Jayson was actually surprised.

He had promised to send Ariel some photos of that painting, so he sent them over when he had some free time today.

But to his surprise, the photos he sent only received one gray tick.

He didn’t even know when exactly Ariel had blocked him.

Was it at the gallery? Or maybe it happened before that?

Still, he didn’t dwell on it much. After everything that had happened lately, it seemed odd that Ariel hadn’t reacted at all.

Maybe she was expressing her dissatisfaction by blocking his number now.

He vaguely remembered something similar happening before. Ariel had blocked him once, only to unblock him a week later. In the end, she acted like nothing had happened.

This time, however, it was a shame. It wasn’t until now that Jayson realized Ariel’s “effort“.

Ariel suddenly remembered she had blocked Jayson a long time ago–both his personal and work numbers.

Only now did Jayson realize that.

It wasn’t really surprising, though.

Even before she’d blocked him, Jayson rarely took the initiative to contact her. It was always her sending multiple messages, checking on him while he selectively replied.

If it wasn’t something he thought was important, he probably wouldn’t respond at all. Most of the time, it was just her monologue.

In their chat, her long–winded messages were interrupted only by his occasional brief replies.

“Oh.”

“Okay.”

“Got it.”

Jayson must have been enjoying the silence these past few days without hearing from her.

Ariel didn’t answer his question but asked, “Why did you call?”

Jayson paused for a moment, then replied calmly, “Didn’t you want photos of the painting? I can’t send them through WhatsApp, so I’m calling to ask.”

Ariel traced the rim of her cup. She picked up on the slight ambiguity in his words.

Was he implying that she had purposely blocked him just to get his attention, making him feel obligated to call her and ask?

But they were on the brink of divorce, so Jayson didn’t need to be so speculative about her intentions.

Ariel couldn’t be bothered about what Jayson was thinking. She replied calmly, “Just email them to me. Thanks.”

It would be a bit more trouble than sending them through WhatsApp, but she had no intention of unblocking him.

There was a brief pause on the other end, then Jayson let out a faint chuckle, which was almost inaudible. It was hard to tell what mood it reflected.

“Okay, whatever.” Jayson didn’t ask her to unblock him. His tone was as cold and detached as ever, with a hint of mockery underneath.

He paused before adding, “I’ll help you look for your mom’s painting. Just wait for an update.”

Ariel was caught off guard. She hadn’t expected Jayson to remember that. She had only mentioned it casually at the gallery, and yet he had taken it to heart?

Before she could thank him, Jayson ended the call abruptly.

How decisive and indifferent. It was as if the concern he had shown for her earlier had been nothing but an illusion.

Ariel stared blankly at her phone screen but quickly pulled herself out of that emotion.

Before their divorce, her requests had never been taken seriously. Now that he seemed to care, it no longer affected her.

She got up to take a shower. As she looked at her reflection in the mirror, she traced her ribs and waistline. There was almost no fat there anymore. No wonder Jayson had been concerned about her at the gallery.

Her weight loss was impossible to ignore.

Ever since her diagnosis, she had been feeling low. On top of that, the side effects from her targeted drugs and suppressants had drastically affected her appetite, causing her to lose several pounds.

She couldn’t even bear to think about how she would look after undergoing chemotherapy.

All she could do was delay it as much as possible.