Walking Their Own Paths

On the day of his fifth wedding anniversary with Hazel Fresco, Jack Brook was the only one dining in the restaurant. He was about to get up and leave when a waiter, Kai Wallace, walked in carrying his favorite dessert. He was puzzled. “Didn’t you say this was sold out?” Kai panicked. “I’m sorry, Mr. Brook. This is for the room next door. I saw the reservation was under Mrs. Brook’s name, so I figured you two had booked the same room. My mistake.” Jack was stunned. “Wait, so you’re telling me the people in the room next door are with my wife?” That was impossible. Hazel had just texted him, saying that she was still on a business trip abroad and would not be back until the next day. To make it up to him, she had even sent him an anniversary gift in advance. He knew she loved him. There was no way she would lie to him. Kai realized he had misspoken and hurriedly turned to leave. Jack instinctively followed him to the room next door. The second he walked in, he saw a room packed with people he knew all too well. Besides a handful of Hazel’s childhood friends, his best friend from high school, Alex Clare, was there too. After Hazel stood him up, Jack had called Alex right away. At the time, Alex had told him he had a patient that night and would be occupied. Even so, there he was. Just as Jack was almost convinced it was a surprise Hazel had set up for him, he spotted her sitting at the head of the table. Chapter 1 Hazel Fresco, Jack Brook’s wife, was nestled in the arms of a young man named Bennett Oldham. “Mrs. Brook, your dessert is here.” Kai glanced across the crowd and set the dessert on the table with his head lowered. Hazel took it and placed it in front of Bennett. “Your favorite mango shaved ice is here. I heard it was the last one, so good thing I gave the kitchen a heads-up. Otherwise, you’d throw a fit if you couldn’t have it.” She affectionately pinched Bennett’s nose and added, “But you can’t have too much. You’ve got a cold, so take it easy on the cold stuff.” Bennett said, displeased, “You promised me I could eat whatever I wanted on my birthday!” My high school best friend, Alex Clare, spoke up for her with a smile. “Hazel is just looking out for you. You’re still sick. If you ate something and it made you worse, she’d be devastated.” A few women close to her also spoke up for her. “Bennett, come on, that’s not fair. Don’t you know how much you mean to her? “Your birthday landed on the same day as Hazel and Jack’s anniversary, and she stood him up just to be with you. Doesn’t that prove how much she loves you? “Because of you, every time Hazel sleeps with Jack, she takes the morning-after pill. She even had Alex tell him he’s got a condition that makes him infertile, so he’s been thinking it was his fault this whole time! “But Hazel, when are you going to come clean with your husband? You can’t keep this from him forever.” Hazel scooped up a spoonful of dessert and gently held it to Bennett’s lips as she said dotingly, “Let’s wait until I’ve had Ben’s baby. Then, I’ll bring him and the kid back with me. “Jack thinks he can’t have kids. Maybe he’ll accept Ben’s child and mine.” Jack’s face went deathly pale. Even his hand, which was gripping the door handle, trembled uncontrollably. He had known Hazel for ten years and been married to her for five. She had never once gotten pregnant. He had gone to the hospital and asked Alex to run tests on him. Alex had pulled out a stack of test reports and said that he was the infertile one. So, he had always believed it was his fault. He kept taking medication and getting injections. He had suffered so much, yet he still had not been able to get Hazel pregnant. Because of that, he had always felt guilty toward Hazel all those years. Had all of that been a lie? He could have kids. Hazel had just been secretly taking birth control. On top of that, she was already pregnant with another man’s child. Even Alex, his best friend, had helped her lie to him. He had just stood by and watched him suffer all this time. It felt like a knife to the heart, over and over again. Before he could even process it all, Kai pushed the door open and came out. When he saw Jack, he panicked. “Mr. Brook!” Hearing Kai’s loud voice, everyone in the room looked up as well. “Oh, my! It really is Jack!” “Jack, when did you get here?” Alex also stood up from his chair and held his breath. “Jack, how much did you hear?” When Hazel looked up and saw Jack standing in the doorway, she looked completely unfazed. “Honey, since you’ve already seen everything, let me