Jayson never admitted it, so Ariel wasn’t anyone to him.

Janice thought today had been a bad day. She wanted to take Ariel out for drinks and karaoke.

Ariel used to drink when she worked in PR. But now, with her health issues, she was doing everything she could to avoid it.

Besides, Jayson’s matter no longer had much of an impact on her. She didn’t need alcohol to drown her sorrows.

So, Janice called her other friends to hang out instead.

On her drive home, Ariel got a call from Chad. He asked briefly about the gallery, but Ariel just brushed it off.

“Come over for dinner tomorrow. My dad’s off work. We can get on his good side while he’s in a good mood.”

Ariel thought about it for a moment. She had some difficulties with her new project and wanted to ask Carlos for advice, so she agreed.

“Alright, I’ll pick you up tomorrow.”

“Sounds good,” Ariel responded.

The next day, she went to Eastgate to stand in line at a well–known pastry shop to buy Carlos‘ favorite palmiers.

When Chad arrived, he got out of the car and opened the passenger door for her. While he was at it, he handed her a bag of roasted chestnuts. “Your favorite. Get something in your stomach first.”

Ariel’s eyes lit up. “Thank you, Chad.”

Chad ruffled her hair and teased, “No need to thank me. Just look at me more, and you’ll develop better taste in

men.”

Ariel couldn’t help but laugh.

As they left, the window of the Bentley parked across the street slowly rolled down.

Perry’s expression was complicated as he watched them.

He had come to buy pastries for Freya. He didn’t expect to see Ariel and Chad together outside of work hours.

In all the time he’d known Ariel, he had never seen her smile so warmly at anyone else.

Was she really ready to move on from Jayson?

He didn’t think so. He’d seen how Ariel had treated Jayson over the years, and so had Matt.

He took out his phone, hesitated for a moment, then sent Jayson a message. “What’s going on with you and Ariel lately?”

Unless Jayson was going through with a divorce, Perry couldn’t understand why Ariel would be hanging out with another man.

Jayson, probably not busy, replied, “What do you mean?”

Realizing what he’d done, Perry frowned.

Why did he care? And based on Jayson’s response, things seemed the same as ever.

Perry pressed his forehead with a finger before replying, “Nothing. I just bumped into her earlier.”

He didn’t elaborate.

Jayson, clearly uninterested, didn’t ask for more details and didn’t reply further.

Perry couldn’t help but shake his head.

Jayson’s attitude toward Ariel had been cold and distant for the past couple of years, ever since their first year of marriage, when they still tried to be civil.

Matt and he had started to lose respect for Ariel because they had noticed Jayson’s clear indifference.

Perry was left wondering. Jayson hadn’t been so annoyed by Ariel in the first year. So, how did things end up like this? Was it just a man’s nature or something else?

He couldn’t quite figure it out.

Ariel spent the afternoon at Carlos‘ place.

Carlos pointed out every mistake she made and also took time to talk to her about new directions in tech innovation, which gave her a real breakthrough in her thinking.

Aside from that, he ignored her.

Ariel had no choice but to swallow her pride and keep asking.

Finally, exasperated, Carlos snapped, “Are you freeloading off me? You’re not even my student! Get out! We’re done for today!”

Seeing him lose his temper, Ariel couldn’t help but smile.

She wasn’t afraid of his anger. What really bothered her was when he stopped caring about her.

After dinner, Chad dropped her off at home. Exhausted, Ariel took her medicine and collapsed onto the couch.

Just as she sat down, her phone buzzed with a call from Jayson.

Ariel hesitated before picking it up.

His voice on the other end was calm but carried a hint of coldness. “Did you block me on WhatsApp?”

חור