Chapter 3

3: 3

That night, Tim went downstairs to buy Renata a late-night snack.

I was sitting on the couch drinking water when a sharp shatter of glass came from the bathroom.

Renata called out to me, helpless.

"Nora, are you out there? I was trying to wash a cup just now, and I accidentally broke it..."

"I can't see, I don't dare move. Could you come help me up?"

My hand paused around the cup.

I walked over and pushed open the bathroom door.

Sure enough, broken glass was scattered across the floor.

Renata was standing barefoot in the middle of it.

Her body swayed, like she might fall at any second.

I sighed and reached out to steady her.

"Careful, there's glass on the floor."

The instant my hand touched her arm, she suddenly grabbed my wrist and forced it down.

Right below was a jagged shard of glass.

"Ah—"

She screamed in pain, her body lurching backward out of control until she was sitting on the floor.

Blood welled up from her wrist in an instant.

Almost at the same moment, the bathroom door swung open.

Tim stood in the doorway, the late-night snack in his hand.

He saw the blood on the floor, his pupils shrank, and he strode over in a rush.

"Renata!"

He scooped Renata up off the floor.

Then he looked up at me, the fury in his eyes almost enough to swallow me whole.

"Nora Fox, have you lost your mind!"

Renata was curled in his arms, trembling all over from the pain, and still she spoke up for me.

"Bob, don't blame Nora..."

"I broke the cup myself, and I called her over to help. I lost my footing and grazed the glass. It's not her fault..."

"You're hurt this badly and you're still defending her?"

Tim's brows knotted with the ache of it, and his eyes turned even colder on me.

"If she'd come over to help you out of the goodness of her heart, would you be cut this deep?"

"Nora Fox, do you think that just because she can't see, you can bully her however you want?"

"I didn't push her. She grabbed my hand and pressed it down herself."

I looked at him, my voice calm enough to surprise even me.

Tim laughed like he'd heard the biggest joke in the world, his tone thick with scorn.

"Can't you make up a better lie than that? She can't see. How exactly did she grab your hand and press it right onto the glass?"

"I think you're just jealous of her, scheming to hurt her! How did I never see how vicious you are?"

The words were barely out before a flicker of guilt crossed his eyes.

He was about to soften his tone, but Renata only cried harder.

"It's all my fault... it'd be better if I just died, then I wouldn't keep making Nora angry..."

"Bob, let me go. I'll go back to my parents' place, out of your way..."

Tim held her tighter, and that flash of hesitation vanished without a trace. His voice was final.

"Don't say things like that! You're not the one who should be leaving."

"Nora Fox, get out."

"Pack your things right now and get out of this house. There's no room here for a woman as vicious as you!"

I looked at him for a long time.

From high school, when he handed me a love letter with his face flushed red.

To graduation, when he said he'd give me a home.

To half a year ago, when he held my hand and told me to wait for him.

Five years of images flashed past my eyes, one after another, and settled at last on the disgust in his eyes right now.

I suddenly laughed.

"Fine."

No argument. No demand for an explanation.

I turned and walked toward the spare bedroom.

Tim seemed not to have expected me to agree so readily.

He froze, about to say something, but Renata gave a muffled whimper in his arms.

"Bob, it hurts so much..."

He pulled his gaze back at once and carried Renata off toward the bedroom.

When I wheeled my suitcase out the door, the master bedroom was shut tight.

From inside came the sound of Tim's gentle comforting, and Renata's soft, coaxing voice.

Half a year of grievance and resentment scattered completely in that moment.

I closed the door, took out my phone, and messaged the company's HR.

"The training placement at the overseas headquarters, I'll take it. I'll handle the paperwork tomorrow."

The company had offered me that placement three times.

The first time, I turned it down to support Tim's startup.

The second time, I turned it down to prepare for the wedding.

This time, I wanted to live for myself.