Chapter 7
“Exactly–disgraceful and shameless.”
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Chapter 7
Seeing Clive and me practically under siege,
we were one step away from being dragged into the street for a public beating.
A flash of smugness crossed Thomas’s eyes as he raised an eyebrow at me. “Break up with him right here in front of me and I‘ 11 pretend none of this ever happened.”
I laughed, though it was from sheer anger. Without hesitation, I looped my arm through Clive’s, my face cold. “Thomas, how can someone be as shameless as you?”
“We’ve been divorced for ages because you cheated on me with another woman. Clive and I just met today. If you dare slander him again, watch out–I‘ ll make sure everyone sees those pictures of you and Jessica tangled up in bed.”
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“You wouldn’t dare!”
Caught off guard, Thomas unwittingly exposed himself.
Clive, having figured out the whole situation, stepped forward with a cool, mocking look.
“Calling me and Cheryl ‘inappropriate‘ ? Look who’s talking–you‘ re the shameless cheater here.”
“Shut your mouth,” Thomas snapped.
“Oh, striking a nerve, are we?”
Just as it seemed like the two were about to throw punches, I intervened for the first time, taking a side without hesitation. I dug my high heel into Thomas’s foot and pulled Clive away, leaving the restaurant without looking back.
I had inostad Thoman to ter and cat hanle at
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I had expected Thomas to try and get back at me somehow, but I didn’t think he‘ d show up at my door in the middle of the night.
“Cheryl, my stomach‘ s killing me. Could you make some millet porridge to help warm it?”
“You’ve got the wrong address. Can’t Jessica take care of you?”
I knew about his chronic stomach issues; when it flared up, he looked like he was going through hell. I used to help him manage it, spending every month cooking up all kinds of medicinal dishes to nourish his stomach and spleen, each one different from the last.
Fifteen years had passed and he’d gotten used to having my cooking whenever his stomach acted up.
Chapter 7
Seeing I had no intention of heading to the kitchen, Thomas leaned heavily against the wall, breathing hard.
“Jess has never lifted a finger in her life. How could I bear to ask her to do something as
rough as this–something a servant would do?”
I stifled a yawn, my voice laced with sarcasm. “Then suck it up and quit complaining at my doorstep.”
For a split second, his eyes reddened and for the first time, he let go of that lofty pride in front of me.
“You once promised you‘ d make those
healing soups for me for a lifetime. Have you forgotten that?”
I fell silent for a moment.
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Looking at his pale face, I couldn’t bring myself to send him away. He’d never. humbled himself like this with me before.
“Come on in. But once you’ve had your drink, you‘ re leaving immediately.”
Hearing this, Thomas‘ s face shifted in an instant. He swaggered into my place without hesitation.
While I was busy in the kitchen making soup, he wandered off on his own, went into my bedroom, pulled back the covers and made himself comfortable.
“Get up.”
I kept my face stony as I set the bowl on the bedside table, but in the moment I wasn’t looking, he sat up and pulled me down onto the bed.
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Part 7
“I don’t like you having other men around you,” he said.
He held me down, his hand reaching up to brush the loose strands of hair by my face, twisting them around his fingers, all the while muttering lewd remarks I’d rather not hear.
Internally, I scoffed.
I guessed this was probably the side of him Jessica saw–a tasteless thrill, crude beyond belief.
“Cheryl, even though we‘ re divorced, every time I’m with Jess, I can’t help but picture your face.”
“Maybe… you‘ ve still got a place somewhere
Chapter 7
“Are you
finished?”
Suppressing my disgust, I shoved him away, standing up to straighten my collar where he‘ d crumpled it.
“I’ve already made an effort to please you. What more do you want?”
