Chapter 19
Leon, Zane, and Steve stood motionless in place after getting scolded by Cheryl. They stared at the scattered pearls, the pieces of crystal embedded in their legs, and the shredded photo on the ground.
They said nothing. Cheryl had refused to go home with them because she regarded them as harbingers of bad luck and the source of her suffering. Her words were like knives stabbing into their hearts, followed by a painful twist of the blades. It was agonizing.
No one moved. Tears streamed down their cheeks. After a while, Leon looked up and wiped off his tears. He promised, “Cheryl, I won’t give up. I’ll strive for your forgiveness.”
It was as though his motivation had been revived by an unknown entity.
“I’d be surprised if you’d already moved on so quickly after 20 years of growing up with each other,” said Steve.
“Cheryl must’ve told us all these hurtful things because she’s devastated. I mean, what kind of apology would it be if we succeeded in gaining her forgiveness on the first try?”
While they seemed confident in their speech, they questioned themselves internally.
Even if they didn’t give up, would it work?
Had she really moved on?
Was this really just said in a fit of anger or something else?
After stretching their stiff legs, the three of them left the restaurant together. They hadn’t noticed Giselle standing there.
Giselle was furious about being ignored. She thought of how they’d looked at her in a new light after she defended them from a robbery. Even though she’d been the one who hired the robbers, hadn’t it at least yielded pleasant results?
They took her under their wing, and her experience at school improved markedly. From then on, her life at the Jenners got better, too. Even Aaron’s pay went up.
Ever since Giselle was young, she’d known that she had to ruthlessly fight tooth and nail for whatever she wanted.
Pulling her phone out, she sent a text and began cackling maniacally.
The second Cheryl left the restaurant, she saw Dylan staring at her in dissatisfaction. Running toward him, she leapt into his arms.
Dylan picked her up. When he saw her rushing toward him excitedly, his anger all but dissipated. However, he faked a cool tone and grumbled, “So you do remember that your husband’s waiting for you outside. I thought you forgot all about me with how long your conversation went on.”
Cheryl knew Dylan wasn’t actually angry at her, so she was very willing to play along and placate his feigned fury.
“Honey, let’s go home,” said Cheryl. She grinned and widened her eyes, looking at Dylan pitifully.
Dylan had never been able to resist her charms. He immediately gave in to her sweet words. Although he was feeling a little jealous, he could always use this as leverage during their nightly activities to get his way.
Cheryl had no idea what Dylan was cooking up internally. She hooked her arm around his and skipped toward their car.
Only when they arrived home and she got pinned to the bed, Dylan above her, did she realize how petty he was. She’d only spoken to Leon, Steve, and Zane for a few minutes. Dylan pretended not to care about it, but he exacted his revenge in bed.
As Cheryl drifted off, she vowed she’d never get into the bad books of this petty man ever again. How terrifying. She probably wouldn’t be able to even get out of bed tomorrow.
As expected, her legs felt like jelly when she woke up. She lay in bed for the whole day while Dylan fussed after her like a housewife. He knew what he’d done wrong, but wouldn’t change his ways. While he massaged and fed her, he didn’t promise to tone it down in bed. Cheryl didn’t know what other men were like, but she certainly couldn’t take it anymore with Dylan.
