Arrogant Man VS Unyielding Woman

"Zed, you better not forget that Jean is your wife. If you hurt her, I will never forgive you." As he said this, Moore angrily got up from the bed and approached Zed to look him straight in the eye.

"Who cares about your forgiveness?" Retorted Zed as he looked Moore up and down with a sneer. "She is MY wife. It's up to me how I treat her and frankly, it's none of your business. You don't have the right to question me on anything, let alone threaten me." Moore was unperturbed and still looked daggers at Zed. The atmosphere in the ward immediately froze.

"Zed, you better start regretting how you treat her or soon enough she'd despair of you and divorce you." Moore could not help but sputter this out.

"This is a matter between Jean and me. It has nothing to do with you." Zed's face clouded with unhappiness as Moore had uttered his worst fear out in the open.

"What else did you do besides behaving so selfishly and arrogantly? You have never thought about her! It is really kind of Jean to tolerate your flaws and still not divorce now. Think hard. Do you really believe that you have treated her well in your heart? If you continue to be obsessed with this, you will divorce sooner or later. "

"What did you say? I don't want to hear those words again!" Zed gave Moore a death stare as he soberly ingested Moore's bitter words.

'This is a matter between Jean and me. No one is allowed to make irresponsible remarks on it. Least of all, you.'

Moore introspected on the situation. He wouldn't have put up with Zed's rudeness if it weren't for Jean.

When he first saw Jean tetchy and absent-minded yesterday, Moore knew that Jean and Zed must have fought.

Even if he did not ask the reason behind Jean being out-of-sorts, he somewhere knew what their fight must be about.

'I used to be polite to Zed because I didn't want Jean to be sad and upset. I would do anything to see a smile on her beautiful face.

But it is getting hard to ignore Zed's ill-treatment of me, which is worsening day after day.

Now that Zed has had the gall to come here and talk to me in such rude terms, he must have argued with Jean.

Probably, the outcome of their argument was terrible, or else Zed won't have come and warned me to stay away from her.

The question then is where Jean is?

Where is she right now?

Since Zed is so angry and irrational right now, he might have house-arrested her this very minute.'

Moore had been bringing up divorce again and again on purpose. In a way, he was trying to warn Zed against mistreating Jean or doing anything to hurt her.

"Zed, I do not want to quarrel with you." Moore meant what he said and looked Zed deep in the eyes to convince him of the truth in his words. He added," I know what has been going on between you and Jean, though not much in detail. I know what you have done for Jean out of love. But I don't agree with the way you did those things for her. This is why your relationship has been plagued with misunderstandings and conflicts since the beginning."

"Don't talk nonsense!" Zed couldn't hold it any longer and burst out with anger. "If you hadn't come between the two of us, our relationship would not have come to this!"

"At least, you express your true feelings now. According to you, it is I who caused problems between you and Jean. Zed, don't you think Jesse is to be blamed for this?" Moore was incensed at Zed for putting the blame on him for his own faults.

Now that Moore had thrown Jesse's name into the heated argument, Zed was speechless.

"I know that you must have thought well and hard before coming to find me today. But, no matter what I say, you will not believe that Jean and I are just friends. But what about the relationship between Jesse and you? Have you ever thought about Jean's feelings when you treat Jesse intimately in front of Jean? Because of me, you felt jealous. Then, what about Jean? Have you ever thought that Jean would feel jealous because of Jesse? Why can't you think more about Jean? If you really love her, why do you keep on making her miserable again and again?"

Moore tried to read what effect his words had on Zed. He was flushed with the effort of arguing with Zed and eager to make him realize what serious consequences Zed's actions were having on his marriage.

"Why did you say those words? I know that you like Jean. Otherwise, you will not stay by her side and act as if you were her good friend," Zed didn't buy Moore's version and tried to wheedle the truth out of him.

"In front of you, I think I do not have to hide my feelings towards Jean." Moore looked at Zed and sighed. "Actually, I really appreciate and like Jean because of her kindness and loveliness. But I also know clearly that we can just be friends. Because she is your wife now and I will never destroy someone else's marriage. That's all."

"Who knows whether you are telling the truth or not? Why should I believe you?" Zed sneered.

"Of course, it is up to you whether you want to believe me or not. I don't care either way," Moore said frankly.

Zed couldn't help but be puzzled by Moore's behavior.

'Should I believe him?'

Initially, Zed had liked Moore and instinctively trusted him.

But ever since there had been recurring fights between Jean and him, his reasoning pointed at Moore as the culprit. Zed had no choice but to doubt Moore.

But just this moment, Moore had told him his true feelings for Jean and still admitted that he would not destroy his marriage.

Not knowing why but Zed relented to Moore's candor.

"I believe in you. Moore, I hope you will not let me down," Zed finally sighed, looked at Moore and said.

Moore was gripped by a complex emotion. He shook his head helplessly and said," I could have casually told you that I don't care. But now your words all sincere and forthright have made me stressful."

"Why?" Zed immediately asked him with panic rising in his throat.

"Ever since there have been fights between you two, I have been worried about her. And you will definitely stop us from meeting because you know that I am worried and take her side whenever she needs help, right?" Moore was watching Zed as closely as possible. "Yes. I won't allow Jean to meet you again. I can also tell you that Jean will not appear casually in front of anyone ever again," Zed said with arrogance.

"Are you planning to imprison her? Zed, do you know it is illegal?" Zed's conceited words had shocked Moore. Although he had expected Zed of doing something drastic, still he didn't believe that it was true.

But it was true. All along, it was exactly what he had been fearing for Jean.

'Zed might be mad but how can he treat Jean like this?'

"Illegal? I will imprison her to make her understand that I am her true lover. Didn't she say that she needs some time to calm herself down? Now it will be a good opportunity for her to calm down," Zed shouted in anger.

The thought of Jean trying to divorce him irritated Zed.

"Zed, if you insist on doing this, I know that Jean would be all the more disappointed of you. You can imprison her body, but you can't control her heart. Do you want things to go on like this? Don't you love Jean? You should respect her." Moore was aghast with what Zed had been thinking. He was trying to find one iota of reason in the absurd man Zed had become.

"Respecting her doesn't fix anything. She wants to divorce me." This thought of divorce was hounding Zed again and again. It was like a snake rearing its head recurrently to attack the very foundation of his marriage. Zed was annoyed and said," Stop giving me useless advice! I know what I should do."

"No. Your rationality has been blinded by your anger. You don't know what you are doing. Zed, if you still want to reconcile with Jean, you should accept my advice. Go back and talk to her gently. I know that Jean feels greatly unhappy all because of Jesse. ¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