"I’m done, Frederick. I know you’re innocent. If you had anything with her, you’d have been together already. I trust you. But I don’t love you anymore."

He looked shocked, confused. Just then, his phone rang. I caught a glimpse of the caller: Lucia.

Frederick hesitated for less than a second before answering, his face turning tense. "Okay, I’ll be right there."

He glanced at me before leaving. "We’ll talk about this breakup when I’m done."

I went downstairs and poured myself a glass of water. To my surprise, Hugo, my junior brother, was there.

"How did you get in?"

He held up a small package of medicine, looking embarrassed. "I came to bring you medicine. The door was open, so I came in to check."

I wondered how much he had heard.

"You’ve caught me at a bad time," I said, while rubbing my forehead.

Hugo shook his head. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you."

I nodded for him to continue.

"The war between Country Y and Country B has dragged on with so many casualties. Our boss wants to send a two-person team to report from the front lines as a war journalist. Would you consider joining the project, Senior?"