Adam Jones slumped back into his seat, yanking at his shirt collar, leaning against the couch as he downed his drink, gulp by gulp.
He chugged the 90-proof Grenada Rum like it was water, as if he had a death wish.
Harry Hall couldn’t stand watching any longer and reached out to snatch the bottle from Adam’s hands, "Your stomach is weak, stop drinking."
Adam’s eyes, bloodshot from the alcohol, coldly glanced at Harry and, without a word or fight, reached for another bottle on the table, only to have it taken and smashed to the ground by Harry.
"Enough! Is it just a divorce? Do you have to drink yourself to death over it? If you can’t let go, then go find her, chase her again, and if it’s your pride that you can’t swallow, then you deserve this."
Adam’s eyes, blurred with alcohol, looked at Harry and he suddenly laughed out loud.
He leaned back against the couch, staring at the ceiling, breathing slowly, yet so still it was as if he had fallen asleep.
It was a long while before Harry heard Adam start to speak, "Elly Campbell... she divorced me."
His voice was very hoarse, and it was unclear whether it was because of the alcohol or because he was too upset.
Hearing this, Harry looked up at him to see that his face, though smiling, was clearly tormented.
"Elly Campbell really divorced me."
He suddenly hung his head, his expression one of dejection, murmuring the sentence as if he was either reminding himself or confiding in Harry.
Harry’s expression darkened as he watched Adam’s demeanor, unsure whether to say he deserved it or to feel sympathy for him.
The marriage had been over for half a year, and only now he realized he was divorced?
No, it was only now that he felt the reality of Elly leaving him truly sink in; otherwise, why would he be so heartbroken?
As confidently as he had initially demanded the divorce, now he was just as regretful and disheveled.
"He told me to be magnanimous, to let go, but why should she? Why should she demand that I let go?"
"She doesn’t know how many years I loved her, she doesn’t know..."
"Ha! Does she think I don’t want to let go? I forced myself to try to let go for three years, but I can’t, I just can’t..."
He kept talking, not caring whether Harry was listening or not, or maybe he was simply too drunk to know what he was saying.
The sober Adam Jones would never have said these things; such a proud man would rather choke on his feelings than express them.
Harry wanted to feel sympathy for him, but he also felt Adam had brought this upon himself, making it hard to really sympathize.
Adam didn’t care whether anyone was listening to him; he sat there alone on the couch, somber and dejected, holding his phone, seemingly flipping through something idly.
Harry’s gaze swept over casually, noticing that the phone screen displayed an enlarged marriage certificate.
On the left were the names of the couple, and on the right, photos of the two, with the Bureau of Civil Affairs’ official stamp clearly imprinted on it.
He hadn’t expected this man to be so sentimental as to have taken a photo of his marriage certificate to keep in his phone.
In the photo, Elly was clearly very happy, exuding a joy that seemed to radiate from within, even through a mere photograph.
But Adam was different.
When he looked at the camera, his face was stern, his lips devoid of any hint of a smile, yet despite that, the tension and discomfort in his eyes were unmistakable.