Chapter 107

Jared was still the same man I knew, who lived by the law of the jungle. Hearing him say that didn’t surprise me. Jared didn’t like owing anyone anything, not even a debt of love.

But people like him were often cold and emotionally distant deep down. He rarely fell in love, but once he did, he could be absolutely intense.

In my previous life, the woman he loved deeply was Tracy. She was a force to be reckoned with, fighting her way through all his female confidantes and seizing every bit of his affection for herself.

Thinking about it, I felt pretty ridiculous. Tracy was playing the game with all her tricks, while all I did was love him, thinking that was enough.

No, that dopamine high only lasted about three months. If one really wanted to keep a man’s heart, it was all about knowing how to play the game.

Jared took me to breakfast at the hotel first, and then we headed straight to a high-end women’s boutique. In the VIP room, Jared lounged on the sofa while the sales assistant brought in a whole row of new arrivals.

I tried them on one by one, taking my sweet time picking out what I liked, like I was picking out vegetables at the market.

The sales assistant also brought over matching bags and shoes for each outfit.

Jared sat there like a perfect gentleman, giving his opinions on every look, but I ignored all the ones he liked and only bought the ones I thought looked good. Jared was left feeling totally helpless and a bit frustrated.

“Mr. Holcomb, your wife has such beautiful skin,” someone couldn’t help but compliment. That lake-green dress was really hard to pull off unless one had great skin, but on me, it looked especially fresh and charming.

Jared smiled and said, “Thank you for the compliment.”

By the time we finished shopping, the whole morning had flown by. Jared helped me carry all the bags to the car. There were so many of them; it was like a small mountain.

But I wasn’t going to feel bad about his money anymore. In my previous life, whenever he offered to buy me something, I always put on the act of being the thrifty, perfect wife.

That was until Tracy flaunted her emerald bangle worth over 3 million dollars, bragging that she only glanced at it a couple of times and Jared had someone buy it for her right away.

In that moment, I could practically hear my heart breaking. Jared was loaded. It didn’t matter who he spent his money on.

Before I divorced him, I was definitely going to get myself an emerald bangle worth at least 30 million from him. He owed me that from my previous life.

“Are you tired? Do you want to check out anything else?” Jared asked in a low voice.

“No, I’m hungry,” I replied. Shopping was fun, but it really took it out of me. I needed to eat before I could go another round this afternoon.

Jared’s eyes grew a shade darker. I couldn’t help but wonder what was on his mind.

“Alright, what do you want to eat?” Jared was being unusually gentle today.

I turned to look at him and asked, “Is Tracy still around?”

Jared replied, “She’s having lunch with her grandmother today and heading back to Hachester this afternoon.”

‘Ugh, why did I have to ask that?’ I thought, suddenly wanting to slap myself. ‘Seriously, why can’t I just keep my mouth shut? Great, now I know Jared has Tracy’s schedule down to the minute. Guess it’s time for me to give up, huh?’

“Okay.” I suddenly felt like leaving him behind and going off to enjoy the scenery on my own.

Jared gave me a strange look. “You always treat Tracy like your imaginary enemy. Is it really so fun to make yourself miserable?”

His words just made my already bad mood even worse.

“It’s not fun. I just want to wander around by myself this afternoon. Why don’t you head back to Hachester first?” In the past, I would have worried about his feelings and kept my thoughts to myself.

But now, I didn’t care anymore. If I wanted to do something, I would just tell him. If he tried to stop me, I had every right to lose my temper.

Sure enough, Jared’s face grew gloomy. He tapped his fingers on the car door. “You want me to head back to Hachester first because Nathan’s coming to that tech conference this afternoon, right? Did you two set this up?”

“What tech conference? I’ve never even heard of it,” I replied, caught off guard.

Jared gave me a fake, tight-lipped smile. “Guess what? Do you think I’d actually believe that?”

I felt a sudden jolt of panic. ‘Wait? Is he serious? Is Nathan actually in Shaville?’ I thought.

I turned my head and caught sight of a few big banners hanging from the streetlights not far away, with bold letters: [Welcome to the Shaville Tech Conference. Technology Leads the Future.]

Seeing me staring at those banners flapping in the wind, Jared’s face grew even more annoyed.

“It’s good to be bold, but don’t use it in the wrong place,” Jared said, his voice taking on a commanding tone. “Get in the car. We’re going back to Hachester.”

I shot a dramatic look at those banners—just my luck.

Once I got in the car, I heard Jared tell the driver, Warner, “Head straight back to Hachester.”

On the way back, Jared closed his eyes and seemed to be resting. He didn’t say a single word to me, except for answering a couple of work calls.

Before we got home, we swung by Sally’s place to pick up Yvonne.