This Time I Don't Need You to Coax Me

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Geoffrey traded in the car I'd brought as my dowry for a six-seat luxury SUV, saying it would be roomier for the baby that was coming soon.

On the day we picked it up, he asked me to invite Alexandra along too.

Lexie knows cars, so let her help us inspect it.

I nodded, but something about it felt strange.

Geoffrey and Alexandra don't get along; every time they meet, their conversations are all barbs and jabs.

Yet now they were standing in front of the car chatting like a close pair, and I couldn't get a word in.

The salesman saw me sitting alone in the lobby and assumed I was a new customer, so he smiled and handed me a bottle of water.

"Miss, is there a model you like?"

"I'd recommend that oneit's really perfect for a young couple like you. See, that young pair came to look at it plenty of times, and in the end they bumped up their budget just to get it."

"The guy joked that the back seat lies flat like a bed, said he wanted to sleep in the car with his girlfriend sometime to really enjoy it..."

The words were like knives in my ear, scraping until it hurt.

So he'd swapped the car to chase thrills sleeping around with Alexandra?

In that moment, I realized the man I'd loved for ten years and my best friend had rotted together.

Section 1

"Miss? Miss?"

When the salesman saw I wasn't responding, he reached out and waved a hand in front of me.

The sting in my eyes snapped me back. I forced myself calm and shook my head at him.

"Thank you, I don't need anything."

With that, I walked out of the dealership without looking back.

I opened Alexandra's Instagram and scrolled a long time before I finally found that photo of the SUV.

I want to lie in the back seat with you forever, never apart.

The picture showed two feet resting against each other. I hadn't paid it any mind back then.

Now, after what the salesman said, I understood what it meant.

It turned out Alexandra and Geoffrey had betrayed me long ago.

It had been posted in Februaryright when I'd just gotten pregnant.

The August heat was absurd, but at that moment my whole body went cold, as if I'd dropped into an ice cellar.

Through the glass, I watched him and Alexandra dart around the showroom, exactly like a young married couple.

They talked and laughed, and no one even noticed I was gone.

It was Alexandra who found me later.

She came rushing out in a panic, and seeing me drenched in sweat, quickly pulled out a wet wipe to dab it away.

"Leo, why are you out here?"

"It's so hot, and you're pregnant. What if you get heatstroke?"

The worry in Alexandra's eyes was real.

But it was also real that she'd betrayed me.

Right then, how badly I wanted to take her hand and ask her exactly what was going on.

But I knew asking now would get me nowhere.

Geoffrey came out too. First he glanced at Alexandra without thinking.

Then his eyes slid to me, a trace of impatience in them.

Actually, the old Geoffrey wasn't like this.

He'd changed the moment I got pregnant and decided to keep the baby.

I knew he didn't want this child.

But because of my body, I had no choice but to keep it.

"Leonora, what are you doing!"

"Alexandra and I both took time off to pick up the car, and we're short on time as it is. You're dragging things out!"

I stared at him without expression and said nothing.

Alexandra hurried to smooth it over, tugging at Geoffrey. "How could you lose your temper at Leo?"

"She's pregnant nowher moods swing enough as it is. You should be more understanding."

Geoffrey knit his brows and gave a cold snort. "Don't all women give birth? What's there to make such a fuss about?"

"Leaving perfectly good air conditioning to go stew in a sauna out front!"

"Besides, keeping this kid wasn't my idea."

"All right, all right, that's enough."

Alexandra made a show of tugging Geoffrey's arm, then draped an arm around my shoulders. "Aw, my sweet Princess Leo, don't be upset."

"Today's your big day, picking up the cardon't let some little thing spoil the mood."

The peacemaker used to be me.

When I first started seeing Geoffrey, Alexandra didn't like him.

"What's so great about a guy like that? He's just got a little family money and struts around like he's something."

"I heard he dated a whole string of girls back at his old school. Leo, he's not right for you."

Alexandra hadn't wanted me with Geoffrey from the start, so she did everything she could to stir up trouble.

Stirred it up until Geoffrey couldn't stand her either.

"Your taste in friends is really something."

"A crazy woman like Alexandra doesn't deserve to be your friend."

