Chapter 4

After that argument, Dora Juggins ignored Shepherd Showyer for an entire week. Jade Quiney kept trying to explain herself. She insisted that she had genuinely wanted to help Dora. She had meant nothing else by it. She simply did not want any misunderstanding to come between Dora and Shepherd. Dora spent all day running back and forth to the hospital, leaving her no time to deal with Jade. Jade even followed her there and explained everything in front of Joy Zimmerman. Eventually, Joy heard what had happened and drove Jade away. Joy refused to let Dora forgive Shepherd. Even if Shepherd had not technically done anything wrong, Joy said, he still had a problem. "If Jade wanted to see a movie, couldn't Shepherd have just given her the ticket? Why did he have to go with her?" Joy declared that Shepherd was rotten to the core, the kind of man who was born a scumbag. Dora had been hopelessly in love back then. Shepherd spent nearly half a month sweet-talking her until he managed to win her back. The two of them became as affectionate as ever. Joy scolded Dora, calling her blind. In the end, Joy had been right. Dora really had been blinded by love. She and Shepherd had been together for seven years. They had broken up only the previous afternoon. The reason for their breakup was as tacky and melodramatic as they came. It had been Shepherd's birthday. Dora had bought a cake, picked up a gift, and gone to his apartment to surprise him. Instead, she had found him in bed with another woman. That woman had been her best friend, Jade Quiney. Dora had smashed the cake into their faces on the spot. Then she had stormed into the bathroom, filled a basin with water, and thrown it over the bed. Jade screamed in terror. Shepherd hurriedly pulled on his clothes and ran over to explain. Dora refused to listen. She kicked off her high heels and swung one of them at him with all her strength. Shepherd ducked and scrambled away, clutching his head. Dora turned and attacked Jade on the bed instead. After throwing the shoe, she grabbed the decorations from the cabinet and hurled them one after another. Both of them screamed as the objects struck them. Dora vented her fury for ten full minutes before finally stopping. Without saying a word, she began packing her things. She had only occasionally stayed at the apartment over the past few years, so she did not have much there. She finished packing in half an hour. Shepherd came over after getting dressed and tried to embrace her. Dora slapped him twice and knocked his arms away. Perhaps her violent reaction finally enraged him. Shepherd's eyes reddened, and he began listing all of Dora's faults. He pushed every bit of the blame onto her. "Dora, I didn't end up like this entirely because of me. Don't you think all of this happened because of you?" "We've been together for seven years, and you still won't let me touch you. Every time, you stop before anything happens. I'm a man, Dora. I have needs. I need to satisfy them." "Whenever things reach the crucial moment, you push me away. If you keep making me hold it in, I'm going to go crazy!" Dora's hand froze on the suitcase handle. She turned to face him. "Shepherd, you were the one who said we should save our first time for our wedding night." Shepherd guiltily looked away. A moment later, he forced confidence back into his voice. "I did say that. But reality is reality. No man can wait that many years." "We've been together for seven years. If we don't get married for ten, does that mean I can't touch you for ten years? Dora, are you frigid?" Frigid? He had actually called her frigid? "You know perfectly well that we've been together for seven years. Ask yourself honestly, Shepherd. How many times did I bring up marriage over the years? You were the one who kept saying a man had to establish his career before starting a family." Dora snapped. She lifted the suitcase and slammed it onto the floor. Shepherd roared, but her voice rose even higher. "Why the hell do you think I worked so hard? You said you had to focus on your career. Your mother called me a pretty ornament, so I worked to improve myself. I did all of that so I could be worthy of you!" "And you? You kept putting off marriage again and again. You never gave me a shred of security. Shepherd, you're a damn bastard!" Her furious temper startled him. His expression shifted several times, and the guiltier he felt, the louder he became. He accused Dora of changing. He said she had once been gentle and considerate, but that she had changed after graduation. The Dora standing before him had become more and more unfamiliar. Dora pressed a hand to her forehead and took two slow breaths. Only after making sure she had not died of anger did she speak. "Why Jade? Why did it have to be her? Shepherd, you could have chosen anyone. Why did you have to sleep with my best friend?" At that, Shepherd hesitated. After a moment, he finally answered, "Dora, don't you think the Jade you see today is just the old you?" His words left Dora stunned. She stood motionless, instinctively finding the idea ridiculous. Jade was becoming more and more like the old Dora? What a joke. Wait. As if she had suddenly remembered something, Dora's eyes widened. She turned around. Jade had already dressed and walked out of the bedroom. The moment she emerged, she went straight to Shepherd's side. Dora stared blankly at her, examining her from head to toe. Her gaze moved back and forth between Jade and Shepherd. She looked again and again, as though she could not believe what she was seeing. Yes. The Jade standing before her really did feel more and more like the Dora of the past. It was there in her makeup, in the forest-inspired clothes she wore, and even in her little bun. The perfume on her skin had once been Dora's favorite scent. At some point, Jade had gradually begun to resemble the old Dora. Meanwhile, the original Dora had long since been worn smooth by life. The Dora she had become spent her days in business suits, navigating a bleak and cutthroat workplace. She had worked herself to the bone for her dreams and for Shepherd, turning herself into a pathetic clown desperate to become worthy of him. Just look at the victorious smile on Jade's face. The curve of her lips was exactly the same as the smile Dora had worn years ago, when Shepherd sang her a love song at the New Year's celebration. Even the tiny beauty mark at the corner of her eye had been painted onto Jade's face. If not for the difference in their features, Dora might truly have believed that the person standing before her was her former self. Before leaving, Dora slapped Shepherd across the face. "Shepherd, we're over. Thanks for doing me the favor of never marrying me all these years." Then she slapped Jade as well. "Jade, congratulations. You've become the stand-in who finally got her wish. If you don't find that pathetic, then I suppose I should thank you." "Thank you for helping me see reality and walk away from a scumbag. Calling you my best friend is an insult to the word."