Episode 2

Lisa glanced anxiously at her phone as it buzzed for the third time in a row. She knew who was calling, and she wished he would just leave her alone. She was trying to enjoy a romantic dinner with John, but Daniel was ruining her mood.

“You should take that call,” John said, sipping his wine with a hint of irritation in his voice.

Lisa sighed and reached for her phone. She tried to turn it off, but it kept ringing. She felt guilty for ignoring Daniel.

“Alright, give me a minute,” she pleaded with John, who nodded reluctantly. She picked up her phone and finally answered the call.

“Lisa, please. I’m sorry. If I’ve done anything wrong to you, I’m really sorry,” Daniel pleaded with Lisa in a broken voice. He sounded desperate and scared, and Lisa felt pity for him.

“Daniel… what do you want? I already told you we’d talk about this at home,” she said calmly, trying to sound firm.

“That’s the problem. I can’t wait until you come home. I know you’re in a hotel with another man!” He yelled over the phone, making Lisa flinch. She looked around nervously, hoping no one had heard him.

“I don’t like your tone, Daniel. And I’m not some cheap whore! What do you take me for?!” She yelled back, feeling offended.

“Then tell me where you are so I’ll come get you! Listen, Lisa, I trust you with my life! I know you’re not capable of hurting me. It’s late, honey. Tell me where you are so I can come get you,” Daniel begged, sounding more pathetic than ever.

Lisa rolled her eyes and rubbed her temples. She was tired of Daniel’s drama and his lack of ambition. He was a pauper, as her mother and brother would call him, and he had nothing to offer her. She had married him out of love, but love was not enough to pay the bills or fulfill her dreams.

“You want to know where I am so bad? Fine! Meet me downtown at the Crusty Ribs restaurant,” she said with a sigh, knowing that she was inviting trouble.

“Don’t go anywhere. I’ll be with you in a minute,” he said eagerly and hung up the phone.

Lisa put down her phone and took a deep breath. She reached for her glass of wine and took a sip to calm her nerves. Then she met John’s gaze across the table.

He looked angry and confused. He had heard part of the conversation and he didn’t like what he heard.

“What the hell was that for?” He asked in a low voice, trying not to draw attention.

“I want him to come see that I’m really serious about leaving him for you. I promise you won’t regret this,” she said softly, reaching for his hand across the table. He took it hesitantly.

“You haven’t told him about the divorce yet?” He asked incredulously. Lisa and John had been seeing each other for a while because she wanted to get promoted in her place of work and John was the son of one of the directors. He had asked her to divorce Daniel several times, but he had no idea why she hadn’t done that yet.

“I told you. I have given him the divorce papers already. I’m waiting on him to sign,” Lisa said, swallowing hard.

“Really? When did you do that?” John asked happily, taking another sip from his cup.

“Well, I didn’t have the nerve to do it on my own, so I sent my mother to my home to surprise him with it this evening,” she said in a low voice, hoping that John wouldn’t get angry.

John stopped taking a sip of his wine and paused to look at her for a second. His blue eyes narrowed and his lips tightened. He was not pleased with what he heard.

“You did what?” he asked in a cold tone, making Lisa flinch. She cursed inwardly for even opening her mouth to say anything about it.

“My mother is fierce, you know. She can handle it even better than I can. But I promise you, I will get those papers signed before the end of the week,” Lisa assured him, but had a gut feeling that she was going to regret her words.

“Alright,” John said with a shrug, pretending that he didn’t care. But he did care. He cared a lot. He wanted Lisa to be his and his alone. He wanted to get rid of Daniel as soon as possible and hated the fact that Lisa was still legally married to that loser.

Twenty minutes later, Daniel finally arrived and parked his electric bicycle outside the restaurant.

He ran towards the entrance, determined to confront them.

He looked through the window and saw them sitting at a table near the corner, holding hands. His heart sank and his eyes filled with tears.

“What the hell, Lisa?” he exclaimed as he banged on the glass, attracting everyone’s attention.

Lisa turned her head and saw Daniel standing outside, looking furious. She opened her eyes wide and instantly felt like she was having a panic attack.

“Oh no, he’s here,” she whispered to John.

John glanced at Daniel and smirked. He enjoyed the drama and decided to make it more interesting by provoking Daniel.

“Hey, buddy, why don’t you come inside and join us?” he called out to Daniel, waving his hand mockingly. “We have plenty of food and drinks here. Don’t be shy.”

Daniel heard John’s taunt and felt his blood boil. He wanted to punch John in the face and drag Lisa away from him. He tried to approach the restaurant, but he was stopped by two burly men who blocked his way.

“What is this? Who are you?” Daniel thundered as he tried to struggle his way past them, but they didn’t budge.

“We’re here to protect Mr. John from people like you,” one of them said with a sneer. “We advise you to turn around and leave, pauper.”

“Listen to them, Daniel! I’m with my new lover now. Go! I don’t need you anymore,” Lisa yelled from inside the restaurant.

“Bullshit!” Daniel shouted as he tried to walk through them, but they picked him up with no effort.

“Let me go! I need to talk to my wife!” he cried out, hoping that Lisa would hear him and come to his rescue.

But Lisa didn’t move from her seat.

“Hey, we didn’t talk about this,” she said to John, feeling uncomfortable with the way they were bullying Daniel. She didn’t want to hurt him more than she already had.

“I don’t need to talk about it. He’s obviously angry and therefore a threat, so he should be treated as one,” John said with a wicked grin on his face. He was enjoying the spectacle. He wanted to humiliate Daniel and show him who was the boss.

“I don’t like this, John. We’re causing a scene,” she whispered to him, looking around nervously. She noticed that the other customers and the staff were staring at them with curiosity and disapproval.

“Then I guess you shouldn’t have called him,” he said with a shrug.

“Fine. Let me go home with him and finalize the divorce, then all of this will be over,” she said, trying to sound reasonable.

“We’re not done with dinner, cupcake,” he said casually, ignoring her request.

“John, I have to go,” she said firmly, getting up from her seat. “I’ll talk to you later. Thank you for the dinner.”

John was surprised by her sudden change of mood, but he didn’t want to give up on her. He grabbed her arm and pulled her closer to him.

“Come on, Lisa, don’t be rude,” he said, trying to charm her with his smile. “Give me a kiss and show your husband how much you love me.”

Lisa hesitated, but she knew that John wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“No, John. Please don’t make me do this,” she pleaded softly, looking into his eyes.

“This is your chance. Once your husband sees you kissing me, any remaining love he has for you will die and you’ll be a free woman!” he said persuasively, spreading his arms wide open.

Lisa thought about it for a moment. He was right. No matter how painful it was, she had to do it.

She leaned in and kissed John passionately on the lips, while Daniel watched in horror from outside the window.