Later, when Geoffrey and I got together, Alexandra was so angry she nearly cut me off entirely.

It was only through my humble coaxing and pleading that the friendship survived.

But the two of them would go at each other the second they met, firing off shots the second they opened their mouths, and every time it ended badly.

I'd soothe one, then soothe the other.

That's how it had been for these ten-odd years.

But now, Alexandra was the peacemaker.

And Geoffrey didn't contradict a single word she said.

I choked down the churning inside me and followed Alexandra back into the showroom.

The whole time, I didn't say another word.

By the time we'd picked up the car it was noon, and Geoffrey suggested we all eat together.

"Sure, let's celebrate you two getting the car!"

"My treat today!"

Geoffrey chuckled and teased, "Can't have a pretty lady footing the bill."

They walked out of the dealership talking and laughing, while I trailed behind, struggling with my five-month belly.

The moment we stepped into the restaurant, Geoffrey instinctively pulled out a chair for Alexandra.

Alexandra suddenly noticed me standing behind them, and her face changed on the spot.

"Leo, don't be angry."

"Geoffrey's only being nice to me for your sakeif I weren't your friend, he wouldn't give me the time of day."

Listening to Alexandra's transparent excuse, I looked at Geoffrey with a cold smile.

"Oh really?"

"Geoffrey, is that ityou love me, so you love my friend too?"

My chilly gaze traveled slowly over him.

"Yes, yes, yes."

Geoffrey pulled me into a seat and sat down across from me.

Only then did I realize he'd sat down across from Alexandra, while the seat across from me was empty.

"My two little empresses, order already."

Geoffrey turned the QR code menu around and pointed it at Alexandra.

Alexandra took the code as if it were the most natural thing and asked Geoffrey, "Should we get the poached fish in spicy broth? Didn't you say you wanted it last time?"

Geoffrey hummed in agreement, and when he glanced up at me his expression was a little awkward.

He coughed a few times and scooted closer to me.

"Leo, do you want some cilantro beef?"

The moment I heard the word "cilantro," the whole world went silent for me.

"Geoffrey, have you forgotten that I don't eat cilantro?"

For as long as I can remember, the one thing I've never liked is cilantro.

Geoffrey has picked I don't know how much cilantro out of my bowl over the years. He even changed his gamer tag to "Hates Cilantro" for me.

But now, he'd forgotten.

No, he hadn't forgotten. He'd remembered that Alexandra loves cilantro most of all.

"Of course I haven't forgotten. I just thought you might try it. If you don't want it, then never mind."

Geoffrey waved his hand and went on ordering.

Alexandra chatted with him on and off, about the car and about work.

Over the five months of my pregnancy, their relationship had changed in a fundamental way, and I hadn't noticed a thing.

The whole meal tasted like ash.

When we finished, I walked out first.

Looking at the two of them, I actually felt like I couldn't breathe.

Alexandra's voice came from behind me. "Go up and smooth things over with her. She's looked unhappy for a while now."

"She always needs coaxing. I'm sick of it."

"Just leave her alone. This time I'm not coaxing her!"

There was a note of suppressed anger in Geoffrey's voice.

The steps I took forward felt like they'd been filled with lead.

All kinds of images flashed through my mind, some of me and Geoffrey, some of me and Alexandra.

The more I remembered, the more it hurt.

When I reached the door, no one had come after me.

I couldn't help turning around to look for them, and my gaze froze on the farthest corner.

Alexandra was facing me, and Geoffrey had his head bent, working the zipper on her skirt.

"Hurry up!"

"You're so annoying! I told you to keep your hands offnow you've broken my zipper!"

Alexandra's playful, pouting words carried a hint of a laugh.

Landing in my ears, they grated.

I just stood there staring at them until they both looked up at me.

Our eyes met, and Alexandra flushed with embarrassment.

Geoffrey walked toward me without any change in his expression. "Lexie's zipper broke. I was helping her with it."

I didn't respond, and looked at Alexandra.

"Leo, I was just about to call you over, but you didn't turn around or answer me."

I'm not deaf.

She hadn't called me.

Before I could say anything, Geoffrey put his arm around me and walked me into the elevator.

