Chapter 1022

Vera wondered why Joe was asking about the ring again. “It was a gift from a friend abroad. You seem to like it. I’ll contact her later to ask where she got it and have her send me one,” Vera replied calmly.

Joe responded briefly, “Okay.”

Vera didn’t expect such ready agreement. She frowned, wondering where she could find an identical ring. Molly had said it was unique, the only one of its kind. “Whatever,” she thought. She’d simply say her friend couldn’t remember where she bought it if he asked again. He surely wouldn’t persist.

Remembering the earlier incident with Skylar, she casually changed the subject. “A few hours ago, I had dinner with friends and ran into Skylar on my way out. I accidentally rear-ended her car.”

Joe’s expression immediately turned serious. “Rear-ended?”

He recalled Skylar’s phone call and WhatsApp message. He wondered if she was frightened after the accident.

“Yes, right as we were leaving a parking lot. She may have braked suddenly, and I bumped into her. It startled me. Luckily, neither of us was hurt; otherwise, we might both be in the hospital.” Vera looked genuinely shaken.

As she waited for Joe to ask if she was injured, he turned and walked away without a word. Vera was stunned by his abrupt departure. “Why did he just leave? Did he even hear me?” she muttered, frowning.

With Joe gone, the gala felt even more tedious. She hadn’t wanted to be there anyway. Feeling down, she finished her drink, grabbed her clutch, and left.

At Galaxy Villa, after Joe returned, he went to the garage and saw Skylar’s car. The rear-end collision damage was significant. He went upstairs. The lights were still on, and he wondered if Skylar was awake. She was usually asleep by now. He guessed she must have been shaken up. Remembering the night she’d cried from a nightmare, he realized she must be scared after today’s accident.

He opened the door to find Skylar asleep. Her phone was in her hand, the blanket barely covering her. He wondered if this was how she cared for herself when he wasn’t home. She should have told him directly about the accident when she texted. He felt helpless.

He tiptoed over, gently tucked the blanket around her, placed her phone on the nightstand, and turned off the light. Skylar remained asleep.

He sat beside her, observing her with a mixture of frustration and fondness. It baffled him how ungrateful she could be. She casually mentioned divorce, yet seemed to think marrying him was easy. She should know ending it would be just as difficult.

Perhaps it was the alcohol, but Joe’s head throbbed. He pressed his fingers to his temples, suddenly remembering how she used to massage his acupuncture points when they first married. It genuinely relieved his headaches. After they became intimate and moved in together, he rarely suffered from insomnia or headaches. But these past few days, he’d been unable to sleep, and his head had ached all day.

Just as he was about to shower, intending to return and hold Skylar while they slept, her phone buzzed with an incoming call. It was on vibrate.