The Apology (19)

Up until now, all the comments so far had been on how sweet they were as a couple, how Joann was as a wife and how handsome Xu Jing was. All of those made Xu Jing feel much better about his prospect of getting his wife to forgive him. It gave him the feeling that he was on the right track.

However, what he saw that morning had a 180 degree turn. There was a huge swarm of online criticisms on the forum for the Call of Joy. Even the news media had picked up on it. The general public was lampooning Joann, calling her horrible names from being heartless to a stone cold b*tch.

Understandably, Xu Jing was caught off guard by this sudden turn of events. Joann had always enjoyed a good popularity and public image so what had triggered this change in public opinion.

Xu Jing read through some of the comment, and he realized most of they were referencing the latest episode of the Call of Joy. Xu Jing thought back to the shot done several days ago and he could not figure out what was particularly villainous about his wife on it.

Xu Jing was not a part of production so he would see the episode alongside the general audience. In other words, he had no previews of the episodes before they were released but just a general direction given by the director during their meetings. Xu Jing combed his mind but he could not remember the director saying something during their last meeting, which was why this was such a surprise to the man.

There was still a long list of comments Xu Jing had not gone through but he quickly logged out from the forum to visit the streaming site for the Call of Joy. He needed to watch the episode for himself to understand what had happened.

The earlier half of the episode was normal with confessionals from both parties, talking about their feelings about the upcoming movie premiers. Xu Jing saw himself on the camera saying how nervous he was to attend the event with Joann because he rarely attended these type of function.

The video then cut to Joann saying she found the whole event to be quite exciting because even though she had attended many such events before, this was going to be one of the few where she would be in attendance with her husband.

The editing made it seem like the couple was worried about the same thing and that kinda pulled them closer. However, Xu Jing understood Joann was probably told by the director to say something like this to create this particular effect. He really could not picture his wife being nervous about anything, especially about attending a public event. Nevertheless, he could not help himself from smiling on the off chance that Joann said those things organically and she would be excited due to his presence. Thus far, Xu Jing could not find anything that painted his wife in a bad light. He skipped through the commercial and the video cut back to the show.

The camera panned down the stairs as Joann was caught walking down them. Even through the video, Xu Jing could not help but get impressed by how gorgeous his wife looked. The cream-colored fabric accentuated her fair skin and the few pieces of tasteful jewelry that she wore. The reserved color of the dress just made them pop even more. However, Xu Jing felt like the camera took away from his wife's beauty, they made her look produced and manufactured. She looked much prettier in person.

Then, there was the scene where Joann accidentally fell into his arms. It looked the woman took less than a second to scramble off him. Due to the video, Xu Jing managed to see the expression on his wife's face that eluded him that day. He swore he saw a very well-hidden disdain. It was as if she could not wait to get off him. Even though Xu Jing understood why, he could not lie and say it did not hurt. To see the woman he loved could not wait to get away from him, it was like an arrow puncturing his heart.

However, at the same time, as much as Xu Jing hated to admit it, he also felt that pang of resentment. He had done so much but it felt like he was no closer to earning his wife's forgiveness than compared to the fateful day of expose. Perhaps he too was being influenced by the rage comments online. Either way, at the end of the day, Xu Jing knew he had no one to blame but himself.

The video continued to roll and it eventually reached the scene where Xu Jing knelt down on the floor to help Joann with her shoes. The camera captured Joann's unfeeling back as she turned away without even a word of thanks before it zoomed in on the devastation on his own face.

It was quite awkward for Xu Jing to see his vulnerability being put on blast like that but at least now he understood why the comments were as such.

"Who does Joann Fong think she is to treat her husband like this? Respect should be something mutual behind a couple!"

"Fame must have corrupted her mind."

"I pity the husband. Xu Jing, leave the old crone, you can find someone else better."

"I still remember the good ol' days when Xu Jing would follow Joann everywhere for any of her press events. The woman must have forgotten how much he has sacrificed for her. He too had put his life on hold to support his wife's career. He does not deserve a treatment like this. Justice for Xu Jing!"

Now, all those comments made sense to Xu Jing. Why they came braying for Joann's blood as they rallied around him. The viewers saw a man prostate himself before his wife and the wife completely blowing him off but in reality, Xu Jing was humbling himself in his attempt to apologize to her for his extra-marital affair.

Even though these were all voices of support, Xu Jing felt chilled in his heart. His ultimate goal was getting his wife to forgive him and he did not think having the world angry at her due to a misunderstanding that he had inadvertently caused would lead to any positive development.

Just as Xu Jing tried to call Joann on his phone to apologize, the bedroom door creaked open and who would walk in but Joann herself?