introduce you to Bennett. He’s twenty-one. He went to the same school as you. He’s a few years behind you. Come say hi.” Chapter 2 “Hello, Mr. Brook.” Bennett turned and flashed a handsome smile. Jack recognized him as the intern Hazel had foisted onto him a few months ago. She had said that since Bennett graduated from the same school as Jack and had a real gift for design, Jack should take him under his wing. At that time, Jack had even laughed and said, “Ben actually looks a bit like me. Don’t tell me you found him somewhere as a stand-in?” Back then, Hazel had not responded, and Jack had not thought much of it. At that moment, it hit him. Her silence had said everything. His gaze filled with fury as he asked with a quivering voice, “Why... Hazel, why would you do this to me? It’s our wedding anniversary. “You told me you were swamped with work, and I even felt bad for how hard you’ve been working. But all this time, you were in another room, celebrating some other guy’s birthday?!” He turned his head and looked at Alex, who was standing in the corner. “Alex, what did I ever do to you? I treated you like my best friend, and it turns out you’ve been lying to me right alongside Hazel for five years! “You know what I’ve been through. How many shots I’ve had to get. How heartbroken I’ve been about not having a kid with her. But you lied to me with her!” Alex frowned. “Jack, I’m sorry—” Hazel cut him off and quickly walked over to Jack’s side. “That’s enough! “It’s Ben’s birthday today. Don’t ruin it for him. If you’ve got something to say, we can take it outside.” She reached out to grab Jack’s hand, but he broke down and shoved her away. Then, he slapped her across the face. “Don’t touch me, Hazel. You make me sick!” When Hazel got hit, Bennett rushed over in a panic. He held her face in his hands and said with a pained expression, “Hazel, does it hurt? This is all my fault. If I hadn’t begged you to spend my birthday with me today, Mr. Brook would’ve never found out about us.” After saying that, he turned and begged Jack, saying, “Mr. Brook, please don’t blame Hazel. The only reason she’s with me is because I look like you did when you were younger. “She’s just using me as a stand-in. You’re the one she really loves! I never wanted to come between you two. I was happy to be a stand-in. I’ll even let you raise our baby. Please, just don’t blame her!” “Alex, help Ben up. “Jack, let’s take this outside.” Hazel wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and forcefully dragged Jack back to the room next door. On the table, his candle had already burned out. The melted wax had merged with the cake, making it inedible. He stared blankly at it, knowing that his marriage with Hazel was over. “Jack, this is on me. I shouldn’t have skipped our anniversary.” She held him and said softly, “But this is Ben’s first birthday with me. He threw a fit and begged me to spend it with him. I didn’t have a choice. Next year, I’ll spend our anniversary with you, okay?” Jack laughed. He had not expected that even at that moment, she was still focusing on the anniversary. “Hazel, don’t you think you owe me an explanation? When did you two get together?” “Three years ago. I met him when I went back to your old school to talk business. Ben was bawling his eyes out over a kitten that got hit by a car and was left with a crippled leg. “I went over to comfort him and found a vet to treat the cat. Later, he said he wanted to pay me back. “One thing led to another. I thought he was kind of interesting. He reminded me a lot of you when you were younger. Sweet, thoughtful, full of energy. So, I fell for him.” Her tone sounded so casual. It was as if she were not confessing to an affair, but simply mentioning some trivial matter. “Jack, we were each other’s first love. Spending our whole lives with only each other is such a waste. I just wanted to try a different guy, that’s all. “Besides, you’ve been so busy with work lately. You haven’t had any time for me. I got a little bored. “But don’t worry. I’m just having fun. Deep down, you’re my one and only husband.” He had been so busy with work? Jack wondered if he had misheard her. What did she think he was working so hard for? They had been together since high school. She was the one who pursued him first. In college, the school offered him a chance to study abroad. He knew Hazel’s dream was to start her own business. After graduation, without hesitation, he chose to stay by her side. He stuck by her side from nothing all the way to where she was today. He even took on so many projects