\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 4\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 4\u00a0<\/p>\n
The first time I brought Edward home, my parents were polite but guarded.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I could see it in their eyes-they weren\u2019t sure about him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We\u2019d always been comfortable-not wealthy, but stable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Good jobs, nice house, no real worries.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After graduation, I landed a position at a tech firm. Edward was my supervisor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was different from other managers-approachable, patient, never condescending.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He took time to train me properly, answered every stupid question I had.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thoughtful, warm-exactly the kind of guy I\u2019d always imagined myself with.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We just\u2026 clicked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He knew everything about me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Remembered when I had cramps and would show up with heating pads.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Stood in line for an hour to get croissants from the bakery I loved.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He made me feel seen. Safe. Being with him was effortless.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My parents warmed up to him fast.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After he left that first dinner, Mom squeezed my arm, beaming.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI like him. He\u2019s got a good head on his shoulders-he\u2019ll treat you right.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Everything felt natural.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dating, then marriage, then climbing the ranks together at work.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We saved up, took the leap, started our own company.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He handled headquarters, I ran the satellite office, Busy as hell, but thriving.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I thought we had it all figured out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Seven years in, and we were still good-or so I thought.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I used to feel so damn lucky. Married to someone steady, attentive, emotionally available.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then Ruby walked into his office, and it all started crumbling.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fresh out of college. Pretty, hot, wide eyed, always making these \u201chatinless\u201d little mistakes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Edward went from exasperated to tolerant to\u2026 something else. Something softer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
09:57\u00a0<\/p>\n
You Thought Cilantro Was Just a Flavor? It\u2019s Actually My FU, Cheater!\u00a0<\/p>\n
2.4%\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 4\u00a0<\/p>\n
When did I first notice?\u00a0<\/p>\n
My birthday, probably.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Edward NEVER forgot. He\u2019d have flowers, a gift, dinner reservations-always.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But that year? Nothing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stayed up half the night thinking he was planning some big surprise.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He stumbled in past midnight, saw me on the couch, and looked genuinely confused.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBabe, why aren\u2019t you in bed?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Or maybe it was the night he complained about Ruby screwing up another project, but with this weird fondness in his voice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s such a mess-reminds me of you back in the day.\u201d And he smiled when he said it. Like it was endearing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019d loved his gentle. His warmth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But warmth that gets spread around to every pretty girl who bats her eyes?\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u2019s not love. That\u2019s just being easy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I wrestled with it for weeks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Part of me was furious-this wasn\u2019t the marriage I signed up for.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But another part kept rationalizing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He hasn\u2019t cheated. He hasn\u2019t actually crossed that line.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maybe I should talk to him, work through it, fight for what we built.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Seven years meant something, didn\u2019t it?\u00a0<\/p>\n
So I decided to confront him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But then he left for Paris-a month-long trip.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The morning he left, he made me breakfast like always. Pasta with pesto.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t notice the cilantro until I\u2019d already taken a bite.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u2019d left a sticky note: Eat up. Love you.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I spit it out the second I tasted it, but the reaction was Instant.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My face swelled, throat closed up. I could barely breathe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I managed to dial 911 before everything went black.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I woke up in a hospital bed, fluorescent lights burning my eyes, the sharp smell of antiseptic making my stomach turn.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sarah was there, her face blotchy from crying.\u00a0<\/p>\n
09:57\u00a0<\/p>\n
You Thought Cilantro Was Just a Flavor? It\u2019s Actually My FU, Cheater!\u00a0<\/p>\n
2.7%\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 4\u00a0<\/p>\n
She held my hand tight\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhit\u2026 you went into anaphylactic shock. Your oxygen levels dropped and you,\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her voice cracked. \u201cYou lost the baby.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
09.57\u00a0<\/p>\n
(0)\u00a0<\/p>\n
(0)\u00a0<\/p>\n
You Thought Cilantro Was Just a Flavor? It\u2019s Actually My FU, Cheater! by Mark Twain 4 \u00a0 Chapter 4\u00a0 Chapter […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cilantro-taste-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20254\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}