Chapter 98
Chapter 98: Fred casually leaned back, hands clasped behind his head, a mischievous grin playing on his lips. “Can’t I?”’ His laid-back demeanor made Belinda second-guess her initial reaction. She shot him a sharp look. “That was in poor taste.”’ “Just kidding.”’ Fred’s laughter filled the air as he approached and lightly placed his hand on Belinda’s shoulder, his smile widening in an attempt to smooth things over. “I’m just curious, that’s all. You and your ex don’t seem to care about each other at all. Why haven’t you finalized the divorce?”’ Belinda’s frown deepened, and she quickly shrugged off his touch. “That’s none of your business. Stop prying.”’ “Okay, okay, my mistake. I’m sorry.”’ Fred’s chuckle lingered as he removed his jacket and draped it around Belinda’s shoulders. “To prove I’m sincere, I’ll help you search for your cat tonight, and I won’t leave until we find it. Deal?”’ The warmth of the jacket enveloped her, and Belinda realized she was trembling. The night before, when Darren had rushed her to the hospital, she had been dressed only in light indoor clothes, and now the chill of the night was setting in. Yet, such closeness was unfamiliar, reserved only for Kristopher in her life. She moved to remove the jacket, but Fred gently stopped her. “You’re already frail. If you get sick and land in the hospital again, your cat will be lost for even longer.”’ Belinda paused, then reluctantly left the jacket on. Stories live now on They headed to the convenience store by the entrance and picked up some cat food. With the cat food in one hand and a flashlight in the other, they started calling out for Fluffy as they roamed the area. After a grueling four-hour search through the stairwells and around the neighborhood, encountering several stray cats but not finding Fluffy, fatigue began to set in. It was well past ten o’clock at night when Fred finally sighed. “If we keep yelling, we’ll just end up annoying the neighbors.”’ He glanced at Belinda standing next to him. “We should”¦”’ He paused mid-sentence as he noticed the tears glistening on her cheeks under the moonlight. His tone, usually buoyant, softened considerably. “Belinda, please”¦ don’t cry.”’ Overwhelmed, Belinda’s pent-up emotions surged. “Is Fluffy”¦ gone for good?”’ She bit her lip and gripped the front of her shirt tightly, her voice breaking as she sobbed. “Will Fluffy never return? I’m”¦ such a failure”¦ I can’t even keep a cat safe”¦”’ She hadn’t shed a tear when she lost her baby. Nor had she when Kristopher paraded his new romance for all to see. Nor when the Cox family had humiliated her in public. But now, as she lost Fluffy, her tears flowed freely. Why? Why couldn’t this one small wish be granted? All she wanted was for the cat that had kept her company through countless lonely nights to stay by her side to the end. She regretted caring for blind Kristopher along with Joyce five years ago, foolishly letting herself fall in love with him. She regretted trying to close the distance with Kristopher, driven by a hidden crush, becoming his caregiver. And she regretted pushing for marriage to care for him in his vegetative state, against his better judgment three years prior”¦ But hadn’t she suffered enough? She had lost her baby, her health was failing, and she had resolved to let go of both Kristopher and herself at life’s end. Wasn’t that sacrifice enough? Why, then, could she not even keep her beloved cat?…