that he often had no time to sleep. How could she blame him for being too busy with work?! He looked at her and asked softly, “So, are you saying that I should go sleeping around too?” Chapter 3 Hazel shrugged, looking completely unbothered. “As long as you stay out of me and Ben’s way and let me have this baby without any drama, I’m fine with it.” Jack’s heart went completely cold as he stared at the woman he had loved for ten years. He nodded. “Fine. I’ll stay out of it. I just have one condition. We’re getting a divorce.” Hazel rejected it quickly. “Not happening. I told you, I’m just having fun. I’m not divorcing you.” “You’re already carrying his child. Do you want the baby to be born and call me dad?” “So what? I don’t care. You’re the only one I care about.” Just as she said that, the sound of a man sobbing came from outside the door. She opened the door and found Bennett crying. “I’m sorry. I was trying to get to the bathroom. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop.” Her heart ached as she tried to comfort him. “Ben, that’s not what I meant...” He shook his head. “I get it. I never wanted to take anything from Mr. Brook. I just can’t help myself! Just thinking about the baby never getting to call me dad breaks my heart.” She frowned, looking a little torn. “You idiot, I’ll figure something out—” Seeing how much she liked Bennett, Jack completely gave up on the relationship. “Hazel, let’s make a deal. “Let’s get divorced first. You and Bennett can have the baby out in the open. For this year, I won’t interfere with you two. You don’t get to interfere with me either. As you said, we each do our own thing.” “Really?” Hazel excitedly grabbed his hand. “That’s so sweet of you.” He pulled his hand away and said calmly, “If there’s no problem, I’ll have a lawyer draft the divorce papers as soon as possible for you to sign.” With that, he stood up straight and walked out of the room. The others flocked in all at once when they saw him leave. “What’s that supposed to mean? Hazel, are you really divorcing Jack?” She smiled smugly and responded, “Didn’t you hear him? We’re giving each other a year. Before we remarry, we’ll each do our own thing.” Alex looked a little uneasy. “But Hazel, you’re really particular with cleanliness, aren’t you? Are you really okay with Jack sleeping around? If he gets another woman pregnant, you’ll regret it way too late!” She said with absolute certainty, “Do you really think he would? He loves me so much. He could even accept Ben. How would he actually sleep around? “Once I have the baby, if I tell him I want to remarry, he’ll be over the moon. By then, it’ll be time for me to have a kid with him, too.” Jack, who had not gone far, heard every word clearly. Yeah, back in the day, he never would have done anything to cross Hazel. But what had he gotten in return? He worked himself to the bone for her and closed project after project on her behalf. In the end, she cheated on him and then had the nerve to blame him for being too busy. In that case, he did not owe her a single ounce of lingering attachment. After walking out of the restaurant, he called his lawyer, Patricia Lawson, and asked her to draft divorce papers as soon as possible. Hazel owed half of her success today to him, so splitting everything fifty-fifty was only fair. He also had Patricia sell off his entire ten percent stake in the company. Then, he sent a message to Hazel’s best friend, Isla Jenkins. [I know you like me. I’m divorcing Hazel. If you’re willing to marry me, three days from now, we’ll go straight to the city hall and make it official.] She replied promptly: I’ll see you at the city hall in three days. He smiled when he saw the reply. “Hazel, it’s true that I won’t sleep around. I’d marry another woman instead.” Since she loved Bennett so much, they should just stay together forever. Chapter 4 Hazel did not come back that night. She sent a message saying Bennett was in a bad mood, so she was staying at his place for the night. Jack did not reply. He simply started quietly packing his things. They had bought that house together. He had borrowed fifty thousand dollars from his father and pooled it with her savings to scrape together a two-hundred-thousand-dollar down payment. Since they were getting divorced, the house should be sold, too. They would split the money and owe each other nothing. He stuffed everything Hazel had ever given him into garbage bags, including her handwritten love letters, their photo album, and the souvenir from their first trip. It had been expensive and had