Chapter 4

I didn't do what Job said and wait for him in the cabin.

Instead I found a quiet corner and let the sea wind hit my face.

It was the first time I'd ever sailed on Job's ship. It would also be the last.

Somewhere along the way I made a call to the agent.

Once this voyage ended, Job and I were supposed to get married.

We'd bought the marital home a year ago.

Job was busy, so the renovations, the furniture, the title transfer, all of it had fallen to me. Selling it now would at least save me a lot of trouble.

Michelle came to dinner that night too.

Job had deliberately picked a restaurant the crew rarely used.

But we still ran into a few of the foreign crew members, and I heard Job introduce me to them as his friend.

He assumed my English was poor. But even a three-year-old can hear the difference between "friend" and "girlfriend."

When I said nothing, Michelle leaned in. “Hettie, how many days are you here to enjoy this time?”

I gave the two of them a mocking look. “How many days do you two want me to stay?”

Michelle propped her face in her hands and put on an excited air. “The longer the better, of course. Hettie, we haven't seen each other in months. You have no idea, being stuck on this ship day after day, nothing but the ocean and the passengers. I'm bored out of my mind.”

“Is that so?”

I looked at them with meaning and didn't call it out.

Job didn't speak either. He peeled a shrimp and, without thinking, set it on Michelle's plate.

All three of us froze.

Michelle recovered first and turned to me, playing at being flattered. “Hettie, you have no idea, Job's usually so strict with us. Today, thanks to you, I actually got a shrimp he peeled himself.”

Job caught himself too and awkwardly peeled a new one for me.

The food had no taste at all.

After dinner, Job walked me back to my cabin.

We'd barely reached the door when he suddenly spoke. “Hettie, I've already handled the checkout. You should get off the ship tomorrow.”

I turned back, stunned. “I never said I was leaving.”

I'd booked a two-week cruise. This was only the second day.

Job's face went cold, his tone leaving no room for argument. “Hettie, this isn't a place for you.”

I let out a scoff.

“Then who is it a place for?”

“Michelle? Or her parents?”

The question made Job force down his temper. “Hettie, don't let your mind run wild. We're getting married soon. I'm swamped with work, and the wedding still needs you to arrange it. You shouldn't be wasting time here.”

“Besides, with you here, I get distracted.”

I just looked at him.

“Job, are we really going to get married?”

Job answered without a second's thought. “Of course. You're the only woman I'll ever want to marry.”

I almost blurted out, “Then what about Michelle,” but I swallowed the words back down.

Job had already pushed my checkout through, so however unwilling I was, I got off the ship the next day.

Through the porthole, he and I looked at each other across the distance.

A moment later my phone buzzed twice.

【Hettie, wait for me.】

【The minute we're back, we'll go get the license.】

I glanced down at them and only found it laughable.

He'd driven me off the ship for Michelle, and still had the nerve to imagine I'd stand there like a fool and wait for him.

Off the ship, I dragged my luggage to the airport without looking back.

Before takeoff, I sent him one last message.

【Job, let's break up.】