Chapter 9 Chapter nine

"It's palmistry." Mei Hagi said, eating another piece of fried seafood at the same time. "Tarot," Ellie said. "Or, in fact, she has rejuvenation." "Past life?" Mei Hagi raised an eyebrow. "Well, I really want to find out what stupid things I did in my previous life." "Let's go," Lacey said, and before they could answer, she started packing her things. "Back to the gingerbread house?" Ellie asked, puzzled by Lacey's abrupt behavior. Mei Hagi leaned forward. "I think she means, let's go to this Madame Zola."

Lacey has hung the sweater coat and handbag on her arm, holding the book in one hand, and holding the business card in the other hand to examine it carefully. Ellie took the business card from her hand. "Rewrite your past," she read. "I'd like to go back to before I started getting fat," she said vehemently; then she handed the card back to Lacey. "Let's go find it." The two women looked at Mei Hagi at the same time. "You two don't really believe such a thing, do you? It must be some kind of stunt. If anyone could send someone back in time, she'd be on 'Sixty Minutes.' And since I've never been in any In the episode..." She paused, hoping to win some smiles from Ellie and Lacey.

"Why don't you two just go, I will..." Mei Qiu was about to decline, but the expressions of Lacey and Ellie made her lose her mind. "Well, what will I lose if I go? My future won't be worse than the past!" "Of course it could be worse," Ellie said. "You can become famous and rich and everyone you know dumps you because they think you're a snob." "Otherwise you might be elected president of the town's winter carnival, where you'll be in charge of fundraising and marketing," Lacey said. "Or—" Ellie wanted to talk nonsense again.

Mei Ha raised a hand. "I admit defeat, you won. Tell me, how do we find this eternal street?" Lacey didn't answer, but just walked forward first, Ellie followed closely behind, and Meigi, who was reluctant, followed behind. "It's absurd to do that," Meigi said. "I don't know what you two are trying to find—" Mei Qiu said all the way, they are still going all the way.As far as the eye can see, the trail appears to be deserted.There are no houses on either side of the road, and it looks like it's all undeveloped virgin woodland.Then the road turned right, and a large Victorian house loomed, the appearance of which made Maygi stop her remarks.

The house is not huge, but very delicate.Its delicate color is usually only seen in the leaflets distributed by paint companies.This house uses gray-green as its main tone, and it is matched with dark brown and dark green.The slender railing on a small balcony is subtly tricolored. "I wish Aaron could see the house," Lacey whispered. "He loved the Victorian house." "Maybe it's fake." Meigi muttered. "No," Lacey said. "I know a thing or two about architecture, and this house is really a bit old. See if the windows are not quite symmetrical? That takes a long time for a house to evolve like that."

"Look at those lilacs," Ellie said, pointing to the ten-foot bush on the right side of the room. Lacey turned to Ellie. "Don't lilacs bloom in spring? It's October." For a moment the two women stared at each other with incredible eyes. "Are you two starting to suspect that this is some kind of supernatural phenomenon? Lilacs are a type of plant. Plants bloom at very different times. Madame Zola's purple blooms in October, and you two's in May." , what's the big deal? Don't make a fuss!" Neither Lacey nor Ellie answered, and Mayggio dragged them both to the front porch of the house.When she let go, the three of them just stood there looking around.Lacey was examining the ceiling of the front porch, and Ellie was studying its swing.Mei Hagi turned around and pressed the doorbell.

The woman who answers the door looks like someone's fat, happy grandmother, except her hair is dyed an exaggerated orange. "Come in," she said gracefully, opening the door wide.In the room, the so-called French country style is adopted, and the first thing that catches the eye is the brightly colored fabrics and the large and soft sofa. The old woman smiled and looked at Lacey's face. "My late husband was a Victorian fan," she said.She has a nice voice, soft and warm; a voice you can believe in.How could a man with such a sweet voice hurt someone? She smiled at the three of them, as if waiting for their response.But Lacey and Ellie were busy looking around every corner of the house, and only Maygi looked at the old woman.