drained her bank account. She had even sworn that once she had money, she would buy him everything he liked. He threw it all into the trash room in one go. Just as he was about to head back inside after tossing everything, he saw Hazel rushing toward him with a group of people. She grabbed his hand and asked urgently, “Jack, you’re Rh-null, right? I remember you are.” Hazel grabbed his hand, her voice urgent. “What’s going on?” he asked with a frown and tried to shake her off, but he could not break free. “Ben got into a car accident. He’s bleeding out and needs your blood! The hospital doesn’t have any Rh-null blood in the bank right now. You need to come with me right now and donate!” “I’m not going,” he refused without a second thought. He did have Rh-null, but he also had thalassemia, a severe genetic blood disorder. Hazel knew about it. In the past, whenever he bled, she would panic and rush him to the hospital. How could she ask him to donate blood to Ben? “Jack, don’t be so selfish. Ben’s life is on the line here. How could you just not go? “Yeah, it’s a human life, for god’s sake. We can’t just do nothing!” “If it weren’t for you, he wouldn’t have broken down and run out into the street. You’re going today, whether you like it or not!” Hazel and the others roughly dragged him into the car. He was outnumbered and could not resist. When they arrived at the hospital, Alex had just come out of the operating room. When he saw Jack, he let out a sigh of relief. “Thank god, Jack, you finally made it. Just in time. Hurry up and give Ben some blood!” “I can’t. I can’t donate blood!” Jack said. He looked at Hazel in panic. “Hazel, did you forget? I have thalassemia. I can’t give blood to anyone. I’ll die!” She froze for a moment. How could she have forgotten that? Jack had severe thalassemia. One mistake, and his life would be in danger. Although she was worried about Bennett, she could not just ignore whether Jack lived or died. While she was hesitating, a nurse, Anna Perry, came rushing out of the operating room. “Dr. Clare, the patient’s blood pressure is crashing! Has the donor shown up yet? If he doesn’t get here soon, the patient’s going to die!” Hazel nervously asked Alex, “Alex, tell me, can Jack donate blood?” Alex was silent for a moment. In the end, he nodded. “Yes. Get him in there now, or you’re never going to see Ben again.” “You heard him, right? Even Alex says it’s fine. So, quit throwing a fit when Ben’s life is on the line!” She summoned several bodyguards and had them grab his hands tightly. “Get him in there. He’s going to donate Ben some blood now, and he’s not coming out until Ben is out of danger!” “Let go of me! I’m not giving blood to some homewrecker!” No matter how he struggled, it was ultimately useless. The bodyguards pinned him down in the donor chair. Alex grabbed the needle and drove it straight into his arm. Chapter 5 Sharp, stinging pain hit him. Jack watched helplessly as bag after bag of his blood was drained from his body. At first, he was still fairly conscious. He did not know how much had been drawn, but his vision started to go black. A bone-chilling cold spread through his entire body, and even his limbs gradually went numb. Almost instinctively, he looked up at Hazel. He wanted her to hold him the way she used to, or cover his eyes and tell him not to be afraid. But what he saw was Hazel keeping watch over Bennett. She was holding his hand as tears welled in her eyes. Her shoulders were shaking from crying. “Ben, don’t be scared. You’re going to be fine. As long as you pull through, I’ll do anything.” It was not that Hazel never cried. In all their years together, she had only ever cried three times. The first time, he had been in a car accident and was covered in blood. She had abandoned a meeting and rushed to the hospital. She had grabbed his hand and cried her eyes out. The second time, he had accidentally fallen, hit his head, and suffered severe bleeding. The doctor had said his life was in danger. She had gone down on her knees, sobbing and begging God to save him, swearing she would give up ten years of her own life if he would just let Jack live. The third time, they had gone mountain climbing and got caught in an avalanche. After he shielded her with his body, he was severely injured. She cried and said she wanted to die with him. But at that moment, she was crying for another man. She no longer cared about him. A suffocating pain ripped through his chest, and even his insides churned with a sharp, twisting agony. He lowered his head as his eyes slid shut. Alex