My Billionaire Husband

Seeing the change in her face and her weakened body jerk slightly, Jimmy asked with worry, "Kate, are you OK? Did you think of something?"

His question woke Kate up. She blinked her eyes and said, "No, I am thinking…I have something to finish in the store. I have to get back."

She walked a few steps and then turned back and reached out her hand. "My cell phone…"

Jimmy picked the SIM card from the remains of the phone in his palm and gave it to Kate. "This should still be workable. Put it in a new phone and see if it works."

Seeing Kate still stretching her hand out, he returned the remains of her phone, but he picked the little piece out and said, "I will take this back to my office. Since you have no idea about it, it is better to have someone investigate it."

He looked Kate in the eyes while he said this, but Kate put the remains of the phone into her pocket without expression and said indifferently, "It doesn't belong to me anyway."

She turned back and walked. Jimmy grabbed her arm. His eyes were full of concern.

"Kate, what is the matter with you? What happened?"

And then he hesitated and added, "Something happened just a few days ago, didn't it?"

Kate's arm stiffened, and his instinct was confirmed.

"Kate, we are friends. You can tell me about any problem you have."

He was sincere, and his frowning brows showed his anxiety.

Kate muttered, "But you are a cop."

He was startled but soon laughed, "Isn't that even better? I can employ resources others do not have. I can do better."

Kate muttered dejectedly, "No. I cannot tell you."

She let go of his hand and walked across the street. Jimmy was going to chase her, but a long truck roared past. He had to retreat to the roadside. After the truck was gone, Kate had disappeared at the entrance of the supermarket.

Jimmy crossed the road but didn't go inside to see her.

He got back to his car and put the tracking device into a plastic bag, gave it one last glance, and put it away.

Jimmy took out a cigarette and lit it. He thought of Kate's abnormal reaction just now and their few meetings since he had known her. It was unbelievable for a simple girl like her to be involved in such things. He was even upset that she refused his help.

After Jimmy finished his cigarette, someone knocked on his car door. He turned aside and saw Kate.

"There is one thing." After getting in the car, Kate spoke slowly and looked into Jimmy's eyes. "You are my friend, right?"

Jimmy nodded.

She told him about her bizarre experiences. A friend of hers had given her an envelope and asked her to keep it safe for her; she was kidnapped and tortured; she was released, and then her father got sick; the people met her near the hospital and offered to trade with her, etc.

Kate said that they might have planted the wiretap device.

Jimmy listened attentively and nodded. "It is possible. Did you see what was in the envelope?"

She shook her head.

"Do you know who they are?"

Kate shook her head again.

"What they looked like?"

Kate hesitated and then shook her head again.

Jimmy saw the problem and said, "You have some reservations."

Kate nodded. "I am not afraid of them, but I am worried that they might do something to my family."

Jimmy sighed.

Kate asked carefully, "I am thinking…if you can check for me if Betty is still alive. Did you find some…someone who resembles her."

She could not find the words to tell Jimmy that she wanted to bring Betty's ashes back to her parents if she had died.

Jimmy said, "I will check. This is murder, a criminal case. Besides, what are you going to tell her parents? Their daughter was murdered in another city without any evidence of why and by whom. Should they be kept in the darkness?"

These words hit the softest part of Kate's heart, and she was speechless.

Jimmy knew he could not push her too hard. He patted Kate on the shoulder and said, "Don't take it too hard, though. If you have anything to say to me, call me any time. If an investigation is initiated, you and your family will be protected. There are legal procedures for this."

Kate looked at him and said with appreciation and a little fear, "Thank you." She was as polite as the first time he saw her, and Jimmy felt his heart ache.

Jimmy touched her slightly messy hair and said, "You see, you don't take me as a friend now."

He realized that maybe his movement was a little too intimate. Jimmy laughed and took his hand back.

When Kate had almost reached her apartment building after work, the sound of a car horn scared her. She looked over. A car was parked in the shadows where the road lights did not reach.

When she looked there, the headlights turned on suddenly.

Ed got out and waved to her, pulled open the back door, and signaled for her to get in. She hesitated but obeyed.

When she bent over, she saw Tristan sitting inside in formal clothes. Ed said to her, "Don't waste time, get in."

Tristan smiled at her harmlessly, but Kate naturally thought of the bloody finger at the sight of him. Somewhere in her body hurt too.

He grabbed her hand and put it on his l.a.p, but she threw his hand away suddenly and looked at him in fear.

