Forced by fate – Destined to be his Wife

Rhea attempted to rip the cell out of his hand, leaning over him precariously and delivering a smack to his forehead that startled him, distracted enough to get it away from his vice like grip and she hung up immediately. Shaking her head at him and then pushed up off the ground, still cussing him out quietly, and walked off with it. Her temper rising at being used as a tool to cause pain to TangShi in this way. She didn’t know what the hell was going on, but this wasn’t who she was, who he was, and she knew YuZhi didn’t mean a damn word he said. It was petty and cruel and would only make more of a mess in the long run. Especially once his family heard about this train wreck.

Rhea flicked through his call list and hit ZhengLi’s name on the recants without a second thought. Waiting for him to pick up as she flicked at her nail and watched YuZhi maneuver himself face down on the floor, nestling into her fluffy rug, and seemingly pass out. Nonplussed with what he just did and probably doing what was the best for his body and mind. She did pity him his heartbreak even if it was somehow justified after breaking hers.

He had hit his upper limit of alcohol consumption and she didn’t dare to think how much he had consumed. He was a seasoned drinker who rarely got like this so he must have been downing it like water all day. It was a testimony to how much TangShi had royally screwed him up.

“Yo, buddy, where are you? I’ve been searching everywhere.” ZhengLi’s worried tone came through loud and clear, and Rhea was at least glad to hear he sounded sober. Someone she could rely on to actually help her tonight.Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.

“He’s at mine. It’s Rhea. Come get him before I toss him outside and dunk some cold water over him. He’s a mess and the last thing he should do is spend a night here.” If not for TangShi’s sake, the families, then for the fact the media might snap him leaving here in the morning and blow up her life. That would be a month of headlines and speculations for sure.

“Jesus Christ, why is he there?” ZhengLi scratched his head, not overly surprised that YuZhi sought Rhea out. All their life she had been his stable and warm place of comfort. The three of them inseparable best friends in all things. She had been a shoulder to cry on when he didn’t want ZhengLi to see him break. Drunk he must have yearned for her gentle care and wanted to have that space where he could stop pretending to be strong and unbothered.

“Because he’s been my friend since I was three. And I’m guessing old habits die hard when he is going through something awful. Come get him, I’ll make coffee. You can give me the details. And Zheng… ummmm, you better call Linlin and tell her he’s with you and going home. I think he maybe called her and got her worried. He was talking nonsense.” Rhea lied, knowing fine well it was TangShi’s phone he called, as she saw it on the recent calls.

“Sure.” ZhengLi furrowed his brow, not really in the mood to tackle Linlin head on, especially after how things ended this morning but not wanting her stressed out and worried over YuZhi’s welfare either. He would text her and tell her to ignore anything YuZhi had said.

Rhea didn’t want to be something to cause pain anymore and was trying to atone for her sins as it was. This wasn’t how she wanted him, even if TangShi had done something unforgiveable. Rhea had found her pride and knew if she ever wanted him back, it would be because he wanted her and not as a knee jerk rebound impulse move. She knew she was worth more.

“On my way. Make a big pot and I can get him up and moving.” ZhengLi sighed, already out in the street because he had been wandering around trying to find this idiot for the last half hour. Relieved that like a homing pigeon, he had gone somewhere familiar and safe, and Rhea would take care of him until he got there. He could stop spam calling him like an overwrought parent now.

Rhea hung up and left the cell on her kitchen counter, walking over to switch on her coffee machine and exhaled as she gazed at him across the room. She had gone through a lot these past weeks. A lot of soul searching and self-reflection of her behaviors and the start of her own personal growth. She had discovered a lot about herself and her dependency on YuZhi when she had time to look at him from a distance. Space had opened her eyes to a lot of delusions.

She loved him still, but she knew their relationship had never been a fairytale romance, more of a sibling love that had blurred lines. Watching him now, broken and drunk over something TangShi had done, she knew he never got his messed up over her in all their years together. It stung but it further brought home the reality that they should always have remained friends and been a support to one another. She had delayed real happiness with mutual love all these years and become so desperate to cling to him she lost sight of herself for a while.

