger if you like."

As he said that, he grabbed my hand and hit himself on the face.

Watching his performance, I suddenly felt tired.

I just wanted to talk to him about his affair with Annie, but I was interrupted by a sudden phone call.

"I gotta answer the call."

In a few minutes, he rushed in, hurriedly grabbed a coat, and left.

He didn't have time to say a word to me during that time.

I stood by the window, watching Charles gradually disappear.

My heart felt like it was being tightly squeezed, unable to breathe.

It wasn't until midnight that he gently pushed open the bedroom door, and I sat up.

"Norah, sorry if I woke you up."

"Where did you go?"

"A friend got injured, and there was no one to take care of him, so I went to help."

I stared at him with a mocking and sarcastic expression.

"Friend? Is Miss cook there?

His body stiffened. "Norah, don't misunderstand. She's just my friend. I didn't tell you because I was afraid you would misunderstand."

I threw the pillow on the bed at him and said coldly, "Charles, don't you know that besides your own wife, you should keep distance from other girls?"

He didn't think he did anything wrong.

"Norah, can you stop making a fuss? I've already said we're just friends. Why do you always overreact?"

He rubbed his forehead and said, "You should think about it yourself. I can't always accommodate you."

After he finished speaking, he walked away quickly.

As soon as I buried my head in the quilt, the tears that I had been holding back finally flowed down uncontrollably.

We started giving each other a cold shoulder. We didn't say a word to each other at work or at home.

When I was on the balcony enjoying the breeze, he and Annie also came to the balcony.

He gave me a cold glance and was about to leave with Annie.

Annie didn't move. She held Charles's hand and walked towards me gently.

"Ms. Stuart, please don't fight with Mr. Graham because of me. You don't know how sad he has been recently.

If you mind, then from now on, I won't contact with Mr. Graham."

I smiled at her.

"Okay, then why don't you just resign?"

Her expression froze, her voice trembling with tears.

"If Ms. Stuart really minds, I will write a resignation report."

Then, with teary eyes, she looked at Charles.

"Mr. Graham, I will give you my resignation report this afternoon."

Then she ran out of the balcony crying.

After she left, Charles frowned and looked at me.

"Norah, do you know how difficult it is for others to find a good job? You made her resign without considering her future.

You weren't like this before."

I laughed when I saw his back running away.

"I used to be different. Then what was I like?"

Under the scorching sun at noon, I still felt froze.

Everyone around me said that Charles loved me deeply, but it was just a lie.

My husband, who spoiled me for five years, had his first argument with me because of his female friend.

I had my first cold war with him because of his female friend.

He hadn't cooked since we got married, but did that because of his female friend.

I was tired and thought about giving up.

As he was going back to the bedroom, I stopped him.

"Charles, I wanna have a talk with you."

"What else can we talk about?"

I sneered at his back.

After three years of marriage, he couldn't even pretend to love me anymore.

He looked impatient, walked into the bedroom without stopping, and closed the door.

I sat calmly on the sofa and sent him the chat records between him and Annie.

Sure enough, after a while, he opened the door with a pale face.

"Norah, I was just too angry."

His voice trembled, and his eyes were filled with guilt.

"Angry? You even told her on the balcony that you couldn't bear to have meals with me!

Charles, you didn't expect me to hear it all, did you?"

I took the ring off my finger and threw it in his face.

"Charles, you really make me sick!"

Actually, I should be grateful for Annie's appearance, which made me discover his true face earlier.

His voice was panicked.

"Norah, really, I just said it in anger!

If you're still angry about Annie, I'll dismiss her tomorrow, and I won't see her again in the future!"

He begged at the door for a long time, but this time I didn't soften.

Charles dismissed Annie, and even deleted her in front of me.

He started to be as attentive as when he first pursued me, sending flowers and meals every day and saying good morning and good night.

He said sweet words

to coax me about half a month.

Maybe this time he coaxed me for too long.

After work, he lost his temper.

He grabbed my hand when I entered the bedroom, his voice filled with sadness.

"Norah, we have known each other for five years. If I don't bow my head, will you always deny all the good things I have done for you?

I doubt if you really love me! Every time I make a little mistake, you hold on to it and want to break up with me!

Norah, don't you have a heart? Can't you feel my heart for you?

Am I just settling for you? You know in your heart that I pursued you 29 times with all my heart. I am the one who loves you the most!

I was just venting! After all, we have always been unequal. Have you ever stood on my shoes? I'm just too inferior. I feel like I'm not worthy of you!"

Looking at his sad eyes, I couldn't tell what was true or false for a moment.

In a daze, I thought of the time when I was just with him.

He took me to the night market, where there were many people. He carefully held me in his arms to avoid others touching me.

When crossing the road, he would let me stay on the inside and casually hold my hand.

He helped warm my stomach when I had my period and tolerated my little temper.

He always comforted me first when I was angry.

I was confused.

It seemed like he really made one mistake.

"Can love really be faked?

Was it my fault?

Should I forgive him?"

I was thinking about giving him another chance, for he didn't do anything unforgivable.

In the end, I chose to forgive him.

Bullshit!

He was afraid of divorcing me, only because of my family.

But I still pretended to forgive him.

He happily spun me around several times.

"Norah, I love you. Don't worry. I will stay far away from other girls and not let them get close to me even a centimeter."

Not long after, the peaceful days passed.

He started making excuses that he needed to negotiate projects with others frequently.

And then he would come home very late.

Sure enough! Like this!

I didn't believe he and Annie were just friends!

There was a smell of alcohol and smoke on him. And even once there was a scent of women's perfume and lipstick marks on him.

I pretended to throw things and get angry at him, but it always ended up with nothing.

He always manipulated me with the same excuse.

The company had a project in another city and needed to go on a business trip. It happened that I wanted to relax, so I went there.

I stayed there for almost two weeks, and then I flew back for his birthday.

I didn't tell him I was coming back.

I held the birthday gift I bought for him in my hand.

When I pushed open the door, my smile froze. But I wasn't surprised either.

I just didn't expect them to be so wild.