"You are Mrs. Zola?" Meigi asked, with a trace of disdain in her voice. But the woman didn't think it was disobedient. "That's my stage name, my real name is Bertie. Now, may I serve you three young ladies?" That "young" description made Lacey and Ellie smile, and they didn't speak for a while.To tell them why they came was to admit that they believed she could...well, what the hell was she saying she was doing? "We, uh, found your business card," Ellie said, then cleared her throat. "You, uh, can take a photo?" "Oh, no," said Madame Zola. "I just send people back in time and change their lives. I don't know anything about a person's future. I don't know anything about their past. I only do one thing."

"Only one thing?" Ellie asked with raised eyebrows. "Exactly," said Madame Zola cheerfully. "If you're all interested, we can go to the sun room and once the fee is paid, we can get started." "Aha," Meigi said. "cost." Mrs. Zola turned her head abruptly, her gaze fixed on May Hagi's face. "Yes, honey," her voice was firm. "I have expenses like you, so I have to charge." Mei Hagi smiled guiltily, and took a step back. "I want to know the details of this kind of thing first," Lacy said with a smile. "After all, I've never heard of anyone with your skills."

Mrs. Zola looked at Lacey, and the happy expression appeared again. "I do exactly what my business card says, I help people rewrite their past." It was Ellie's turn to step up and speak. "We really don't understand what it really means, maybe you can explain it from the beginning." Madame Zola explained quickly. "I can send you back in time for three weeks, that's all. Of course you can choose when and where you want to go back. When the time expires, you will come back here without losing a second. You can choose then. You can Keep your current life, or live according to the new future you create. However, I must warn you, the new future will have unknown risks. In your current life, you may have escaped a car accident or bereavement pain, but who knows what will happen in the new life? But that's the only risk. Now, do you still have questions?"

Lacey and Meigi stood there and blinked fiercely, still not fully comprehending what Mrs. Zola said.But Ellie, who is used to listening to stories, is very adaptable to this shorthand way of speaking. "If they choose to keep the current life, do they remember the new life they didn't choose? And when they go back to the past, will the existing knowledge be brought with them?" Ellie asked repeated questions. "It's up to you," said Madame Zola. "Whether you want to remember or forget, it's up to you. Yes, you can go back in time with the knowledge you have now. You can be eighteen again and have the wisdom of all the vicissitudes. Many women have chosen that road. " Mei Hagi didn't fully understand Mrs. Zola's words, but she understood the word "forget". "I'd rather forget everything that happened to me after the three of us met," she whispered. Madame Zola heard her whisper. "As you wish. Well, are you going to do it?" "How do you calculate the cost?" Ellie asked.She doesn't have an agent and is no stranger to negotiating prices. "One hundred dollars." The three women blinked in confusion, and Lacey was the first to come to her senses. "You mean you can send us back to the past for a hundred dollars?" Madame Zola's eyes were shining with pleasure, and she was looking directly at Mei Hagi. "You didn't see anything like that in 'Sixty Minutes,' did you, dear?" Mei Hagi smiled at her guiltily, and looked away in embarrassment.Had she bugged the front porch to listen in on every visitor's private conversation? "Never mind," Ellie said, reaching into her purse for a wallet. "I treat you. Even if it doesn't work—" With her back to Mrs. Zola, she winked at Lacey and Meiqi, expressing that she was sure that the whole thing must be Bo Junyi's big joke. "I can also reimburse the expenses in the name of research." Turning around, she handed three banknotes to Mrs. Zola. The old woman accepted the banknotes with a smile, stuffed them into the pocket of her lavender dress, and pointed to the aisle beyond the living room. "My office is there," she said. "please follow me." "Everyone's holding hands tight?" Ellie whispered to Lacey and Mayggio, as if they were about to hitch a roller coaster and go on an adventure. Madame Zola led them into a small room at the back of the house.There are windows on both sides of the room, facing the corner of the garden with deep greenery.Dense climbing vines hang from the high walls; lush green trees intersperse among them.There were no flowers as far as the eye could see, no color of any kind but a rich green. The only objects in the room were three chairs of the same style—a Queen Anne-style