noticed Jack’s blood pressure plummeting beside him, and his expression changed. “Hazel, you can’t draw any more blood! Jack’s blood pressure just crashed, and his heart rate is dropping fast. If you keep going, he could die.” Hazel did not move. She simply asked, “What about Ben? Is he out of danger yet?” Alex shook his head. “No, he still needs another pint.” “Then, keep drawing!” At that moment, Jack’s heart turned completely cold. Hazel would not relent. Even though Alex knew they could not keep going, there was nothing he could do. Nearby, Anna shouted, “Dr. Clare, Mr. Brook is having a hemolytic reaction! He’s already in shock! We have to pull the needle right now!” Only then did Hazel turn and look at Jack in the chair. His lips were purple, and his face was as pale as paper. His whole body had begun to tremble violently. “Jack!” Before he lost consciousness, he finally saw Hazel let go of Bennett’s hand and run toward him. He never thought that at the very end of his life, he would still get to see her panic over him. But her concern had come too late to mean anything. He smiled faintly before finally passing out. The heart monitor let out a sharp, piercing beep. Alex panicked and began frantically trying to resuscitate him. Anna was so terrified that she burst into tears. If anything happened to Jack, it was a major malpractice case. Her entire career would be ruined for the rest of her life. “Dr. Clare, Mr. Brook has thalassemia! He can’t donate this much blood! You forced him to donate. What if something happens to him?!” “Alright, that’s enough! I’m not going to let anything happen to Jack!” The hospital room descended into chaos. Hazel stood frozen off to the side as her face grew paler by the second. Chapter 6 When he woke up again, Jack was alone. No one was by his side. On the nightstand were Hazel’s favorite yellow roses, their scent filling the room. She was easy to appease. The moment she saw roses, she could not help but smile. Then, without him even having to apologize, she would cheer herself up and forgive him. Next to the yellow roses sat his favorite caramel iced coffee from the shop he had mentioned to Alex countless times. Every time they made plans to go shopping together, they would buy iced coffee from that shop first and sip it while they walked. Jack knew Hazel and Alex gave him those things. Unfortunately, seeing them only disgusted him. “Mr. Brook, a lawyer’s here to see you.” Jack saw the divorce papers in her hand as Anna brought Patricia in. “I’ve drafted the papers according to your instructions. Take a look and see if anything needs changing,” Patricia said as she handed them to him. “Also, I’ve found buyers for your shares and the house you wanted me to sell. If everything checks out, once you sign, the money will be in your account within forty-eight hours.” “Looks good.” Jack could barely hold the pen, but he still forced himself to sign all three different documents. “Ms. Lawson, take the share purchase agreement and the house contract with you. Once I get Hazel to sign the divorce papers, I’ll send them straight to your office. “Could you get me the divorce decree within three days? I’ll pay extra. Whatever it takes.” She looked at him and let out a sigh. “I was there when you two tied the knot, you know. Everyone said you were so in love and that you’d be together forever. So, how are you two already divorcing after only five years...?” Then, she shook her head and said, “Don’t worry, Mr. Brook. As long as Mrs. Brook signs soon, I’ll have the divorce decree in your hands within three days.” The hospital room door was pushed open, and Hazel walked in. “Divorce decree?” When she saw Patricia, her frown deepened. “Ms. Lawson, what are you doing here?” “I asked her to come,” Jack said. He pointed to the divorce papers on the bedside table. “I’ve already signed. You should sign soon, too.” “Why the hurry?” Hazel walked to the bedside. Her heart ached when she saw his ashen face. “Are you still blaming me for making you donate blood to Ben? I know you’re upset, but a life was on the line. “Ben already got into that car accident because of you. You can’t seriously want him to lose his life too, can you? “He’s only twenty-one. He’s got his whole life ahead of him. You wouldn’t have the heart to let that happen either, would you?” “No, I wouldn’t,” he said as he shook his head. “So, I don’t blame you. To make it up to him, I already got the divorce papers and signed them. I figured a divorce certificate would make a nice little apology gift. He’ll be over the moon, don’t