Tristan laughed understandingly and grabbed her hand again tightly, not giving her any chance to get away this time, and said in a pacifying tone, "I just dropped by to see you and send you something."

Waiting for her to calm down, Tristan asked again, "Why have you turned off your phone?"

As he mentioned this, Kate felt a pang in her heart. Thinking of the thing he planted on her phone, her hatred for him increased, but she managed to reply.

"It was crushed by a car."

Fearing he would not believe her, she took out the remains of the phone from her pocket.

"Couldn't be repaired."

Amused at the pathetic remains of the phone, Tristan took them and examined them, asking, "This is all of it?"

"Some small pieces remained on the road."

He threw them into the dustbin of the car and said, "It is OK. I will have somebody send you a new one tomorrow."

"Don't." Kate blurted out.

But she soon felt her hand clamped tighter, and her eyes met his. Tristan said, "Remember, from now on, whatever I give you, you can only accept."

Tristan held Kate's hand captive for the entire car ride, and he rubbed it unconsciously. Sometimes his thumb would rub across her palm and make her shiver.

This torture made the time pass by slower, and after what felt like a geological age, Tristan looked at his watch and released her, saying benignly, "I have some other things to attend to. Let Ed help you move the things up."

Ed had already produced two big cases from the trunk and waited outside. Kate fled from the car as Tristan smiled to himself.

***

Early the next morning, Ed sent Kate a new cell phone, packed in a fancy paper bag. Without looking inside, Kate could already tell what class of product it was. Ed said that there was a SIM card in it but that Kate could use her original SIM card if she preferred.

After Ed left, Kate was still standing in a corner behind the supermarket. This kind of thing did not go with her social status. But what social status she was in now? The words echoed ghastly in her ears, "Whatever I give you, you can only accept."

She sighed and picked up a black plastic bag from the nearby garbage bin, put the whole paper bag in, and then went back to the supermarket.

She knew that she had to take the phone, but deep down in her heart, she resisted it with disgust. She put the black plastic bag into her locker without giving it another look.

That afternoon when she was working, Jenny called her and said someone wanted to see her outside.

She went out and saw Jimmy.

Jimmy said, "I called you but couldn't get through. So I knew you hadn't bought a new phone yet. I happened to have an extra one. I haven't used it yet."

He felt his explanation was overdone when he met her blank eyes. The fact was that he bought the phone on his lunch break.

Jimmy had weighed over the models while he was picking. Kate would never accept an expensive model; an updated model would not do either. Finally, he picked a simple and low profile phone with sufficient features; the model launched last year.

Seeing Kate's lack of reaction, he shoved the box into her hands and said, "I don't know if you like it, but just make do with it."

Kate took it hastily to avoid dropping it on the floor, but she pushed it back to him and said, "Thank you very much. It is too much, too expensive. I cannot take it."

"Hey," Jimmy scratched his head. "It is not much in size or price. Really."

He was a little helpless at her persistence and a little lost too. He found an excuse. "I have a case to attend to. I have to go now." Then he jumped in his car and fled away.

She waited until his Pajero disappeared in the traffic. Kate held the box tightly on her c.h.e.s.t and as if she wanted to push it into her body. She felt bitter inside and said to herself, "Don't be so nice to me now. I don't deserve it."

The phone Jimmy sent her was a white Nokia, simple and smart. Frankly, Kate liked it. She looked at it for a while and put the little SIM card in.

She took a close look at the place where the battery was located to compare it with her previous cell phone. She knew she didn't have to worry about this cell phone; on the contrary, the one in her locker might be dangerous.

She made a call to Max. Max was smart and s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e. She knew he would feel guilty judging from what he saw that day. She knew what it felt like to be guilty, so she was worried about him.

It was very quiet on the other line, and Max explained that he was in the library preparing for a contest. They exchanged a few words simply and intentionally avoiding a subject they both did not want to address.

After hanging up, Kate thought, whatever it was, it was enough if her family were all safe.

At this stage of life, safe and peaceful life was luxurious for her. This recent, radical change in her life hadn't allowed her any time for a break.

It was not time to get off work yet, and Ed called. "When do you get off? I am outside your supermarket. Come out now."

"I haven't finished my shift yet."

"Then, I will come inside."

"Don't." Kate sighed and walked out. She told Adda she would leave early.

She was in poor shape and looked pale these past two days, and Adda thought she was under the weather. Adda asked her to take good care of herself and to get some rest.