armchair with a dark green seat facing the window.On the floor was a thick rug with a pattern of tangled branches and leaves; the pale yellow walls were bare of any books. Ellie tried to lighten the tension with a joke. "If only two of us wanted to go back in time," she laughs. "Would you run over and remove a chair first?" Madame Zola did not smile. "My guests are carefully selected. I knew all three of you needed me." At this, Maygwi almost turned and walked away, but Lacey and Ellie grabbed her arms and pulled her back; then they took her to the middle chair and half pushed her down to sit down. "Will it hurt?" Mei Hagi asked. "Of course not," said Madame Zola. "The only things that hurt are the experiences in your life. I'm not going to bring you any pain. Now, you have to tell me where you want to go back." "Which time do you mean back?" Ellie asked. Madam Zola, standing in front of them, looked at Ellie with an expression as if she wasn't very bright. "Of course I mean time. I'm not the bus driver, am I?" Madam Zola laughed as if she had just told a super-joke.And the three women didn't respond to her jokes. "By the way, I have another request that I forgot to tell you." Hearing this, Meigi gave Airi and Lacey a look of "I should have said it earlier". "I'm going to take a picture of you guys. I collect before and after pictures of my clients. It helps me remember." "Can we see your photo album?" Ellie asked immediately. "You're the writer, eh?" Madame Zola said, laughing. "There's one thing about writers—they're always trying to put words into words, and then those words will make them rich, aren't they?" From the way she spoke, it seemed that Ally's life had been spent rolling around in money.Ellie smiled weakly at her, feeling her face flush. "I'll be back in a minute, and I hope you've made up your mind by then." As soon as Mrs. Zola left the room, all three women breathed out the breath they had held for a long time. "Where did you bring us?" Mei Hagi was the first to attack. "Are you referring to Ellie or me?" Lacey asked calmly. "What does that matter?" Mei Hagi asked. "This whole thing is ridiculous. I'm leaving—" "If she's a charlatan, my three hundred dollars will be wasted. If she can really—" Ellie whispered, aiming at the door. "If she can really do what she said, you can go to Moshi." "Before you miscarried." Lacey's voice was barely audible. This sentence made Mei Qiu sit back in the chair, staring straight at the green shade outside the window, with shock written all over his face. "You?" Lacey asked Ellie. "Do you want to go back to the day the three of us met? Before you met your ex-husband?" "No!" Ellie said firmly. "Who knows what's going to happen to me then? Maybe I'll know a normal, nice man who's raised five kids by now. If that's the case, I'll never have time to figure out I can write. No, Although he is a ruffian, I know I can write because of him. I don't want to miss the balance. No, I just want to change the judgment against me in the divorce lawsuit. He was prepared to leave, and I was disturbed by his ruthlessness Panic. What about you? What time do you want to go back to?” Lacey smiled.She was about to answer when Madam Zola came back into the room with a cheap Polaroid camera. "Come on, honey, have a smile," she said, and took pictures of them one by one. She did not show them the developed photographs.In fact, she didn't look at it herself, just put the photo and camera on the window lattice. "Have you all made up your mind?" she asked, as if they were deciding what to have for lunch. "Yeah." Lacey replied, and Meigi and Ellie just nodded. Mrs. Zola looked at Mayhagi. "Honey, you go first. I think you lost the most." "The day the three of us met," Umegi said firmly. "October 9, 1981." Madam Zola made no comment, but turned to look at Ellie. "And you?" "Three years, seven months and seven weeks ago," she said. "Three weeks before my divorce case begins." She would have liked to go back early so she could gather evidence, but she had to go back to a day when she had filed for divorce. Madam Zola looked at Lacie again. "I don't know the exact date," Lacey said. "But it should be April 1980, the year I graduated from college." She lowered her voice. "During spring break," she whispered.How embarrassing it would be if the other two heard that she wanted to meet a boy she hadn't seen in twenty years, but how could she explain her knot?In any case, her problems didn't seem that serious compared to theirs.Husband's infidelity cannot be compared with what happened to Meiqi and Ai Li.If—she refused to think that this was the inevitable end—she and Aaron divorced, she was sure that Aaron would be fair and honest with her... "Liar," she heard her mother's voice say. "Are you sure?" Mrs. Zola