Chapter 8
Kendall’s POV
Marc froze, his red–rimmed eyes locked on mine. His voice was barely a whisper as he asked, “Kendall, tell me–what do I have to do to make things go back to the way they were?”
But I shook my head calmly. “Marc, there’s no going back for us.
The color drained from his face, leaving him pale and unsteady on his feet, as though my words had knocked the air out of him.
Ignoring his reaction, I turned and took Dudley’s hand. “Let’s go.”
We hadn’t gotten far when a loud thud echoed behind us, followed by startled gasps from onlookers.
“Oh my God, is he kneeling?”
“What’s going on with that guy?”
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Chapter 8
I turned toward the commotion and saw Marc kneeling rigidly on the ground with a bitter smile on his face. “Will you forgive me now, Kendall?”
The sight stopped me in my tracks. I never thought he’d go to such lengths to beg for my forgiveness.
But with a complicated mix of emotions swirling in my chest, I said softly,
“There’s no need for this.”
However, Marc didn’t budge. His voice was firm, almost defiant, as he stubbornly said, “No. If you won’t forgive me, I’ll stay here until you do.”
Frustration bubbled up inside me. Was this supposed to be his grand gesture? To wear me down with public humiliation until I caved?
Beside me, Dudley shifted uncomfortably as if afraid I’d waver. “Kendall, don‘ t let him manipulate you.‘
“”
To reassure him, I squeezed his hand
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before turning back to Marc and coldly saying, “If you want to kneel, then kneel as long as you like.”
At that moment, a figure rushed over and grabbed Marc‘ s arm. “Marc, what are you doing?” Then, she glared at me with resentment and hissed, “Why are you kneeling to this woman?”
Unexpectedly, Marc shrugged off her grip without even looking at her and snapped, “This doesn’t concern you, Astrid. Go home.”
Being disregarded in public, a flash of displeasure crossed Astrid’s eyes. Then, a while later, she turned to me, diverting her anger to me, pointed a finger at me, and furiously demanded, “Kendall, you‘ re engaged! Why are you still trying to seduce Marc?”
The accusation was so absurd I couldn’t help but laugh. Did she really not see who was chasing whom?
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Before I could respond, Dudley stepped in,. his voice dark and controlled. “Enough, Miss Crawford. For weeks now, it’s been Marc harassing my fiancée. Instead of throwing around baseless accusations, maybe you should focus on keeping your own man in check.”
Astrid‘ s face turned crimson with anger, her composure slipping. “You-!” she sputtered, but her words dissolved into incoherent rage.
She then stubbornly blocked our path, but Marc grabbed her arm and yanked her aside.
“That’s enough!” he barked angrily, his tone sharp and full of irritation.
His expression was cold and unfeeling as he glared at her. “Haven’t you
embarrassed yourself enough? If it
weren’t for you, Kendall and I would still be together!”
Astrid stared at him, stunned. The man
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who had always defended her was now openly blaming her, scolding her in front of everyone.
Recovering quickly, she let out a harsh laugh and crossed her arms. The pretense of innocence dropped as she sneered,
“You have some nerve blaming me. If I hadn’t crooked my finger and you hadn’t come running, Kendall never would‘ ve left you.”
Her words hit Marc like a slap. His face darkened with shame and anger as he snapped back, “What nonsense are you spewing? Don’t think I don’t know what you were doing–pretending to be sick every time just to pull me away from Kendall!”
Watching the two of them argue heatedly, I could only find the whole scene bitterly ironic.
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