We're Over, and You Want Me to Be Jealous

Everyone said I was too possessive when it came to my girlfriend, Amanda Crane.

When Amanda first started taking photos of her childhood friend, Ian Lewis, I ripped apart all the rolls of film.

When she helped him fix his computer, I called her 100 times in an hour.

And when he called her from the airport, asking her to pick her up because the rain made it impossible to get a cab, I held a knife to my throat. I told her I'd take my own life if she went to him.

Fed up, Amanda shipped me off to a psychiatric hospital that same night.

When I got out, I vanished. Amanda was certain I was hiding somewhere, spying on her and Ian, but I never showed upuntil the celebration party for a business project three years later.

Ian puts his arm around Amanda and swirls the wine glass he's holding. He shoots me a taunting look, remarking, "You used to get so jealous, Steven. I'm sure you no longer mind if Mandy and I drink from the same glass now, right?"

He waits for me to go berserk the way I used to three years before, but I simply move the bottle of wine closer to them.

"I don't mind at all, of course. Have as many glasses as you want. It's great to see that your relationship has been progressing so well."

Amanda pauses. Her eyes start to redden. She stares fixedly at me and questions, "Why don't you feel jealous anymore, Steven?"

Chapter 1

"You must be joking, Ms. Crane," I said. "As long as the project goes smoothly, who cares if you two drink from the same glass? Even if you set off on your honeymoon right here, right now, I'd be the first to applaud. In fact, I wish you two a lifetime of happiness. May you have lots of children."

The moment I finished speaking, the taunting look on Ian Lewis' face froze. The wine glass he was holding hovered awkwardly midair, and he didn't know whether to withdraw it.

"Don't be ridiculous, Steven," Ian said to me. "Mandy and I are just friends. This was just a joke"

"Either way, it doesn't matter to me." I smiled and nodded at them. "I sincerely wish you two the best."

The other colleagues around the table exchanged uneasy glances, their cutlery suspended midair as well. It was as if they didn't know what to do with themselves.

"So Mr. Walsh, are you and Ms. Crane acquainted? It feels like there's some tension in the air."

Amanda Crane had just opened her mouth to speak, but I cut in first with a polite yet distant smile. "Yes. We used to be schoolmates. But now we're simply a client and a service providernothing more."

The wineglass slammed hard against the table, making me flinch. Dark red liquid splashed out, staining Amanda's sleeve.

She reached out to grab my wrist. "I'm just your client, huh? Do you get a kick out of acting like we're strangers, Steven?"

That familiar perfume scent made my stomach churn.

"Get away from me!" I snapped.

With an icy look on my face, I pulled back, putting some distance between us. My tone was curt as I declared, "My wife is waiting for me at home. Please show some respect, Ms. Crane."

"W-What did you say? Who's waiting for you at home?" Amanda stammered in shock.

Her gaze swept over me again and again, as if searching for a tell to reveal that I'd been lying just now. "Your wife?"

She practically had to hiss out the last two words between her clenched jaws.

"That's none of your concern, Ms. Crane," I replied. "Either way, I don't have time to watch you throw a fit, so I'll be excusing myself from the party now."

"Who's your wife? Steven Walsh! Explain yourself!"

Ignoring Amanda's furious shrieks, I picked up my briefcase and strode swiftly to the parking lot.

Only after locking myself inside the car did I finally slump heavily against the driver's seat. I lit a cigarette, my fingers trembling as I held it.

Every time I got close to Amanda, the memories of the darkest period of my life would come flooding back.

I hadn't been like this from the start. It was the red-eyed Amanda who buried her head against the crook of my neck and begged me to be controlling and possessive toward her.

"Steven, my dad brought his mistress and their son home. Even when I was little, he ignored me and neglected me. That's not my home. Everyone else will abandon me. I'm begging you. Please show me you care. Please be strict with me and watch my every move obsessively. Please?"

Her voice trembled, and she looked like an abandoned puppy.

My heart softened, so I gave in to her request.

To give her a sense of security, I forced myself to become a control freak. I checked on her constantly, deleted every man from her contacts, and called her relentlessly whenever she came home late.

But when I finally did act like I had a truly possessive streakwhen I tried to stop her from going to pick up Ianshe shoved me away without hesitation.

"You disgust me, Steven. If you're sick in the head, you should go where you belong."

She personally had me institutionalized in a psychiatric hospital.

I was locked up in a windowless room, surrounded by white walls and metal bars.

I tried to explain that I didn't have a mental disorder, but the attendants pinned me down and forced the medication down my throat. When I vomited it out, they stuffed it back in, choking me until it felt like my lungs would burst.

I begged Amanda to take me home. But when I called her, she was busy peeling shrimp for Ian, and she told me not to ruin her appetite.

When they performed shock therapy on me and locked me up in isolation afterward, the only thing I saw from the tiny window was the fireworks show that Amanda organized to celebrate Ian's birthday.