asked Lacey. "Are you absolutely sure?" "Yeah," Lacey said firmly. "I'm absolutely sure." "Well, then, ladies, lean back in your chairs, close your eyes, and think of the hour you are going to." For a moment, the three of them felt as if they were floating.It was a good feeling, and they couldn't help but smile.After a while, the floating sensation stopped and they seemed to be pushed through a tunnel. Just before Maycho came to the end of the tunnel, she remembered that they were on the road, not on the front porch of this house, when they talked about what she had seen on TV.So how did Madame Zola hear what she had to say?However, before she could figure out the answer, she opened her eyes and saw herself sitting on a bench in a prison in New York.And Ellie—a very young, very slender Ellie was walking towards her. Ellie put down her pen and aimed at the door again.There was a note on the private eye's door saying - be back in ten minutes.But she had waited thirty-two minutes and still no sign of him.She looked at her notebook again.She's working on the outlines for a story about three women who step into a time warp and change their lives.This book will be a departure from her previous adventures about Nijoda, but the subject matter is good, and she believes it will win the hearts of readers. She was about to celebrate her fortieth birthday three days ago, but just three days ago she returned to her old life and regained her former slim figure.But more importantly, she regained her flexible imagination.For the first time in years, Ellie had stories in her head again.She was full of energy and felt that something good was about to happen.It was an eerie feeling of joy because she knew what pain the impending divorce proceedings would cause her.But since it hasn't happened yet, she hasn't had the depression she experienced after the divorce. "So much time wasted in frustration." She whispered her feelings. She hired private detective Meng Qiaozhi to investigate the "ex-husband" who was about to become a fact.Now she is sitting on the wooden chair outside Meng Qiaozhi's door.On the first day after returning, she approached this private investigator, and she had a lot of information to provide him.Most of the things she said were discovered after the divorce, but now, this time was different, she already knew what kind of calculations her ex-husband was planning.When she first visited the detective, she sat across from his desk, opened her notebook, and ran through things she knew would be important when she went to court. "He will say that he will co-write all my books, so I need you to record his daily whereabouts, showing that he is too busy socializing with the money I earn to help me write. And you said you Know a forensic accountant? I need someone to help me find out where my husband has been hiding all the money I've earned over the years," she told the private eye. He quickly jotted down her instructions, only looking up at Ellie suspiciously from time to time.She knew what he was thinking. Most women who were on the verge of divorce would just cry bitterly and feel sorry for themselves.Ellie was like that, and she lost everything as a result. "He'd say he did the research for my book, and he was half of the credit for my book," she continued. "And he'll say he's managing my earnings well, so I need an accountant to find out the difference between my earnings and the deposit account. And I'll need someone very competent to let me Ex-husband told the truth." "What?" Meng Qiaozhi asked. "My dodgy ex-husband--I mean soon-to-be--would tell the judge he didn't keep any money. But I know he did, because after the divorce I found out—" "What do you mean by 'after divorce'?" asked the detective. "Sorry for a slip of the tongue," she said, smiling slightly. "I just wanted to leave him so much that it always felt like it was the truth." She could see that he didn't accept her explanation, but she wouldn't worry about him guessing the truth. "Is there anyone you can hang out with my ex...er, husband?" she continued to instruct. "The person has to be a man, preferably looking like an alcoholic, or even better if he is." The detective put down his pen. "Please explain what the drunk has to do with his money hiding?" "My ex—" She tried, but she just couldn't bring herself to call Martin Ji "husband" again. "He used to hang out in bars at night and I believe he met a woman there." "I see." Meng Qiaozhi said, then leaned over the table and picked up his pen again. "No, you don't understand. This has nothing to do with women." She took a deep breath, leaned back in her chair, and tried to calm her emotions. “Mr. Meng, can I tell you the truth?” "That would help things a lot," he said, leaning back in his chair. "The