Bittersweet

"Let's just go back to the old times. We'll be in love and grow old together. -- Jacob Gu."

Nicole Du read the message on her phone.

After a few minutes, she bit on her lip and tried to call Austin Liang.

"The subscriber you dialed cannot be reached. Please call again later."

Nicole Du hung up the phone and looked out of the window.

Somehow, Nicole Du felt a little uneasy.

A month ago, her husband's sister gave birth to a baby and asked her to take care of her in the countryside. During the past couple of weeks, Nicole Du had barely gotten a chance to get in contact with her husband.

At first, he barely texted her back. But now he was no longer answering his phone altogether.

'I don't think he's that busy at work to ignore my calls...' she suspected.

Shaking her head, Nicole Du tried to convince herself not to overthink.

It had only been a year since the two of them got married. Austin Liang loved her very much -- what could possibly go wrong?

However...

Nicole Du's heart was still at an unease, and no matter how much she tried to comfort herself, she couldn't help but think of the worse.

To get rid of her anxiety, she decided to pay Austin Liang a surprise visit. The taxi stopped at a gated community. After paying the driver, Nicole Du went up to their house with her suitcase in hand.

Now that she was here, she felt even more uneasy.

Nicole Du opened the door and was shocked by what she saw.

From the entryway to the living room, the clothes of a man and a woman were scattered all over the floor. The trail led to the master bedroom.

It seemed as if her intuition was right.

Looking around, Nicole Du saw a striped tie and a scarlet dress thrown haphazardly on the couch.

It was a tie she had given Austin Liang as a birthday gift last month.

As for the dress, she knew that it couldn't possibly be hers. With her heart trembling terribly in her chest, she walked over to the bedroom.

With staggering steps, Nicole Du walked over the scattered clothes on the ground. Slowly, she approached the bedroom.

The door was left wide open. It looked like whoever was inside was really eager to get into bed.

Before Nicole Du left for the countryside, Sabina Su said that she would keep an eye on Austin Liang, promising that she wouldn't let him get into an affair with another woman. Who would have thought that Sabina Su didn't mean that she would stop herself from sleeping with Nicole Du's husband.

Nicole Du stood at the doorway, frozen in shock. After an agonizing minute, Austin Liang felt that there was a pair of eyes watching him. He quickly turned around and looked at the doorway.

His eyes met with Nicole Du's.

"Ni... Nicole?!"

With his eyes wide with shock, Austin Liang sat up and tried to cover himself up carelessly.

"Austin... What... What are you doing?" Nicole Du asked, her voice breaking.

Before Austin Liang could reply, Sabina Su stifled a laugh. Then, she put her arms around Austin's shoulders and snuggled her face at the crook of his neck. "Do you really not understand what's happening here?" Sabina Su said with a smug smile. "Maybe we should continue with what we were doing so you can try and figure it out."

"Why..." Nicole's voice trailed off. A teardrop rolled down from the corner of her eye to her cheek.

Sabina Su giggled as she sat up, fully exposing her naked body.

"Honey, she's asking you a question," Sabina Su said as she ran her fingers through Austin's hair. "Shall I answer for you?"

"Stop it. That's enough," Austin muttered under his breath, lightly brushing Sabina Su aside.

As Nicole watched how intimate the two of them were, the shock and pain she initially felt were now overruled by anger.

"How dare you, Sabina! He's my husband! How can you be so shameful!"

"Watch your mouth," Sabina replied, raising an eyebrow at Nicole. "I'm not being shameful. Quite the opposite in fact. I have pleasured Austin in a way that you never have. Maybe you should take a good look at yourself before you point fingers. Do you think you've been a competent wife? Do you really think you are in a position to blame me or your dear husband?"

It was true that Nicole hadn't been around lately.

But wasn't it for a good reason? Austin's mother was ill and needed to be taken care of. His niece had undergone surgery and needed to be accompanied. His elder sister had recently given birth and needed to be taken care of. For all those times, Nicole was there for everyone without uttering a single complaint. And for what? To just end up like this?

"Honey, you agree, don't you?" Sabina continued as she glared at Nicole.

