The next morning, Manfred had already disappeared when Selina had woken up, and the only thing that had lingered by her side was last night’s ardour.
While she was still in a daze, the bathroom door opened all of a sudden. Manfred walked out in long strides with only a towel wrapped around his waist, casually exposing his toned upper body in front of her. Selina stared in wonder at his eight-pack, broad shoulders and narrow waist as it was the first time that Selina was able to lay her eyes on his physique in such a frank manner despite the fact that they had already slept together.
“Do I look that good?” Manfred suddenly opened his mouth and teased in a jesting tone.
Selina immediately turned her head away after realizing that she had been gawking at his body for some time, “I… What do you want for breakfast? I will make you something.”
“Don’t bother. Osborn will handle it.”
“Okay.” After a brief pause, Selina said, “Let me see you out!”
Just when she was about to get up, the blanket slid down her body and her bare shoulders were exposed in the air which immediately jogged her memory that she was naked underneath as well. She hurriedly pulled the blanket over her body while wrapping herself with it as her face went scarlet from the embarrassment.
Manfred’s lips curled up in amusement, “I thought you said that you’re going to see me out?”
“I…” Selina proceeded to wrap herself even tighter as she said, “Could you please go out then? I have to get dressed.”
It was rare to see this innocent and lovely side of her which had made her even more endearing. Manfred could not help but to tease her further, “Which part of your body that I have not seen before? Hmm?”
“Ah…” Selina could not help but to let out a cry as she hid her face with the blanket further due to mortification, only revealing her flickering and sparkly eyes.
“Alright, I will stop embarrassing you! I have some business to take care of at the company, so I’ve got to go now.” Manfred finally let her off the hook and proceeded to take his leave, and soon after the sound of engine starting could be heard coming from downstairs.
Selina stood at the window while she was still wrapped in the blanket, and after seeing Manfred’s car disappearing from her sight, she finally let out a huge sigh of relief.
She still felt wobbly on her legs after last night as Manfred was way too energetic and vigorous in bed. After she had finished washing up, she gave last night’s incident some thought and decided to head out to buy a box of birth control pills.
Selina immediately swallowed one of the pills after getting her hands on them and tossed the rest into her bag. The deal between them would only last for a year, hence it would be a misfortune if she were to get pregnant during this period.
When she was about to return to Bishuiwan, her phone rang suddenly, and it turned out to be Lindsay whom had given her a call after she had taken it out to have a look. She was certain that the purpose of her call was related to Horace, and since this matter had to be resolved sooner or later, Selina decidedly answered the phone.
When she had held her phone close to her ear, Lindsay’s roar could be heard blasting from the other end, “You vicious wretch! Since when has the Keith family done a disservice to you, Selina? How could you be so heartless and put my Horace in jail! Why don’t you just drop dead?”
Selina frowned after she was bombarded with her malicious insults as she could not refrain from sneering, “If the purpose of you calling is just to trash-talk me, save it!”
She had initially thought that Lindsay was going to give in when she ranged her phone, but it turned out she was fooling herself all along.
She instantly ended the call and took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. When she had gotten home, she noticed there were more than ten missed calls on her phone, and they were all from Lindsay. What a lunatic!
Selina immediately blacklisted Lindsay’s number and tossed her phone away as her heart felt increasingly stifled. Even though Manfred had assured her that he would take care of it, she still could not get it out of her mind since it was her own matter..
She decided that she might as well do some cleaning to divert her attention away from the unpleasant matter at hand.
Selina’s phone had rung again while she was busy with her house chores, and this time it was an unknown number whom had called her. With her worry that it might be Manfred whom was looking for her in mind, she decided to answer the call.
Rebecca’s voice sounded from the other end of the call when she had picked it up, “Could you hurry back now, Selina? Your father has fallen sick.”
Selina was startled for a second, but she soon uttered in an unyielding manner with her brows furrowed, “He should go to the hospital if he’s sick. Why do you even bother to give me a call when I’m not a doctor?”