truth is, when you have as much money as I made last year, judges and lawyers don't care who's sleeping with whom. Even if I pull out a zoomed-in photo of my ex-husband and Two men, three women, and an orangutan slept together, and no one in court would bother. "All they care about is money and nothing else. Money is money. California is a community of couples, and I don't mind giving him half of what he makes—even if he doesn't deserve a dime—because I can live with that rule. It's just that I know this guy well enough to tell a judge I couldn't have written those books without him. And the judge will just take his word for it and decide he's worth far more than what I've earned. The judge will say that Martin Kee should get all the money I have ever earned, and half of my future income, because he made me who I am today. What I have to do, and move fast, is to collect evidence that Ji Martin is not the self-sacrificing nobleman he claims to be. I want the judge to see him steal my money and hide it secretly. I just need to find out where he hides it." For a moment the detective just watched her.He knew how famous she was, and he had dealt with several writers, so he knew that the royalties could be very lucrative. "You're probably fighting for millions, aren't you?" "Millions of money and priceless pride," she said softly. "What he wants is money, but what I want to fight for is my sanity and my future." He continued to watch her for a moment, then picked up his pen again. "Then why do you think he would tell a stranger about the money?" She smiled slightly at the top of his head. "My ex-husband was a big mouther and he was a big drinker," she said. "Because the losers of the world make him feel good by comparison." "And you want to induce him to tell where the money is hidden?" "Well. Where's the money he's been stealing from my bank account over the years? You see, I did a little math myself, and while he's a good spender, I make more money. But I don't know where the money is. Where. I've been rummaging through all the papers in the house for the past three days and I can't find anything. The only hope now is for him to speak up." Meng Qiaozhi raised his eyebrows and looked at her suspiciously. "And you think he'd say it to a stranger?" "That's right," Ellie said firmly. "Martin loves to brag and talk about how smart he is. If you could get someone to sneak up on him and tell some sad stories about how he got cheated on by his wife, Martin would tell how he beat her up. .” The detective grunted, shook his head, and started recording again. "Okay, you're right. Send a drunk. Anything else?" Allie told Meng Qiaozhi all the details that could help her prove it.Even if she could find the money, though, he wouldn't be prosecuted for theft; taking his wife's money was perfectly legal.While most people would think that was immoral, she had seen that the judiciary didn't care about moral issues, whether it was legal or not.If she could prove that he had hidden money from his house, she could force him to give her half of it, because community property stipulated that all money should be divided equally.So if she can prove that Martin is the kind of guy who hides money, maybe the judge won't believe Martin's nonsense that he helped Ellie write the book. After her first meeting with the private eye, she drove back home, to the home she shared with Martin.In the first ruling, the judge awarded the house to Martin, but asked Ellie to continue to pay the mortgage.The reason for the verdict is that Ellie is now "forcing" Martin to resume the career he gave up because of her a few years ago, and since the house has a recording studio, of course the house belongs to him. When Ellie first came in, she was glad Martin wasn't home; she didn't think she could bear to see him again.In fact, she couldn't bear to even look at the house, because she knew that this time she would sell all of Martin's personal belongings since the last divorce.So she went straight through the house, ran out the back door, and down the hill to her studio.She knew that if history repeated itself, the judge would take away her beloved studio.Ellie also knew that just a few months after she signed the deed, Martin would be renting out the house, moving to Florida, and living comfortably with the money Ellie had to pay. For the first three days after returning to the past, she was so busy that she didn't pay attention to anything.It feels so good to be working again!For three full years, she did nothing but regret the humiliation she had suffered.For months, there was only one question on her mind: Why did the judge believe Martin? Maybe this time, though, she can hold out.The first time, she was unprepared for those false accusations, she would just cry