It hadn't been easy for me to escape that hell I was in and move on from over a thousand days of tormentto put the broken pieces of me back together into a normal person again.

So why was Amanda refusing to leave me alone?

Out of nowhere, someone started pounding on the car window. My whole body tensed as I jerked my head up.

Amanda's stormy face was pressed against the glass. She stared at me intently as she screamed, "Steven! Open the door!"

Chapter 2

"Back when you held a knife to your own throat to force me not to pick up Ian, why didn't you say you had to go home and be with your wife, huh?" Amanda screamed.

"Now you're telling me you're married to someone else? It's obvious you're just trying to make me angry and jealous. Your tricks are pathetic, Steven!"

As I stared at her smug expression, I felt nothing but pity for her. Did she seriously think I would get back together with her after everything she'd done to me?

"Ms. Crane, how you choose to think is your business. It has nothing to do with me."

I floored the accelerator. Through the rearview mirror, I saw Amanda staggering backward from the sudden force.

After I got home, I couldn't sleep that night.

The moment I closed my eyes, all I saw was the ghastly white lights of the psychiatric hospital and Amanda's cold, indifferent expression.

I tossed and turned in bed until the early hours of the morning, when a petite figure slipped into my arms.

"Did you have a nightmare again?" Mia Johnson, my wife, asked.

Her voice was soft and gentle. She rested her cheek lightly against my chest, took my hand, and placed it over her abdomen.

"Don't be afraid. I'm here, and so is the baby. It's all in the past now."

At last, the uneasiness in my heart slowly settled, and I finally drifted into a deep sleep.

Early the next morning, a project review meeting had been scheduled. As I was the person in charge of the project, I couldn't avoid it.

I straightened my suit and walked into the conference room with a calm expression.

Amanda sat at the head of the conference table, sporting dark circles under her eyes. The moment she saw me, her brows drew together sharply.

"Mr. Walsh."

Tapping her fingers on the table, she said coldly, "Crane Group takes this project extremely seriously. You showed up two minutes late to the meeting.

"Is it because you look down on us, Mr. Walsh? Or are you implying that your company has so much going for it that you don't even care about Crane Group's investment?"

She was clearly picking a fight on purpose. Fortunately, I had come prepared. I pulled out an ultrasound report and dropped it onto the table.

"Although I'd rather not bring personal matters into the workplace, Ms. Crane, to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings and harassment, I think it's best to clarify a few things.

"My wife is 36 weeks pregnant. We're expecting twins. Her health isn't great, and I'm worried about her. So, for the remainder of this project, I'll be applying to switch to remote follow-up or have my deputy take over from me. I'd like to spend more time with her."

The conference room fell into a dead silence.

Amanda snatched up the ultrasound report, gripping it so tightly it looked like the paper might tear. Her eyes locked onto the pregnancy duration36 weeks.

At the time, we hadn't even crossed paths again yet.

"No! You're lying to me. How could you? How could you really let another woman get pregnant with your child?" Amanda's voice was hoarse.

She looked up at me, her eyes rimmed red, looking like a hurt and cornered animal.

"Who is that woman?" she questioned through clenched teeth, her hand clenched so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

"That has nothing to do with you, Ms. Crane. If there's nothing else, shall we begin the meeting?" I took back the ultrasound report. "All of our time is precious. Let's not waste it."

The meeting dragged on with a suffocating tension in the air. Amanda was completely distracted, zoning out several times.

Once it was over, I gathered my things and prepared to leave.

The moment I stepped out of the elevator, Amanda blocked me in the hallway.

"Get rid of them."

She stood firmly in my path, her eyes still red.

I stared at her in disbelief. "What did you just say?"

"I said, get rid of the babies your wife is pregnant with."

Chapter 3

Amanda's reddened eyes burned with a look of obsession that seemed almost unhinged. "As long as you make her get rid of the babies, I won't care how you got out of that hospital or who you slept with after that.

"As long as you come back to me, I can give you anythingbe it shares in Crane Group, my assets, or even my life."

She grabbed the front of my shirt in desperation, gripping so hard I could barely breathe.

"I know you still love me! You're just angry with me. What happened back then was my fault. I shouldn't have sent you there but I did it for your own good!" she insisted.

"You became too extreme and obsessed. You even held a knife to your throat! All I wanted was for you to calm down a bit."

I scoffed in anger. "You need to get something straight, Amanda. My wife is 36 weeks pregnant. You want her to get an abortion when she's almost due? Are you trying to kill her, too?

"And secondly, you had locked me in a room barely bigger than a closet. You let the attendants pin me down and force the medication down my throat, making me beg like a dog. Are you trying to claim that all of that was for my own good?"

"That's impossible!" Amanda froze for a second before immediately refuting me. "I sent you to the best psychiatric facility there is, Steven. I spent a fortune to make sure that they took good care of you! I know you're upset, but"

Ignoring her, I rolled up my sleeves to reveal a dark scar.