Looking at the three of us in the elevator mirror, my heart sank all the way down.

There was a time when I fought with everything I had to bring the three of us together.

But now that the lines between us have blurred, all that's left is bitterness.

The whole way there I kept my face cold and said nothing.

"Leo, are you still angry about what just happened?"

"Let me apologize to you, okay? You're pregnant now, you can't let yourself get upset."

Alexandra spoke to me with a hurt look on her face.

I gave a half-hearted "mm."

"Leonora Henson!"

Geoffrey shouted, and the car jerked to a sudden stop.

I instinctively shielded my belly and looked at the furious Geoffrey with my brows drawn together.

Before I could get a word out, Geoffrey had already blown up.

"You had a long face the whole time at the dealership, and at dinner you acted like everyone there owed you millions."

"If you're really this unhappy, then get out of the car!"

In the cramped car, Geoffrey's accusations rang back and forth in my ears.

Outside the window, the drizzling rain looked like it was only going to get heavier.

No matter how much I could endure, in that moment I couldn't keep my eyes from going red.

"Fine!"

I threw open the car door, got out without looking back, and rushed into the rain.

The newly bought six-seat luxury SUV shot past me, splashing muddy water all over me.

Tears fell instantly.

Geoffrey and I had been together for ten years, and in all those ten years our relationship had never had a single problem.

He had a bad temper, and sometimes when he was unhappy he'd yell a little, but other than that he was really good to me.

He gave me the best gifts for every holiday, and he gave me so many surprises.

He would always hold me and say, "Leo, marrying you is my greatest dream."

Later, his family went bankrupt, and I was the one who stayed by his side through those hard years.

When everyone urged me to leave him and marry someone else, I stood firmly by his side.

But now, through his actions, he was telling me that none of it had been worth it.

So it turned out love could change just like that.

Now his eyes held no more tenderness for how hard my pregnancy was; instead, they were full of dissatisfaction with me.

That temper he used to hold back was now, with love gone, coming out one bit at a time.

"Baby, Mommy chose the wrong person."

"I'm sorry, baby."

I don't know how long I walked in the rain, but I finally made it home.

In the living room, Geoffrey sat there waiting for me.

He glanced at me and casually tossed a towel onto my arm.

"Hurry up and dry off."

"You're pregnant, and you sulk without even caring about your own body."

With those two sentences, Geoffrey acted as though nothing had happened.

I clutched the towel and looked up at him.

"Geoffrey, when did you and Alexandra get so close?"

Geoffrey's shoulders went stiff.

"Haven't you always wanted the two of us to get along?"

"Now you've got what you wanted, and you're starting to imagine things again?"

"Leonora, have you forgotten it was you who begged me to let her into our company? We're colleagues. Do you think you'd be happy if I gave her a cold face every single day?"

After his family went bankrupt, Geoffrey threw himself into finance.

Relying on his old connections, he'd done quite well in the field.

Alexandra lost her job at the start of the year, and after she defaulted on her mortgage she came to me for help.

I begged Geoffrey to get Alexandra an internal referral, and she got in as a secretary.

Looking back now, their relationship really did change after they became colleagues.

And at the time I was so immersed in the joy of being pregnant that I didn't notice a thing.

I opened my mouth, but with a whole bellyful of rebuttals, I no longer wanted to say a single word.

I had seen the way Geoffrey looked when he loved me.

And now, the way he looked when he didn't, I could see through it at a glance too.

In the past, when we had a conflict, he wouldn't argue with me about who was right or wrong; he would just coax me until I was happy.

But now all his eyes held was the drive to win, to come out on top.

As if only when I admitted defeat would he feel satisfied.

"Forget it."

I dragged my heavy steps to the bedroom door and slammed it shut with a bang.

There was no sound outside the door; it was dead quiet.

The phone in my hand kept dinging over and overmessages from Alexandra.

I didn't read a single one.

I lay in bed and let the night and the sorrow swallow me whole.

Maybe only then could I leave with resolve.

I logged into the resale app and listed the luxury SUV Geoffrey had just bought.

New car, selling cheap.

The truth was, Geoffrey never managed to comfort me in the right way.

All he ever did was buy flowers and gifts, and all he ever said was, "Baby, don't be angry."