you think?” “Jack, you’re really sweet.” She picked up the pen and quickly signed the papers. Then, she handed them to Patricia. Patricia took them and immediately left the hospital. “Ben said he wanted to come thank you.” Right after Hazel said that, Bennett walked in. “Mr. Brook, Hazel told me that if you hadn’t donated blood, I’d already be dead. I came to thank you. I even got you a bouquet of lilies.” He held the lilies out in front of Jack. Instantly, Jack felt his throat tighten. He could barely even breathe. He instinctively knocked the flowers to the floor violently. “Get out! Take them away!” Chapter 7 Seeing the flowers fall to the floor, Bennett immediately burst into tears. “Boohoo... Mr. Brook, I came all this way to thank you. How could you do that?” Hazel frowned as she said angrily, “Jack, what’s wrong with you? Ben came here out of the goodness of his heart to thank you. “It’s fine if you don’t want to accept it, but you yelled at him!” “Yelled at him?!” Jack’s heart pounded rapidly as he watched her blindly defend Bennett. “Hazel, I’m deathly allergic to lilies! You forgot that too, didn’t you?” Bennett said sadly, “I’m sorry, Mr. Brook. I didn’t know. I even asked Hazel, and she didn’t tell me you were allergic to lilies. Otherwise, I would’ve picked something else.” Hazel froze. Bennett had really asked her. She was the one who had forgotten. What happened to her? She used to remember every little detail about Jack, even how he disliked scallions. How could she have forgotten something as serious as his lily allergy? “Get out! Take the flowers out!” He lay weakly in the bed as his breathing grew rapid. She quickly helped Bennett out and went to find a doctor for Jack along the way. As they were leaving, Bennett asked in distress, “Hazel, did I mess up again?” She pinched his nose and said, “It’s fine. I don’t blame you.” “You knew Mr. Brook is allergic. Why didn’t you say anything?” “Right now, you’re all I can think about. How would I have the time to worry about him? You just had surgery, and your body is still weak. Let me take you back so you can rest.” “I want you to stay with me these next few days. Consider it as a way of making it up to me.” “Okay. I’ve got a big gift for you the day you get discharged.” Their voices gradually faded into the distance. Jack stared at the scattered flower petals on the floor, and his heart died completely. Pinching his nose used to be something she promised she would only ever do to him. But it had been ages since she had last done it. It turned out love did not actually fade away. It just got redirected to someone else. Over the next three days, Hazel never showed up again. Neither did Alex. On the day he was discharged, Anna, who was packing up his things, could not help but complain. “Mr. Brook, I really don’t get it. You’re Mrs. Brook’s husband, and you’re Dr. Clare’s good friend. Why did they all run off to take care of that homewrecker?” “I’m no longer her husband. Who they want to care for is their business.” He pulled out his phone and showed Anna the divorce decree the lawyer had photographed and sent him. She was shocked when she saw it. “You really got divorced?” “Yes, I did. I’m single now.” He let out a breath of relief and left the hospital in a good mood. Just as he reached the hospital entrance, a black Maybach pulled up in front of him. “Mr. Brook, Ms. Jenkins sent me to pick you up and take you to the city hall. She’s waiting for you there.” “Thanks, I appreciate it.” The car sped the whole way and finally arrived at the city hall. Isla was already waiting there. He walked over without hesitation. “Ms. Jenkins, sorry to keep you waiting.” She smiled and said, “I’d wait as long as it takes for you. “Let’s head in.” The city hall ceremony was quick. They filled out the license, said their vows, and signed the certificate. By the time he walked back out, he had gone from single to married again. He was about to tuck the marriage certificate away when Isla grabbed his hand, took a selfie, and posted it right to Instagram. [Finally married the man I’ve always wanted to marry @jack_brook.] Within minutes, her post was blowing up with comments. [Holy moly! Am I seeing this right? Isn’t that Jack Brook, Ms. Fresco’s husband?] [Is this fake? Are you two putting on a show?] [When did Hazel and Jack get divorced? Is this real?] Jack replied to the comments himself. [As of today, I’m no longer Hazel’s husband. The marriage is real.] “Hazel, I did what you wanted. I hope this was really what you wanted, and that you wouldn’t regret it.”