about the miscarriage of justice. When she reappeared in the small town where she and Martin had lived together for years, it was a while before Ellie remembered that after she filed for divorce, she had moved into a small hotel to await court.During that period, she used the phone to communicate with the lawyer except for crying.Her self-esteem would not allow her to leave her problems to friends or relatives, so she waited alone in her room alone. But this time she won't sit still.And, she reminded herself, she had as much right to come into her home as Martin did, even if she saw him.It's just that so far, though she's been back to the house several times, even spending hours in it once searching for documents, she's never seen him. She had spent the past three days writing letters asking for supporting documents, going through all the documents, and arming herself as best she could.Martin's lawyers would say she was not reporting real income, so she asked the publishing company to provide a summary of her income and expenses each year. The documents came in minutes, and Ellie stapled them with previous years' tax returns. Now, when the private eye returns, Ellie can go through her list with him again.And she wanted to discuss her sanity with him.At least see what he suggests, how she can prove her sanity.At the time of the first divorce, Martin said that Ellie had at least two psychiatrist records during their marriage, proving she was out of her mind — and thus unable to handle her own money.Ellie laughed when she heard the accusation.Such an absurd fact is beyond comprehension.But no one else in the courtroom laughed with her. The judge ruled that she must obtain statements from the psychiatrists certifying that Allie is sane and capable of managing her own money.However, Ellie cut off contact with her psychiatrist when she was angry. She knew that the doctor would never issue a certificate to her. Even now, when she already knew what was going to happen, her sanity was still a sticking point.How can she prove that she is mentally healthy? She was so engrossed in thinking about it that she didn't notice someone coming up the carpeted stairs.Raising her head inadvertently, she saw a person leaning against the threshold, and she jumped up. "Oh! Sorry. I didn't see you go upstairs." He was a tall man, in his late seventies, or over seventy but well maintained.Like many men in California, he wore simple denim.Usually it's just a fad to wear this kind of clothing, but Ellie had a hunch that this guy really was a cowboy.He probably spent most of his time on horseback, but his favorite animal was undoubtedly the longhorn bull. "I didn't mean to scare you," he said softly.He's the kind of guy who would make a woman jealous because age treats him very well.Those fine lines that spread from the corners of his eyes made him even more handsome than in his youth.He wears designer jeans, an off-white cotton shirt with silver pearl buttons, cowboy boots and holds a brown cowboy hat. "But if you're so focused on your thinking, even if I drive a herd of cattle across here, you won't see it." She smiled at him.Like a longtime friend, there was something about this man that made her feel at ease. "I'm just trying to figure out how to prove I'm not crazy, do you have any suggestions?" She was only passing in a joke, as she always does when dealing with serious subjects, or behavior in tense moments.However, she didn't expect that the man didn't smile, he looked at her seriously. "If you're here for Mr. Meng, then I guess it's for a lawsuit. If you need to prove that you're not crazy, you must be rich. No one cares if the poor are sane. So, who wants to control you money?" For a moment Ellie just stared at him blankly. "That's right," she said at last. "My ex-husband. I mean, we're getting divorced soon." "Makes sense," the man said. "What kind of strategy is he playing? Saying that he's been 'managing' your money, and since you're crazy, he has to continue to manage it even after you dump him? And because you're a woman and he's a man, the court Might listen to his side of the story." Maybe it's the way he talks, maybe it's because of what she's done in the past three days, maybe it's just the fact that Ellie puts her hands over her face and weeps because she's faced with the same kind of doom again.The man sat down beside her like an ancient knight, took out a clean blue handkerchief and handed it to her. "Sorry," she said, still sobbing. "I don't usually cry in front of people, it's just that the situation is terrible, and no one believes me! People believe that American justice is fair and fair, and that going to court will definitely clear up wrongs. And they think that since I With all that money, I must have rights. But