"You're the reason why I developed my so-called mental illness, Amanda. And this is what I got when those people pinned me down on the floor and beat me up after you sent me there. Is this what you meant when you said they took good care of me?"

At the sight of the scar, Amanda looked as if she'd been struck by lightning. Her hand trembled as she reached out to touch the scar, but I flung her hand off.

"Don't touch me!" I snarled before adjusting my shirt that had gotten wrinkled from her grip.

"And one more thing. The twins are the result of the love my wife and I have for each other. I will never let anything happen to them. If you dare touch any of them, I'll drag you and Ian down to hell with me!"

Amanda stumbled backward. She'd never seen this side of me before.

"No That's not what you said in the past You said you couldn't live without me"

"You said it yourself. That was the past." I eyed her coldly. "And right now, all I want is for you to stay the hell away from me."

"Mandy"

At that moment, a timid voice cut in.

Ian walked over, holding a cup of coffee, his gaze flicking back and forth between us.

"Mandy, I've been waiting for you so that we can have lunch together. Why did you run over here without saying anything?"

The hatred and possessiveness in Amanda's eyes made Ian feel threatened, prompting him to act.

"Don't be upset anymore, Steven," he said with his typical innocent, appeasing smile.

It was the same tired trick again.

"Back then, it was all my fault. I was the one who insisted on calling Mandy to help me fix my computer. It's my fault for not being able to get a ride from the airport because of the rain. If you want to blame someone, blame me. Stop torturing Mandy with everything."

Ian deliberately brought up those past incidents, clearly wanting me to fly off the handle, start a fight, and cause a scene like some lunatic.

That way, he could duck behind Amanda and act all pitiful, saying, "Why is Steven being so aggressive?"

It was the perfect foil for his own innocent act.

He'd done it countless times three years ago. However, the old me back then reacted that way because I cared about Amanda. I loved her and didn't want her to get too close to another man.

I empathized with her for the emotional trauma she'd endured since childhood. I wanted her to feel loved. I remembered every word she ever said to me back then.

But this time, I simply frowned and remarked, "Your acting is a little over the top this time, Mr. Lewis."

Chapter 4

"I'm not interested in whatever's going on between you two. Now kindly move," I declared.

"I'm genuinely trying to apologize to you, Steven!" Ian suddenly raised the coffee in his hand. "There's always a long queue at the cafe for this coffee. I bought this specifically to make it up to you. Just drink it and forgive us, okay?"

"No thanks. I don't drink coffee," I replied flatly.

Meanwhile, it was time for Mia to come and pick me up from the office. The elevator doors slid open to reveal a familiar figure.

I had no interest in wasting any more time on Amanda and Ian, so I headed for the elevator.

However, Ian pretended to stumble and started falling toward me. The cup of scalding hot coffee tipped forward, spilling straight at me.

"Honey!" Mia called out.

I could feel the steam from the coffee hitting me. Mia, who was 36 weeks pregnant, didn't even pause as she ran over to pull me aside. The burning liquid was inches away from her belly.

"Watch out!" I shouted.

My eyes widened in horror. I didn't even have time to think. All I could do was pull Mia into my arms protectively.

The burning liquid splashed across my back.

Out of the corner of my eye, though, I caught Amanda's expression. There was a faint hint of anticipation in it. She wanted Mia to get hurtas if I'd return to her if something happened to Mia.

"Honey! Did you get burned? Are you in any pain?" Mia cried out, her body stiff and her eyes red.

"I'm a tough guy. I'm fine. What about you and the babies? Are you guys okay?"

I patted her back reassuringly, but a surge of rage was already rising inside me. I turned around and fixed my gaze on Ian, who stood frozen.

"Ian Lewis, if the coffee had landed on her, I would've made you regret ever being born."

The icy tone of my voice made Ian turn pale with fear. He instinctively hid behind Amanda before saying, "I didn't do it on purpose, Steven. It's her fault for rushing over out of nowhere and"

"Shut up!"

I had no interest in listening to his excuses. I took off my stained jacket and tossed it aside before pulling Mia back into my arms.

"That must've frightened you, babe. Let's go home. You need to get plenty of rest today. I've booked you a prenatal checkup with the best OBGYN in the city tomorrow."

"Okay. Whatever you say, Steven," Mia said softly as she stared at me, her eyes red with concern.

Right in front of Amanda, she helped me wipe the droplets of coffee that were still clinging to my shirt.

I couldn't help but smile at the way she gently took care of me. Caressing her head, I said, "I was going to surprise you with news of the appointment. I guess the timing worked out. Well, let's get going."

"Who said you could leave?" Amanda snapped, having finally snapped out of her daze.

She stared fixedly at Mia's hand, which was placed on my arm. Jealousy gnawed at her heart, poisoning her.

"A prenatal checkup, huh? So you're his wife?" she questioned Mia.