"I'm sorry, Nicole... It's just that things have gotten bland with us lately. Sabina was there for me while you were not," Austin said sheepishly.

His words were like a sharp knife stabbing into her heart.

Six months ago, Nicole introduced Sabina to him. When they got back home, Austin told Nicole not to get influenced by Sabina, and that he thought girls dressed in such a coquettish way were not good.

At that time, Nicole felt pity for Sabina. How could he judge someone he just met only through their appearances? Even though Sabina was used to wear revealing clothes, Nicole believed that Sabina was really a nice person and a good friend. Now, it seemed that she took Sabina's personality for granted.

"Since it looks like there's no use to try and fix it at this point... Let's get a divorce."

Nicole's hands balled up into fists, her nails digging into her palms, as she tried to endure the pain in her heart.

"Nicole..."

"Good! Austin can't afford to raise you and your whole family anyway. You're noting but a trouble!"

Sabina scoffed, interrupting Austin.

Nicole was stunned to hear this. She turned to look at Austin to see how he had reacted.

Austin didn't say anything, but his face was painted with guilt.

It looked as if Austin was in agreement with what Sabina had just said.

"The law offices are still closed for the weekend unfortunately. We'll get a divorce by Monday morning. I won't be a burden to you anymore." After saying this, Nicole left without looking back at that bedroom.

Dragging her suitcase downstairs, Nicole burst into silent tears.

She had told him clearly that the condition of her own family was not good enough and that her mother had been ill and her younger brother was still in school. At that time, she didn't want to get into a relationship since she already had so much on her plate.

But what had Austin said to her then? He loved her so much that he hoped to share the burden with her. He even swore to himself that he would make Nicole the happiest woman in the world.

Nicole had always been touched by Austin's attitude towards her, so no matter what his family members asked her to do, she would do it in a heartbeat without any qualms.

Even when she was treated like a servant by the Liang family, she didn't complain at all.

She would try her best to return the favor Austin had given her.

Yet, she and her family had been looked down upon by Austin's.

As it had turned out, this marriage looked like it was destined to be doomed.

As Nicole walked down the street with her suitcase in hand, her phone suddenly rang. It was Austin's mother, Selina Zhang. For a while, Nicole deliberated whether or not she should pick up. With a sigh, she answered the call and put the phone to her ear.

"Blanche said you just came back. Is this true?" Selina Zhang asked in an angry voice.

"Yes," Nicole replied in low spirits.

"Well, you'd better come here right this instant. Tom came by yesterday and gave me some delicious pork ribs. I need you to make some soup,"

Selina Zhang ordered in her usual, bossy tone.

"I..." Nicole stammered, getting all flustered, "I don't think I--"

But before she could finish her words, Selina Zhang said on the phone, "The doctor told me to drink more soup to supplement nutrition when I went to the hospital yesterday. You can come later. I'll take out the spareribs from the frozen room."

The phone was directly hung up, and Nicole didn't have a chance to express her will.

She hesitated for a while and decided to go to her mother-in-law's home.

"How was Blanche feeling?" Selina Zhang asked upon Nicole's arrival.

"She's fine!" Nicole bit her lip and answered indifferently, "She and her baby are doing pretty good."

"I'm going to give her a call. You should start cooking dinner now. The ribs are on the table."

Then Selina Zhang impatiently waved her hand, and entered her bedroom with her phone in her hand.

Nicole clenched her teeth, trying her best not to snap back at Selina Zhang.

For over a month, Nicole had been taking care of Selina Zhang's daughter wholeheartedly. Despite this, Selina Zhang didn't even really care about how Nicole was nor did she even mutter any words of thanks.

There was no warmth or love here for Nicole.

After stewing the sparerib soup, Nicole cooked some rice and prepared some other dishes. She put them on the table and went to Selina's bedroom to tell her that dinner was ready.

As Selina chatted away on the phone, her face was full of smiles. She had never smiled at Nicole that way when she was talking to Blanche Liang.

Ten minutes later, Selina finally hung up the phone and walked out the bedroom.