“Are you dead?” Rhea called out, aware he was still breathing as she could see his rise and fall of rhythmic movement. “You’re going to wish you were when you wake up tomorrow. You idiot.” Rhea walked over to him, leaving the pot to stew and bent down to check his face and airways. Lying facedown wasn’t ideal if he vomited so she kneeled down, pulling his face to the side and gazed at him for a long while. It was nice to be near him again, to see him without the cloud of bitterness over their heads. She was just sad that he came in this state and obviously cut up.

“If I was still the bad bitch that was crazily trying to pull you back to me, I could have totally used this tonight. Seduced you or set you up to look like we had sex …… you utter fool.” Rhea stroked his hair from his face, admiring the beauty of this man and yet feeling a low aching that wasn’t quite the piercing pain of heartbreak when they first separated. It was a dull acceptance and more of a sorrow for seeing him suffer now. Tired because of the late hour and lacking energy in general. Something tugging at the back of her brain at her own words, but she dismissed it.

“For what it’s worth, I hope whatever happened between you two gets sorted out. I don’t believe TangShi would do anything like that to you….. it doesn’t make sense. When you’re sober, we’ll talk. Just don’t do this to yourself, okay, it doesn’t help. Trust me, I tried it. I just want to see you happy, and not like this.” She knew she was talking to herself, but it was cathartic somehow and seemed like she could say things with sincerity that gave her closure without his judgment. She waited on ZhengLi, and blew out her air, letting her lips vibrate as she thought of how ridiculous this scenario was. Last thing she thought she would be doing ever again was tending to this guy in her apartment and willingly having Zheng take him away again.

“Maybe I should have called TangShi to come get you instead, so you were forced to see her when you woke up. Or maybe she would have taken this the wrong way and made things worse. Boy, you really do know how to make a massive mess of things when it comes to women.” Rhea got up, wandered back to the kitchen where the pot was happily spurting, nearing completion and invading the air with strong coffee scents. Slumping her shoulders and nestling on a breakfast bar stool as she dumped sugar and creamer into a mug in readiness. Her mind drifting to what he said, and she glanced his way with a sudden thought.

“The school guy? That Rong creep? Rong Cai? Hell no.” Rhea shook her head, picturing Rong Cai, someone she knew in a roundabout way through a friend from a lot of drama a few years before and had met him again that day she went to TangShi’s school. Surprised to see him there and making sure she had given him a wide berth. Her memory swirling and picking out the points that had brought her to attention and the sick feeling in her stomach about events from the past she had almost forgotten. It seemed a little too coincidental for it to involve him again and what she just said to YuZhi sparked a tingle of doubt.

It was obvious that day at the school he had a thing for TangShi. Lurking in the shadows watching them and giving Rhea the creeps. TangShi had seemed oblivious to him and even when he strolled their way, she ducked her head and left without giving him a second glance. There was no hint that she would screw YuZhi over for Rong Cai. In fact, Rhea didn’t need to be a psychologist to see TangShi was all about YuZhi and saw no one else.

She slid YuZhi’s phone to her, already knowing his passcode as he seemed to have never changed it and scrolled through the contacts list until she found the fiery little shadow that hovered around TangShi like a mother hen. She had met her a few times and always felt that Linlin was always secretly snarling her way, answering with passive aggressive undertones, and suspecting her. A proper loyal little guard dog who would fight tooth and nail for her friend. She had to be a wild one to be reckoned with if she was the current ZhengLi girlfriend, a title he had given no one before. It was pretty impressive.

Pulling up her name and forwarding her contact card to her own cell with a determined frown, even if she wasn’t sure she had any reason to talk to her at all, but she couldn’t ignore it. If anyone was the person to reach out to and talk about Rong Cai to without backlash and accusations, then it would be Linlin. She might also be sat doubting TangShi’s guilt. Because none of this sat right with Rhea and knowing what she knew, it just felt like there was more to this when it concerned that perverted fuck.