3
After changing the watch, it worked normally.
Ashton and Vera played a few “chemistry games,” and their heart rates surpassed 70, allowing them to leave the room early.
As for me and Cole, his heart rate remained stubbornly at 25.
Pathetically low.
“If it never goes up,” I asked a staff member, “do we have to spend the night in the room?”
Cole overheard. He stood tall, shoulders broad in a thin black hoodie, his gaze distant and empty.
The staff member replied, “It counts as a failed mission. You can come out in an hour.”
Cole and I were the last to leave.
[What a failure.]
They have absolutely zero chemistry.]
[Get them out of here. Can we please not look at her? I just want to see Vera and Ashton.]
The comments were brutal, right up until the live stream ended.
The post–interview rooms were crowded with cameras, lights, and people.
Ashton stood in a corner, watching Vera’s interview, his gaze inadvertently sweeping over to me.
“Excited?” he asked out of the blue. “Was there a moment when you thought Cole might actually be interested in you?”
I ignored him and tried to walk away, but he blocked my path.
2014
“What am I going to do, Chloe?” he said, hands in his pockets, tilting his head to look at me. “I’m starting to think divorcing you was the best decisi-
on I ever made.”
Someone passed by. Ashton straightened up, instantly transforming back into that gentle, soulful, yet heartbroken man.
As if I were the one who had hurt him the most.
After her interview, Vera walked over to me, under the watchful eyes of everyone, and took my hand.
“Chloe,” she said, an old red string tied around her wrist. “You should cherish Ashton. He really loves you.”
That red string.
I had seen it before.
Last year, on our wedding anniversary, Ashton had a minor car accident after being followed by obsessive fans. He was fine.
I took him to a temple to pray for his safety. I closed my eyes, my heart filled with prayers for him.
When I opened them, I saw him buying a red string.
I thought he was going to give it to me.
But he said he was getting it for himself, to put my mind at ease.
And now, it was on Vera’s wrist.
“Stop being difficult,” Vera continued, playing to the cameras. “More than anyone, I want you two to be happy.”
I didn’t say a word.
Ashton didn’t know.
2014 M
Ashton didn’t know.
Vera didn’t know.
The truth was, I had agreed to do this show for another, more hidden reason.
That day, when I closed my eyes to pray, Ashton wasn’t the one on my mind either.
