Shawn and a few others were called out by Lawrence for a drink.
They all watched the man sitting there, drinking alone in silence. None of them dared to go over and console him.
The aura emanating from Lawrence was too intimidating. One wrong move and they might end up in trouble.
They didn't have the guts to provoke him.
"What's going on with him?" Evan whispered to the others.
"Do you even need to ask? It's obviously woman trouble!" Leslie chuckled softly.
Holden yawned, lazily leaning back on the sofa, nudging Shawn with his heel.
"Come on, you tell us, what's up with him?"
"How should I know? I'm just as clueless as you guys!"
Shawn rubbed his nose, leaned forward, poured himself a glass of wine, and took a few sips.
"Well, you should know something!" Holden sneered slightly.
"You'd be better off asking him yourself!" Shawn genuinely had no idea. "Didn't he and Susie make up?"
No sooner had he finished speaking than Lawrence yelled.
"What did I ever do anything wrong to her?"
Everyone fell silent, staring at Lawrence in shock. Was he talking about Susie?
Shawn scoffed, "You did everything wrong by her!"
Lawrence tilted his head back and downed his drink.
The group watched him waste the wine, shaking their heads.
It didn't matter to them since Lawrence was footing the bill, he could drink however he liked.
"I never even dared to raise my voice at her. I know, she was very sad about losing the baby. But wasn't I sad too?"
Lawrence burped, clearly drunk.
"And now she wants a divorce. Damn woman!"
Lawrence, reeking of alcohol, poured himself another drink and downed it in one gulp.
Leslie and the others admired him for a moment, finally understanding why he was drinking so heavily.
Susie had pushed him to this.
"Didn't Susie make up with him? Why is there talk of divorce again?" They exchanged puzzled looks, unable to understand the situation.
"She said I disgust her. Disgust... ha..." Lawrence drank and tears began to fall.
Now, they were really panicking.
My God, the man hailed as a devil in the business world was crying over a woman. If the media got hold of this, it would be a disaster.
"Lawrence, why did she say you disgust her?" Evan moved closer, patting Lawrence's arm, curious.
"How should I know? I don't even know why she's mad at me. She wants a divorce!" Lawrence was fuming, and he threw his glass across the room.
Luckily, Leslie dodged quickly, or he would have been hit.
"Susie isn't the kind of girl to make a fuss over nothing. Did you do something to upset her?" Shawn sipped his drink calmly, not feeling sorry for Lawrence at all.
They all had the same attitude. Watching Lawrence drink himself silly over Susie, they found it amusing, though they didn't dare show it on their faces.
They didn't want Lawrence coming after them later.
"She isn't making a fuss? Then why is she divorcing me? I've spoiled her too much. Does she think I won't divorce her?"
Lawrence roared, his chest heaving with anger.
Holden agreed, "Yeah, divorce her already. We can't let girls think we can't live without them!"
Leslie kicked him.
"I heard that someone came back!" Evan added with a smile.
Leslie's eyes lit up. Could it be the person he was thinking of?
"Who?"
"Who do you think? The guy who really liked Susie. I saw him at the airport yesterday!"
Evan turned to see Lawrence's reaction, but saw that he had passed out on the sofa.
They couldn't tell if he was really asleep or just pretending. His face was expressionless.
"Is he asleep?"
Evan moved aside a bit and kicked Lawrence's foot.
Shawn and the others admired Evan's bold move, joking, "You dare kick his foot when he's awake?"
They all enjoyed a moment of schadenfreude.
"Of course I dare. I'll kick him right now..."
As Evan lifted his foot to kick, Lawrence's eyes suddenly opened, scaring Evan so much he almost had a heart attack and collapsed onto the sofa.
Holden and Leslie snickered.
Lawrence stumbled past Evan, swaying but still able to recognize his way, and walked out.
"You drink, I'll go."
"Hey, where are you going?" Shawn, sitting nearby, hurriedly asked.
"I need to go back. Otherwise she might be scared alone."
Lawrence replied, though it was unclear whether he was truly drunk or sober, and left, leaving them all staring at each other.
"Is he drunk?" Evan looked horrified at the disappearing figure.
"If he wasn't, you wouldn't be talking now!" Leslie laughed. If Lawrence had been sober, Evan would probably be in the hospital by now.
Holden chuckled.
Evan rubbed his neck, feeling a chill.
"I'll go check on him. You guys keep drinking."
Shawn got up, feeling a bit uneasy, worried that Lawrence might drive himself.
"I'll get a driver for him!" Leslie took out his phone and quickly arranged for someone.
Lawrence wasn't completely out of it; he waited for the driver. Shawn watched him and walked over.
"What happened between you and Susie?"
Why was Susie suddenly talking about divorce again when everything seemed fine yesterday?
Lawrence lowered his gaze, deep in thought.
Shawn sighed, advising, "Maybe you two should take a break and cool down for a while?"
Lawrence's eyes flickered but he remained silent. When the driver arrived, he got in and asked to be driven to the hospital.
He sat in the car for a long time and finally went up near midnight.
……
"Click!"
The sound of the doorknob turning startled Susie, and before she could react, she was tightly embraced by the person entering.
"Ah, who..."
She woke up in shock, flailing her arms and resisting, her fists landing on the intruder's body. He didn't seem to feel a thing and didn't loosen his grip at all.
"Susie!"
The man held her tightly, his chin rubbing against her neck, his voice pitiful and tinged with a hint of sobbing.
"Susie, please don't leave me, okay?"
Susie froze.
Her hands, which were trying to push him away, stopped, her heart aching.
It wasn't that she gave up on this marriage; it was that he had disappointed her too much.
Lawrence held her until he fell asleep.
His body reeked of alcohol.
Susie tried to push him away, but as soon as she pried his hands a little, he held on tighter.
She almost couldn't breathe.
She couldn't tell which of his words were genuine anymore.
Just thinking of him embracing and kissing Rachel made her feel uncomfortable all over, as if this man had become filthy, and she couldn't accept it.
She did love him, no doubt about that.
But that didn't give him the right to hurt her, and she wouldn't compromise.
Cheating was cheating.
There was nothing to forgive.
If he loved that woman so much, she would step aside and let them be. It had nothing to do with her.
Susie's heart tore apart, bleeding.
But why was his embrace still so warm?
Silent tears fell onto the pillow, and Susie felt ashamed of herself for still craving his warmth.
Just took this as the last time, the last time to indulge in his embrace.
Lawrence!
Starting tomorrow, we will have nothing to do with each other