He would never know, and never cared, what had actually made me angry.

Every single time, I comforted myself and then put on a smile for him.

After all, I loved him, and I had no reason to demand he do the things he couldn't.

But now he wasn't even willing to do that muchnot even those basics.

Because he had found someone he'd rather comfort instead.

The car was very new, so someone reached out to me quickly.

I arranged to meet that person on Friday to look at it.

Staring at the night outside the window, I felt an aching sense of loss.

The next morning, Geoffrey knocked on my door before leaving for work.

"I'm heading to work now."

"Don't be angry. I bought you your favorite soup dumplings from downstairs."

"Even if you won't eat, the baby has to."

I didn't answer.

Only when I heard the lock click on the door did I get up.

The soup dumplings on the table were still warm, but I had no appetite at all.

Geoffrey didn't know that this time, I couldn't comfort myself.

"Hello? Is this the moving company?"

"Yes, this morning. Harborview Unit 908."

I had just set down my phone when the doorbell rang.

The moment I opened the door, I saw Alexandra standing there.

"Leo, are you still angry?"

"You never answered my messages yesterday. I was so worried..."

The dark circles under Alexandra's eyes confirmed that she really hadn't slept all night.

"There's nothing to worry about."

"I'm not going to die."

"If you're looking for Geoffrey, he's already left."

Alexandra grabbed my hand, crying hard. "Just because of what happened yesterday, are you going to throw away twenty years of friendship?"

My heart twisted into a knot in my chest.

One a decade, the other twenty yearstogether they had taken up my entire life.

And now they'd turned all thirty of those years into a joke.

"Alexandra, when you were carrying on with Geoffrey, did you ever think of me?"

"Did you ever care about the twenty years between us?"

Alexandra froze for a moment, but she didn't deny it.

She sobbed, tears streaming down her face. "I'm sorry, Leo."

"I'm the one who wronged you. I never should have fallen for Geoffrey..."

And with that, she knelt down in front of me.

I stood there expressionless, until Geoffrey's voice came from behind me.

"Leonora, did you really have to make Alexandra kneel to you?"

"What is wrong with you?"

After cursing me out without any regard for the truth, Geoffrey pulled Alexandra to her feet.

"It was me. I chose to kneel on my own..."

"Leo, if you're upset, just hit me. I swear I won't fight back..."

"Can't you forgive me this once?"

Watching Alexandra weep so prettily only made me look all the more cruel in that moment.

"Alexandra, get up!"

"Leonora, she's your best friend!"

Geoffrey, beside himself with rage, jabbed a finger at me and let loose, hurling every ugly word he could think of.

I let out a helpless laugh. "Geoffrey, do you even know what she wants me to forgive her for?"

Before Geoffrey could say anything, Alexandra cried even louder.

A moment later, she fainted in Geoffrey's arms.

After cursing a few more times, Geoffrey scooped up the woman in his arms and left.

In that moment, I almost wanted to laugh.

Twenty years, and I'd had no idea Alexandra's acting was so masterful.

Ten years, and I'd had no idea Geoffrey was so utterly blind.

Not long after they left, the moving company arrived.

I packed up everything of mine and took it all with me; from every couple's photo, I tore away my half.

Looking at the apartment in front of me, my tears kept falling.

This was our marriage home. I had decorated every corner of it with care.

I had once dreamed about our life after the wedding, but now all of it had stopped right here.

Looking at the six-seat luxury SUV in the underground garage, I called that person.

"Come right now. Half price."

The moment he heard that, the man rushed straight over.

Because the car was still registered in my name after the trade-in, the transfer went through smoothly.

My phone kept buzzing in my pocket.

It was Geoffrey.

Leonora, you sold my car?

Leonora, what the hell has gotten into you!

Leonora, you moved out?

Leonora, where are you?

Leonora, I'm sorry, I was wrong...

Leonora, I don't want to break up...

I didn't reply with a single word.

I opened the wedding-planning group chat between Geoffrey and me, the one with both sets of parents and our closer relatives in it.

Alexandra was in there too.

I opened the message box. Geoffrey cheated on me.

The wedding is off.

The group chat blew up.