He’d prepared a table full of steaming breakfast dishes and called me to eat.
"Honey, Cassie said, places will be crowded during the Independence Day Holiday, so she doesn’t want to go to Japan anymore. I've canceled the tickets and hotel.”
He mentioned her as casually as if yesterday's events had never happened.
"Oh, it’s okay. After all, it's not good to go out and nd squeeze in crowds during early pregnancy; it can easily harm the baby."
Cassie was the one who had insisted on joining our trip. Now she was the one using crowds as an excuse to stay home. The reason was obvious.
But Mark suddenly slammed his utensils down.
"Jane! You're truly unreasonable!"
“When you admit you’re wrong, I’ll come home!”
He grabbed his car keys and stormed out and for the next few days, he did not return home.
From that small group chat, I already knew he was staying at Cassie's place.
They were inseparable, looking like a married couple.
Their friends could not resist teasing them.
[Mark, you two are so blatant—aren't you afraid that Jane, that tigress, will cripple you?]
[Fear my ass! If she won't trust me, I might as well make it official—get Cassie pregnant and shove it in her face! She's the one pushing me to this!]
Everyone praised his boldness and skill at taming his wife.
But as I stared at the information my bestie had dug up, a chill ran down my spine, because Cassie was really pregnant.
They staged this whole charade just to pin everything on me.
I had to hand it to them — their acting and patience were impressive. They managed to keep it completely hidden from all our other friends.
Obviously, Mark knew about Cassie's pregnancy for a while. That was why he defended her so fiercely, smashing cake at me, forcing my apology, hurting me, driving me away...
After thanking my best friend, I dialed Mark's number. It rang for ages before he picked up. The background sound was a mix of Cassie's quettish laughter mingled with others' cheers.
“Hello? Have you calmed down enough? Do you know your mistakes?”
"I'm at Cassie's. If you want to apologize, come visit and pick me up on your way home.” His voice filled with condescension and impatience.
"Fine."
He paused for a second, then laughed triumphantly. “Then prepare an apology gift for Cassie. Don't show up empty-handed.”
He hung up impatiently and gloated in the group chat.