Julian’s Stand-In Wife

With each drag, her heart would ache.

In the midst of trying to pull the cigarette from Cecilia’s lips, some ash from the cigarette fell onto Noel’s hand.

The sudden burn made him reflexively shake the ash off, causing his facial features to scrunch up in discomfort.

“You’re so ugly,” Cecilia remarked bluntly, “I have no idea how I ever fell for someone like you.”

She even managed to blow smoke rings, causing Noel to cough once again.

A waiter approached them in the hallway, reminding Cecilia that smoking wasn’t allowed in this area.

Cecilia apologized, and changed direction towards the restroom. There was a window over there, but the corridor was narrow.

When Cecilia stood there, Noel had no space to stand. He had to press himself against the wall to look at her.

Cecilia smiled. “I can’t stand the sight of you, no matter how I look at you now.”

She didn’t give Noel a chance to speak.

Instead, she preemptively said, “Whether you’re standing, sitting, or doing anything else right now, I feel uncomfortable looking at you. So, can you please not invite me to meet up in the future?”

Every time she met him, it reminded her of the times when Noel was good to her. And that one day when she said he was so cold, and he only cared about hurrying her back home.

him that was cute. He

the face of money,

every time she thought about the 1.5 million her mother had given to

emotions had turned to

so what right did he have to ask Diana to create opportunities

Even Fanny…

dragged

pretend to love me deeply after we’ve broken up. If our love were deep, we wouldn’t

she threw away the

see her face

catch a fleeting expression of sadness on her face. Noel chose to ignore the harsh words Cecilia had said earlier, always keeping in mind the purpose

want to break up, did you?

Hah!

you’re

Noel

did he have to portray

a wad of money from her bag and

more smoke, the scorn and disdain in her eyes

Noel remained silent.

understand

seemed so condescending, looking down on him from