Selina ate the meal Nicole had prepared. When she had finished eating, she looked up at Nicole.

"Austin won't be back until tomorrow. You can stay here tonight. Wash my clothes while you're at it," Selina said with a half-smile.

Nicole was surprised. 'Business trip?

That can't be right. Did Austin lie to his mother?'

Even though Nicole knew that Austin was definitely not on a business trip, she decided not to expose his lie to Selina. After cleaning up the dishes, she then proceeded to wash Selina's clothes as instructed.

It was a rather big pile of laundry. What's worse, Nicole had to wash it all by hand since Selina did not own a washing machine.

Judging from the amount of dirty clothes here, it looked as if Selina had not washed a single article of clothing ever since Nicole went to the countryside to look after Blanche Liang.

As Nicole was about to start on the laundry, Selina happened to walk by. "I'm still feeling a bit weak," Selina explained as she gently rubbed her hands. "That's why I waited for you to do the laundry. I'm old and incapable now, you know." With a sigh, Selina went on her way.

Deep in her heart, Nicole had a feeling that Selina was just acting. But when Nicole thought of her own mother, who was old and incapable to do any hard work, she suddenly became sympathetic.

It was already midnight when Nicole had finished washing everything. Feeling so exhausted, she slumped on the sofa and fell fast asleep.

Early the next morning, Selina woke Nicole up. "There are so many things in this house that need some decent cleaning," Selina said to her. "Oh, and when you're done with that, I need you to go to the supermarket and buy some things."

All day long, Nicole had worked nonstop. It was not until she had finished making dinner that she was finally able to put her feet up.

"I'm sure that Austin hasn't eaten enough outside. Don't just sit here quietly. Go and boil an egg custard for him."

Seeing that Nicole was doing nothing, Selina asked her again.

Hearing Selina's mentioning of Austin, Nicole became angry and retorted, "He eats very well outside!"

Selina's face instantly pulled. "What nonsense are you talking about?"

Nicole gritted her teeth and said nothing.

"What are you talking about! My son works so hard to earn money outside. Why do you still feel wronged to cook an egg custard for him? Don't act like you are suffering from some injustice! It is my son who suffers a lot, raising you up for nothing, supporting your whole family..."

"I won't let him raise any more in the future!" Nicole couldn't bear it any more. She cried.

It was the first time she had spoken to Selina in such a loud voice.

Selina was completely shocked and dumbfounded. At that moment, the front door opened with a creak.

"Well, let's wait and see. I will not spare you today!"

Selina rushed to the door and opened it. She grabbed Austin's arm and began to blame Nicole.

Nicole lowered her head, crying heavily.

She didn't want to cry, but she couldn't help it.

"Mom, you go inside and have a rest. I'll talk with Nicole," Austin said in a soft, comforting voice.

"She ought to get a better education!" Selina said with a snort, "Otherwise, she might become even more arrogant and aggressive!"

"Nicole..." Austin came over and reached out to hold Nicole's hand.

Nicole quickly moved her hand away.

"You know what my mom is like. Don't make her angry. After all, she's already very old..."

Nicole raised her head abruptly and her face was covered with tears. "I made her angry? How could I make her angry? I have been bossed around her like a servant. How is this still my fault?"

Austin swallowed and looked at Nicole with guilt.

There wasn't an ounce of doubt in his heart that Nicole had been doing so much for his family. He knew very well how hard Nicole had been working to make everyone happy.

Despite this, he kept turning a blind eye.

Nicole knew that Austin was well-aware of her situation, and that was why she was so upset.

"Never mind!" Nicole said, wiping the tears away from her face. "You don't have to worry about me. This will all be over when we get our divorce tomorrow."

Austin's face fell flat upon hearing Nicole say 'divorce'.

"Divorce? What?!" All of a sudden, the bedroom's door was opened and Selina rushed out.

Now that Nicole had said it, she didn't want to hide anymore. She looked straight at Selina. "Yes. Your son and I will be getting a divorce. You don't have to worry about him anymore."

Selina couldn't believe it and turned to look at Austin. "Austin, what happened?"

