It was already past eight when Miranda woke up. After getting dressed, she joined Richard in the dining hall. He started savouring the food Emily served them.
Seated opposite him, Miranda started having her meal in silence. Likewise, Richard kept his head down and simply kept eating without any intention to talk to her. After finishing his meal, he put on his shoes and left without even a glance.
Losing all her appetite, she silently stood up before heading to work.
Coming back from work, she made dinner. She sat down by the dinner table and waited for Richard to come home. She waited for hours until all the food had gone cold, but he had yet to return, and she received no text or call from him whatsoever.
Time continued to tick away, and her eyelids grew increasingly heavier as she waited for Richard on the couch.
She fell asleep on the couch at some point and woke up to the sound of the front door being opened much later.
She opened her eyes and looked toward the door, only to see Richard staggering into the house reeking of alcohol.
She could tell he had a lot to drink as he practically rested his entire body weight on her when she helped him to the bedroom.
"Miranda Hudson, Why are you always challenging me?" He asked in his drunken stupor.
Miranda frowned and said, "You're too drunk, Richard. Take off your shirt and get some rest."
"It was a social event," Richard mumbled before pulling her hard on the arm.
She fell on top of him, and her heart raced as she gazed deep into his eyes. After taking a moment to regain her composure, she quickly climbed off him.
She was helping Richard get his shirt off when she noticed a faint lipstick stain on the collar.
Her face fell sank and quickly tossed his shirt into the bathroom to get that lipstick stain out of her sight.
-----
Having taken a shower after sobering up, Richard emerged from the bedroom dressed in a robe and was just in time for breakfast.
"I'll drive you to the office later," Richard said as he sat down at the table.
"No need. I'll take the subway."
Richard looked up at her and frowned, seemingly displeased with her response. After changing into formal attire, she left the house in a hurry as she didn't want to spend another second around Richard.
After spending the day in the office, Miranda received a call from Nancy before it was even time to get off work.
When she had gotten off work, she went to the agreed-upon street restaurant to meet Nancy. By the time she arrived, she was already waiting there.
"That's enough" Miranda scolded Nancy as she snatched the glass from Nancy's hand when she approached the table. The poor girl was drowning herself with alcohol.
Nancy picked up the bottle that was almost empty and looked at the alcoholic content of the wine. She heaved a sigh of relief when she saw that it was merely 5% alcoholic. From the amount Nancy had taken, she knew that was enough to make her tipsy. Nancy was a light drinker after all.
"Hey! How could that bastard take advantage of a female employee? I don't understand how someone like him managed to become a supervisor!" Nancy felt aggrieved on her behalf.
"So, I slapped him out of instinct." Nancy put down her glass.
"Miranda, Your husband is Richard Fuller. Just fired him" Nancy uttered.
A black Cayenne passed by and stopped. Sitting in the back seat, Richard frowned as he looked at Richard, who was sitting in a stall across the road, drinking a glass of beer.
To think he had been worried that she was fed up with the way he had treated her. The woman he was seeing here looked happy and not tired as he had feared.
"Huh? Richard? Richard is so mean guy" Miranda sneered. "Who would even want to marry him? Certainly not me! I don't want him at all…"
Then without warning, someone snatched Miranda's glass from her.
Miranda turned her head. "What are you guys doing here?" She furrowed her brows when she saw Richard and George standing behind her.
"Miranda, enter the car so we can go home." Richard snapped.
"Who are you to order her?" Nancy calmly said as he looked boldly at Richard.
"Nancy!" Miranda quickly warned her. She was terrified that he would vent his anger on Nancy.
"Hey! Do you know that your wife is being assaulted by....."
Her remaining words didn't come out when Miranda covered her mouth. "Richard, My friend is very drunk. She was just splitting nonsense. George come and help her...." Miranda smiled awkwardly.
George had a troubled expression on his face as he looked at Miranda.
"Don't you hear? Come" Miranda eyed him.