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475words
Hearing rhythmic creaking from the next room,I texted Lily to hurry back.
Then I knocked on the husband’s door,calmly saying in fluent English,“Your wife is having an affair with another man in her room at this very moment.”
He flew into a rage,grabbing a gun,face livid.
I followed,marveling at America’s“freedom.”
Bang!Bang!Bang!Furious knocks.
Jake’s voice,cautious:“Who’s there?”
“It’s me,”I said.“Lily left some of her things in my room.”
The second Jake cracked the door,the husband kicked it open.
Jake crashed to the floor,frozen.
The husband saw his disheveled wife on the bed and slapped her.
Jake attempted to make a quick escape,but I shouted in English,and the husband dragged him back,pummeling him.
A crowd gathered at the door.I slipped among them and started recording with a sense of glee. I hoped he'd get thoroughly beaten up.
“Emma,what’s going on?”
Lily rushed into the room,seeing Jake getting thrashed,the woman on the bed,and me watching.
I quickly put my phone away,feigning distress.“I don’t know!That man forced me to knock on the door,and things just spiraled out of control like this.”
Foreigners wouldn’t understand,so I could say anything.
Lily laid eyes on the woman and completely lost her temper,lunging,yanking her hair,screaming,“Stealing my man,you shameless slut!”
The woman fought back,seizing Lily’s hair and landing two slaps.
Lily sobbed,face tear-streaked,shrieking.
The hotel buzzed—some guy caught cheating,beaten,his girlfriend attacking the other woman instead of him.
They became the object of everyone's ridicule and slunk off to another hotel in humiliation.
I urged Lily,“Jake’s a cheater,he's not worth your love and devotion.”
She snapped back at me,“He made a mistake any guy would!You watched me get hit and didn’t help.I knew you were jealous,Emma,always pushing me to dump him.Even if we split,he’d never want you!”
Her delusional rant left me speechless.I could only respect her fate.
Watching her chase Jake’s cold shoulder was pathetic.
One thought flashed through my mind:If my daughter ever behaved in such a way, I'd discipline her severely.
Lily clung to Jake because he was the best she could get.
We’d been friends since kindergarten.My mom told me to look out for her—Lily’s dad was an alcoholic who often beat her and her mom,who blamed Lily for being a girl,claiming that she brought shame to the family.
Lily ran to our house after beatings,and Mom treated her like a daughter.
Years later,we reconnected.Lily had become a bar hostess,selling drinks.
Mom,feeling sorry for her,helped her find proper work,get her life back on track.
But Lily was lured in by the nightlife,dreaming about becoming a mistress or marrying a wealthy man.
Despite Mom’s efforts to help her,Lily betrayed the one who had been so kind to her.
While Mom wandered,heartbroken and gray-haired,Lily lived a luxurious life at our expense.