"Mom... Please just stay out of it," Austin said softly.

Then Austin glared at Nicole. "Don't you know when to shut up? My mother is already in poor health!" he said through his teeth.

"Maybe you should have thought twice before cheating on me if you didn't want things to end up like this! Don't try to blame me for something that you know was your fault to begin with!"

Selina then understood what was going on between Nicole and Austin.

She glanced at the look on Austin's face and rolled her eyes. Then she shouted at Nicole, "Now that I think about it, maybe a divorce is the best! My son is an excellent, young man. He's good looking and very successful. There are a lot of other women who would want to be his wife. If only he hadn't so sure about you in the beginning, I would have asked him to stay away from you! You are a very stupid girl, just like your mother!"

Selina's words were so harsh that Austin flinched, as if the insult was directed towards him.

Even so, he didn't stop his mother from beating down Nicole.

Nicole looked at the two of them with a sneer.

How stupid she was in the past year that she didn't notice that this family had such an awful character!

With a sarcastic smile, she turned to look at Austin. "I'll meet you at the Bureau of Civil Affairs tomorrow morning."

She quickly grabbed her suitcase and walked out of the house, slamming the door behind her.

Now, she knew where she had to be, and that was as far away from these people as possible.

Early the next morning, Nicole was waiting at the door of the Civil Affairs Bureau.

Austin arrived there late, almost an hour since Nicole got there.

"Let's go," Nicole said coldly.

However, Austin didn't budge. He grabbed Nicole's arm and said with his head down, "Nicole, I just want to say that I'm really sorry."

His words made Nicole burst into tears again.

"You know I love you," he continued with tenderness and reluctance in his eyes.

But after what happened yesterday, these sweet words sounded so ironic.

"You really make me sick," Nicole said with a smirk.

With a frown, he gave Nicole a meaningful look, and let go of her hand. Nicole went ahead inside, and he quietly followed behind her.

Blinking, Nicole tilted her head up, trying to prevent the tears to fall down from her eyes.

'There is nothing to cry about.

He's not worth it.'

The process was quick and easy, and so they came out of the building soon enough.

Nicole walked out of the Civil Affairs Bureau with the divorce certificate and felt very sad.

A year ago, when they came to get the marriage license, Austin excitedly embraced Nicole, beaming widely at her with so much love in his eyes. "This is my wife!" he kept announcing proudly to everyone they passed by on the street. That memory was still so vivid in Nicole's mind, as if it had happened just the other day.

However, everything had changed.

The two of them stood outside the building in an awkward silence. "Where are you going? Let me drive you," Austin finally said.

Nicole shook her head and strode forward.

"No need for that. We are over."

"Nicole!" Austin shouted behind her.

Nicole stopped but didn't turn around.

"Don't get mad at Sabina, okay?"

It was like a sharp sword stabbed into Nicole's chest.

"This was all my fault. She really had nothing to do with this. If you have anyone to blame, it should be me," Austin said in a strained voice.

Nicole bit her lip and turned around, a mocking smile forming on her lips. "Don't worry. I don't blame either of you two."

With that, she hurriedly left, leaving Austin dumbfounded.

'There is no one else to blame,' she thought bitterly.

'There's no one to blame but myself.'

She blamed herself for trusting his promise and being moved so easily at such a young age.

They had only known each other for one year before they decided to get married. This experience should be regarded as a lesson to her.

As she turned around the corner, Nicole slowed down.

She walked slowly, with no purpose and direction.

Just then, she happened to walk in front of a hotel. There was a poster beside the door saying that they had a job opening.

From now on, she had no one to depend on but herself.

Nicole patted her face, took a deep breath, straightened her back and entered the hotel.

The lobby manager of the hotel asked some basic interview questions and then brought Nicole to the general manager's office.

"Nicole, right? Have a seat, please."

To Nicole's surprise, the general manager was a kind young man in his early twenties. There was a faint smile on his face.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Nicole Du. I saw your hotel recruiting new employees. I think I'm quite suitable to work for your establishment,"

Nicole said eloquently with great confidence.

