hapter 6
We sat cross–legged on the floor, with the house around us stripped bare and echoing with silence. For a moment, neither of us spoke. Then Jasper let out a long sigh, his eyes fixed on the empty rooms as if staring straight through them. He raised the bottle, took a sip of wine, and finally began to talk slowly, as if each word was dragging him back through time.
“I remember it clear as day,” he said. “When I first came to the city, you sold 1,200 native chickens. I took that money, rented a tiny office, and started hustling any way I could. To save cash, I basically lived there day and night, never leaving. Those days were brutal. The floor was so hard I’d wake up in the middle of the night, my back screaming. And even eating instant noodles felt like wasting money. Dried noodles were cheaper. Five bucks‘ worth could feed me for three days, but five bucks of instant ramen? Gone in a single meal.”
Jasper paused, almost like he needed to steady himself, then pushed on.
“And every month, you sent me money. First $50,000, then $100,000, then $200,000. More and more each time. But I never spent recklessly. Every dollar, I cut straight to the bone, using it only where it mattered most. Back then, I swore to myself that I’d make it big. That I’d give you the good life you deserved. That I wouldn’t let you still young, still supposed to be living free–spend your days like an old woman stuck in the mountains raising chickens.”
As he spoke, the rims of his eyes reddened, and a sheen of moisture blurred his gaze.
His own recollection moved him to tears.
It was as if I felt nothing at all. Jasper knew how much I’d given up, but he still crushed my love and dignity under his feet. He had betrayed me.
A bitter laugh slipped out of me, sharp and contemptuous. “So you were ‘concerned‘ for me- concerned enough to cheat? To spend my hard–earned money on a big house and luxury goods for her?”
He glanced at me, his expression full of some bitter story he wasn’t telling. He drained another mouthful of wine. My glass remained untouched in my hand.
The alcohol loosened him.
He grew more earnest, even a little desperate, his words coming faster now.
“As life got better, the company got orders and profits rose. I bought a house and put it in your name. I told you to stop raising chickens and come live in the city, to enjoy life, but you refused. You clung to your chickens. You insisted on keeping them. Think about it, how often did I ask you to move here? And every time you’d say my company wasn’t stable, your chicken money was safe and steady. Always some excuse. You’d only come to the city once or twice a month. And whenever I held you, I could smell chicken droppings on you. I hated that smell. It made me feel small and powerless. I never told you that before. But did you ever think? I’m a normal man. One or two visits a month… that doesn’t cut it.”
The way he said it, sharp and accusing, made the air in the room feel heavy. He looked at me as if I were the one failing, as if cheating on me was somehow justified.
“You call Bianca a prostitute, look down on me for being with her. But when I was drunk and broken, when I needed someone to steady me, to hand me a glass of water–it was Bianca who
Chapter 6
4:32 pm P PPP.
showed up. And she didn’t choose that life because she wanted to. She was forced in her circumstances. You work with your hands while she works with her body. Both are just ways to survive. There’s no high ground, no shame. You don’t understand her–Bianca’s actually a good woman. You’re the one who pushed me toward her. You shouldn’t blame her.”
When Jasper spoke of Bianca, the tone in his voice softened, like he was defending someone he loved. The accusations aimed at me stayed sharp and indignant.
I snorted. “So, propping you up when you were drunk and handing you a glass of water equals being ‘good‘ to you? Ha. After eight years of changing bedpans and serving your mother, using the money from raising chickens to give you a ladder out of the mountain–none of that counts more than a glass of water?” I spat.
Jasper cut me off angrily. “That’s changing the subject! We really can’t communicate anymore!”
I had no patience left for his circular logic. “So what’s the point of all this you’ve said today? Stop beating around the bush. Say it plainly!“
Jasper cut me off angrily. “That’s changing the subject! We really can’t communicate anymore!”
I had no patience left for his circular logic. “So what’s the point of all this you’ve said today? Stop beating around the bush. Say it plainly!”
Jasper fixed me with a steady, unflinching gaze, the kind a man wears when laying out a plan he assumes will be accepted.
“The children need household registration. I don’t want them branded as illegitimate. So what we’ll do is a fake divorce. Once the paperwork is settled, we’ll remarry.”