I don't have rights because no one believes me. They all believe him. I don't understand. Whatever I say, they think it's a lie, and whatever he says, they All of them. I told them he hid a lot of money, but my lawyer, his lawyer, or the judge didn't believe me. He said he co-wrote my book with me, and they all accepted it as a fact. And the man can't even name the three books I have, let alone know what they're about, and they believe he wrote them for me. When I say if I'm sane enough to make money, Of course capable of handling my money, they say it's not true, and that's an untenable reasoning. After all, writers are just glorified liars, aren't they? Now I can't believe I'm talking all this shit to someone I've never lived before!" Ellie wiped her tears with the man's handkerchief.If this man was hired by her ex-husband to trap her, it would be a bad thing for her to testify against her in court. "So that's where I saw you," said the cowboy, leaning over to look at her carefully. Allie froze. "What? Where?" "The cover of a book. My wife has it all over the house. You're the one... what's that name? She keeps saying it." It had been years since anyone had recognized her from a book cover.The first reason is that Ellie has gained so much weight that she no longer looks like her publicity photos, and the other reason is that if you don't have a book published in three years, the public will have forgotten you. She sobbed again. "What's the name? Faeli or Nijoda?" "That's them!" said the man. "Both names mentioned. My wife loves your book, really. She says she wants to be the woman in your book. What's her name?" "Jorda," Ellie said, her tears stilled. He nodded at her notes. "Don't tell me, you're going to write another book?" "Probably not about Nijoda, but it's another book." The way he looked at her made Ellie feel better.In the past few years, the people around her have only felt sympathy for her, sympathy for her getting fat, sympathy for her not being able to write a book, sympathy for her being defeated by men in court. "It's amazing," the man said, then held out his hand to her. "I'm Woodward," he said. "But everyone calls me Ad." She took his warm, dry, sun-tanned hand. "Ailey Lo," she said, correcting herself quickly. "However, before the divorce took effect, the surname was Ji—" "Well, Miss Luo," he smiled at her. "Nice to meet you. Would you like to come home with me?" She froze in bewilderment.It had been a long time since a man had tried to hook her up. "Oh, don't get me wrong," he said, smiling slightly. "I live on a ranch up north and it's Friday, so maybe you'd like to fly up north with me and spend the weekend with my wife and kids? My brother and about fifty ranch hands will be there too." See Ellie Without answering, he lowered his head and glanced at her shyly. "Perhaps you'd rather stay here and dig into your husband's scandal?" Hearing that, Ellie laughed, really, really laughed. "You really understand people, huh?" she said, grinning. "You saw something you wanted - a famous author to gift your wife - so you took action, didn't you? I'd rather not go to court with you." He raised his head and smiled back at her. "So far, I haven't lost a case," he said. "Here, give me your notebook." She did as she said, and after he wrote down a few names on the notebook, he returned the notebook to her.Those few people are all famous in Los Angeles.In fact, several of them made her eyes widen. "Do you know these people?" he asked. One of them was a banker she had known for years. "Ok." "Then call them up and ask them about me. They might even fax you a picture of me, so you won't think I'm a bad guy once you figure out who I am." Ellie looks at her notebook.All these years of marriage, she has remained faithful to her husband, and she has never even flirted with another man. "What do you say?" Ed asked. "To go or not to go?" Ellie looked up at him, her heart pounding in her throat.It was crazy for her to do that.接受一个她在走道遇见的男人的邀约？ “好啊，为什么不去？”终于，她说。 阿德微微一笑，站了起来。他的身材好高，爱莉必须仰起脖子才能看着他。“四点时和我在本地机场碰头。但我要你先打电话给那些人向他们查证我的为人，这样你就不会担心我会攻击你。”说这些话时，他的眼睛闪着亮光彷佛在说，他是很想突袭她。但他会克制住冲动。 他把她逗笑了——而且他也让她感觉到几年来不曾有过的轻松。“我该带什么衣服？”她问。 他眼中的闪光更灿烂了。“你现在先花钱以后就不用和他平分，因此我建议你买一整箱新衣服，连同装衣服的皮箱。只要确定带些能够骑马的衣服。” 爱莉的眼睛恐惧地睁大。“骑马？你是指活生生的马？” 阿德大笑。“我们可以替你安排一头公牛，但我认为——” “真好笑，”她说。“好吧，我想我会到。”她仍然不敢相信她会答应陌生人的邀约。 阿德拉起衣袖看看他的表，再望望那位侦探仍然锁着的大门。“我得走了。但若是你看到孟乔治，告诉他我来过、还有他搞不清楚十分钟到底是多长。” “乐意之至。”爱莉说，看着阿德走开，对她挥挥手后，下楼去了。 一时间爱莉呆坐在木椅上。一等她和侦探对完她的清单，她就要——做什么？像阿德说的，将周末花在翻查马汀对她不起的地方？ 突然间爱莉受够了将她的生命耗在纪马汀身上。自从诉请离婚，他就是她生活的全部。她太过自怨自艾，以至于她的前夫比他们还有婚姻关系时，更深深地控制了她的生命。 她看看仍然紧锁的办公室大门，再望望那条通往室外、通往洛杉矶城中心的大路。打从回来后，她打开手袋只有拿出过车子钥匙，现在她开始往里翻寻。信用卡匣里出现几张几年中她都没看过的塑料卡：本地录像带出租店会员卡、公共图书馆读书卡。还有她的美国连通白金卡。 拿起那张银白色卡片，她仔细看了看。它的额度几乎没有上限，而诚如阿德所说的，现在她花得越多，离婚后分给前夫的就越少。爱莉微微一笑，站了起来。别管这位侦探了，她想，她要去买东西了！