The general manager smiled, "Well then, Miss Du... Do you currently have a boyfriend?"

Nicole was stunned.

"No, I don't," she answered, shaking her head slowly.

"That's good. It takes time for our hotel to train new staff. It would be a lot more difficult if certain, unprecedented factors appear,"

the general manager shrugged and said bluntly.

"You can guarantee that nothing like that will happen. In fact, I have just recently gotten divorced. I don't think I would want to be in a relationship anytime soon. Plus, I don't have any children yet. That's good, right?"

The general manager didn't expect that Nicole would be so frank. He said with pity, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pried so much."

"It's okay. I'm over it."

The general manager admired the toughness in Nicole's eyes. "Miss Du, when can you come in to work?"

"I... I can work as soon as today!" she said determinedly.

"Andy, please advise her on the company regulations and other formalities," the general manager said to the lobby manager without further questions.

Nicole was still confused until she got her uniform.

She didn't expect that everything would go so quickly and smoothly.

"Your food and accommodation are provided for free here. Your salary of probation period is 3,000. You'll become a regular employee in three months. When this happens, your salary will be adjusted according to the performance during your probation period. The company will equip you with five social insurances and the housing fund..." The director of personnel spoke very quickly and finished words in a few seconds.

Except her salary and free food and accommodation, Nicole couldn't catch everything that he said to her.

But just those were enough for her.

With those perks, she could easily just use her salary to pay for her mother's medical expenses and her brother's schooling.

Nicole's thoughts raced with excitement.

She didn't tell her family about the divorce immediately. Afraid that her mother would be worried about her, she stayed in the hotel first to work.

Working in the hotel was easier than Nicole thought.

She was quick and polite, and all the hotel colleagues were fond of her. She soon became a part of the team.

Three weeks after entering the hotel, Nicole was arranged to clean up the presidential suite on the eighth floor.

She pushed the cleaning car out of the elevator. When she looked up, she saw a man standing not far away from her.

The man was on the phone, frowning slightly. He seemed to have encountered something that made him unhappy. His thin lips were tightly closed. After a while, he simply said a few words over the phone.

The warm yellow light in the corridor shone on him, and his side shadow was tall and straight. The well-tailored suit made him look as fair and handsome as a movie star.

'Jacob...'

Nicole's heart skipped a beat. She looked at him in a daze. Everything else around seemed to go out of focus.

There was a sharp and impatient look in his eyes. And then, his gaze met with Nicole's.

In that split second their eyes met, Nicole realized how she looked like in front of him.

She stepped back hurriedly and rushed into the stairwell to hide herself.

Jacob Gu slowly put down his cell phone and fixed his eyes on the direction of the cleaning car.

"Mr. Jacob, your room is ready. Please follow me," one hotel attendant said to him.

"Mr. Jacob?"

"...... Okay."

The familiar voice faded away from Nicole's ears.

Nicole slumped her back on the cold, hard wall, letting herself slip down onto the floor.

Five years...

It had never occurred to her that she would see Jacob Gu again.

Neither did she expect that he would be in such a place at this time.

She remembered that man clearly, and how much he had loved her. As time went by, Nicole often wondered what would have happened if she hadn't ended up with Jacob Gu like that. It was the biggest 'what if' in her life. Nicole had buried this deep in her heart, and never mentioned it to anyone ever since.

It was because she had thought that she would never see him again in her life.

After all, they didn't belong to the same world.

With her hand over her mouth, Nicole cried out in silence.

Jacob Gu, the only man who really loved her in this world. The greatest love in her life that she had ruined by herself.

-------------

In the presidential suite, Jacob Gu was standing in front of the French window, staring down at the busy city.

The air around him was aggressive and indifferent.

He wasn't like this before.

His sharp eyes gleamed as he furrowed his thick eyebrows.

After a long time, Jacob Gu called the general manager of the hotel.

"Stephan, is there a waitress named Nicole in your hotel?"

Having gotten the affirmative reply, Jacob Gu squinted his sharp eyes, and loosened his tie slowly, a cruel smile appearing on his face.

"Ask her to come to my room. I want to have a chat with her."