"See?" he said, his voice calm but tinged with frustration. "I told you it was about work. You got angry for nothing. Are you satisfied now?"
I looked at him, his steady gaze challenging me to doubt him further. It was true—he had never hidden anything about his dealings with Ella. He was always transparent, almost to a fault.
But still, a question lingered in my mind: Can you truly claim a clear conscience if you don’t even try to draw boundaries?
Ever since James started working, our opportunities to meet have dwindled, a casualty of our long-distance relationship. Meanwhile, the person who spends the most time with him every day is Ella.
The first time I met her was when I accompanied James to his new workplace. She approached him with a stack of documents, her smile bright and confident. When she noticed me, her tone turned sweet.
"This is Mr. Carter's girlfriend? You're so beautiful. Mr. Carter is really lucky."
At the time, I thought nothing of it. But as the days turned into weeks, Ella became a constant presence in his life. They worked overtime together, conducted research side by side, and even traveled for business.