Josie remained confined to the main bedroom, constantly under surveillance. She felt more. like she was being monitored than cared for.
Sitting up was a challenge. At times she would find herself gazing at the ceiling, overwhelmed by a long-forgotten fear. Lately, her nights of sleep were haunted by visions of Dexter and Summer embracing in that abandoned factory.
Anderson prepared her oral medication, crushing it and mixing it with water. He asked curiously, “You’ve been so quiet. Why don’t you talk to me? Do you still have feelings for Dexter?”
Josie glanced at him, and Anderson pulled a piece of candy from his pocket, trying to tempt her.
Looking at the unfamiliar face before her, Josie was intrigued to make fun of him, “You may find. it hard to believe, but I’m his ex-wife.” Anderson was taken aback, “Ex-wife?”
Josie sighed frustratedly, recounting her fabricated past, “I met him when I was just sixteen, and he was a nobody. I married him. despite all the difficulties we faced. But as soon as he became wealthy, everything changed. He cheated on me with another woman, and she had a terrible postpartum hemorrhage. And guess what? He had the audacity to ask me to donate blood to her…”
Anderson’s eyebrows shot up in astonishment, nearly disappearing into his hairline. Under normal circumstances, he would have dismissed such a story as unbelievable. Dexter didn’t fit the mold of someone who would do that.
Yet, Josie’s tear-filled eyes and the mix of determination and anguish on her face lent her words an air of credibility. Anderson consoled her, ‘Alright. Alright. Crying will hurt your wound. It’s all in the past now…”
‘Dexter is an ungrateful bast*rd!” Josie sobbed and asked, ‘Anderson, have you just started working for him?”
“We’ve had some acquaintance, but I don’t know much about him. That’s why I didn’t recognize you,’ Anderson replied.
Josie pleaded desperately, her voice filled with urgency, ‘Please, you have to listen to me. He’s not a good person. I beg you, let me go. I’ve finally managed to escape his control and never want to come back here. Please let me go…”
Anderson hesitated, caught off guard by the intensity of Josie’s plea. His initial curiosity had been mere gossip, but now he was confronted with a shocking revelation.
Anderson’s jaw dropped at the revelation that Dexter had been married before. He couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that there was a whole strange and unexpected backstory behind Dexter’s calm and collected exterior.
Seizing the opportunity presented by Anderson’s brief hesitation, Josie pressed on, her voice filled with desperation, “Imagine yourself in my position. Could you bear such hardships?’
Anderson sympathized with Josie’s plea, but he felt powerless. “I’m sorry, but I cannot release you without Mr. Russell’s permission.”
Josie fell silent immediately, choosing not to say another word. She closed her eyes and played dead.
Meanwhile, upstairs in the room, the man sitting in the main chair heard every word Josie spoke through the monitor. He observed her transformation from a sad expression to impatience while lying in bed.
Dexter’s gaze turned icy as he stared at the woman on the bed. His eyebrow raised slightly, and a chilling aura emanated from him..
Larry, his secretary, was sweating profusely. standing behind him. Dexter couldn’t believe that Josie dared to fabricate such stories.
A knock on the door interrupted the tense atmosphere. It was Anderson. His current mood mirrored Larry’s, visibly uneasy and apprehensive.
Dexter pulled open the drawer before him and retrieved his cell phone, absentmindedly scrolling through it.
“Um, hey, there’s no need to treat… your ex-wife like that,” Anderson stammered, attempting to be their mediator.
Dexter ignored him, placing the phone on the table without glancing at it. He stood up, tapped the table with his fingers, and walked out of the room without a word.
“She’s still my wife. We’ve never gotten divorced,” he muttered under his breath.
Anderson and Larry exchanged bewildered glances, examining the illuminated phone screen together. It displayed the same story Josie had tearfully recounted, with over a hundred search results for the same melodramatic novel.
Anderson was left speechless once again, confronted with yet another shocking revelation.