“You should not say something like that, Selina. He is your father no matter what. Are you sure you want to be so cold-hearted towards him?”
She could hear Marshall’s intermittent cough sounding from the background over the phone, and after a few moments of dither, she eventually rushed out before she had even hung up the phone call as she did not have the heart to refuse Rebecca’s request.
…
Selina could see that Sharon was standing by the door the moment she had stepped into the Jones family’s residence. When Sharon had caught sight of Selina’s presence, she immediately walked up to her and gave her a cold hard slap on the face.
Sharon’s action had caught her by surprise as she almost fell to the ground due to the sheer strength that was put forth by her.
When Selina had perceived that it was Sharon whom had slapped her, she instantly gave her a smack across the face in an unreserved manner.
Sharon wanted to return the favour again, but her arm was instantly seized by Selina, “Don’t you ever dare to try me again, Sharon.”
Sharon had never seen this side of Selina as she was never this unbridled and aggressive when she was at home to show due respect for Marshall’s feelings.
Even though Selina had always been assertive, but she was a whole different person now.
Sharon grew timid from Selina’s menacing aura and she soon burst into tears due to fear.
“Dad, Mum…”
“How presumptuous!” Marshall stood up with his trembling hands, “Why are you making such a huge fuss right after coming home? Don’t be such a nuisance!”
Selina pushed Sharon away from her and sneered after listening to her father’s accusation, “Making a huge fuss? Didn’t you see that it was Sharon whom had first laid her hands on me when you’d been sitting here all along? Are you sure I can call this my home when there is no room for me at all?”
Marshall’s body trembled with outrage as her overtly sarcastic remark had provoked his anger, “You…”
Rebecca quickly held on to him and tried to soothe his nerves upon seeing that he was triggered, “Try to calm down, Marshall. Don’t you have something to say to Selina?”
Marshall recomposed himself and stared at Selina after Rebecca’s words had brought him to his senses, “Your mother-in-law had phoned us just now and she mentioned that Horace had been locked up in prison because of you. What is going on exactly?”
It turned out to be Lindsay whom had caused her to be summoned back to her home, Selina thought to herself. Her gaze darkened as she asked, “So it’s because of Lindsay. What else did she say? Did she ask you to talk me into going back again?”
Marshall’s face turned ghastly when he heard her answer, “Lindsay is your mother-in-law. Look at how you’re behaving now!”
Rebecca tried to urge him to remain his composure while feigning concern, “Both of you are just in a fit of anger right now. Try to calm down and communicate properly, alright?”
Selina scoffed at her, “I don’t need you to act like a goody two-shoes here. Your daughter, Sharon, knows exactly what Horace has done to me, so I doubt that all of you are clueless about my unpleasant encounter!”
Rebecca’s face turned white in an instant as she lowered her head with a look of grievance on her face.
Marshall burst into a fit of temper as he roared, “No matter what Horace has done to you, he is still your husband, and it is wronged of you to send your husband to jail. Furthermore, how could you speak to your mother like that? Apologize to her this instant!”
Selina looked at her father in utter disappointment as she could not believe that he would say something like that to her. She cried out with her heart full of grief and indignation, “My mom is dead!”
“You brat!” Marshall promptly grabbed the tissue box on the table and threw it at Selina’s face, and the sight of it had filled Sharon with excitement. Rebecca pretended to try to hold him back, but she eventually released her clutch on him as she staggered to her feet at the eleventh hour.
Selina instinctively took a step back, so the tissue box had missed its original target and hit her arm instead. The sharp edges of the box instantly lacerated her arm and soon fresh blood was streaming out from the gash.
Marshall was frozen on the spot by her injury, “Selina, you…”
“Don’t ever call my name again!” Selina gritted her teeth as she glared at Marshall. He used to be her hero when she was young, and he would carry her on his shoulder and bring her to all the parent-teacher conferences.
He had even promised her, “My lovely daughter, as long as Daddy is by your side, no one can ever bully you!”
How ironic it was now that he was the first person to try to bully her and push her to the wall.