“She doesn’t know,” Patrick said almost coldly. He could smell the strong scent of alcohol on Jane’s body, which made him frown.
“Did you drink during your gathering?”
He was not happy at the moment. It was because Jane had contact with Osborn at the hospital, and Osborn’s actions had already made Patrick very dissatisfied. Moreover, when she spoke just now, it didn’t seem like she had just come out of a hotel.
Jane hesitated for a moment and didn’t know why she suddenly felt guilty. She nodded vaguely and said, “Yes… everyone was too happy so we drank some.”
She walked over to Patrick and was about to say something when he grabbed her wrist and pulled her to sit next to him.
Patrick leaned in close to Jane until they were inches apart. He could have kissed her if he wanted to but he didn’t.
“It’s not your usual perfume… where did you go?”
Jane knew that Patrick was jealous again when she saw his reaction.
She thought for a moment before telling him the truth, “Osborn got drunk so I sent him back home… but I was coming back when you called me.”
Osborn again! This wasn’t the first time that Patrick heard this name from Jane recently. He couldn’t help but feel angry as his deep brown eyes flashed with fierceness. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her chin without hesitation.
This scene had happened many times before for Jane but it always caught her off guard every time it happened.
However, she quickly accepted everything that happened between them as they both fell onto the sofa while trying to kiss each other passionately. As their bodies intertwined together in passion, Patrick kissed down from Jane’s cheek all the way down towards her neck leaving faint marks along its path.
The woman trembled under his touch as if readying herself like a flower about to bloom while murmuring incomprehensible words such as “Patrick…Patrick…gentle…”
The atmosphere became more intimate by each passing second until finally their clothes were almost off completely except for one small detail.
“Not now…”
Jane’s face turned red, whether from the alcohol or desire, she wasn’t sure. She wanted to quietly stop Patrick, but he knew what she meant and slowly stopped his movements. The two of them whispered in each other’s ears for a while before Patrick stood up and embraced Jane.
Jane leaned her head against his chest as she remembered what had just happened. She even felt a little shy about it all.
Patrick lightly bit her earlobe. “Jane, I don’t like you getting too close to Osborn. I’m your boyfriend and I hope you consider my feelings…”
“Okay, I know. I have boundaries and you can trust me.”
When we like someone, we always feel insecure at times. Jane held onto Patrick’s fingers and spoke softly.
“Oh yeah,” she thought of something and turned to Patrick. “I recently met a woman named Ann when I went to visit Osborn at the hospital; we almost crashed into each other on the road…”
“What?” Patrick was surprised then immediately asked if everything was okay with Jane.
She couldn’t help but laugh then shook her head reassuringly. “… I’m fine; at that time, I took her to the hospital because she said she just came back from abroad with no friends here in town.”
“When we were eating dinner tonight, I bumped into her again; this time she gave me a tube of lipstick as thanks.”
The smile on Jane’s face slowly disappeared as she took off the necklace around her neck for Patrick to see.
“But there is poison on that lipstick tube; this woman might be trying to harm me.”
“Harm you?” Patrick furrowed his eyebrows tightly together as his expression changed after seeing black marks on the silver necklace.
“Are you okay? Do you need me to send someone tomorrow morning for protection while going work?”
Jane patted his hand back soothingly. “Don’t worry about it; nothing happened yet since discovering it early enough plus I’ve already sent people out investigating who exactly Ann is.”
Patrick finally breathed out a sigh of relief then nodded but still felt uneasy inside.
Just then Jane’s phone rang. Anthony was calling.
“Ada, I found out that Ann is actually Freda.”
Jane immediately furrowed her brow, finding it hard to believe; Freda? Didn’t she fall off a cliff? Wasn’t her body found at the bottom of the ravine?
Patrick had been watching Jane closely and noticed her expression. He used his lips to ask, “What’s going on?”
Looking up at Patrick, Jane controlled her emotions and spoke into the phone. “Okay, I understand. Let’s talk later. I have something to attend to.”
After hanging up the phone, Jane turned to Patrick with a serious expression and a hint of helplessness in her voice. “I’ve confirmed it. Ann is Freda.”
“What?” Patrick was surprised and couldn’t believe that Freda was still alive after falling off a cliff all those years ago. “Freda? Didn’t she fall off a cliff? How… how is she still alive?”
Jane chuckled softly as she suddenly felt emotional about how long it had been since they last saw each other. Who would have thought that Freda would come back now? Perhaps this was fate.
“I don’t know,” said Jane with resignation in her voice. “Maybe luck played its part; after all, surviving such a high fall is nothing short of miraculous! But she’s had plastic surgery done. When I saw her again recently, she looked completely different from before.”
Patrick pondered for some time before asking worriedly, “So what do you plan on doing next?”
They both knew what kind of person Freda was like; if she could go crazy enough to try killing someone once before, then there was no telling what lengths she’d go through now just because they were enemies.
“Since Freda wants me,” said Jane taking deep breaths as if bracing herself for something unpleasant ahead, “then there’s no point hiding or running away from my problems.”
Patrick nodded. He believed in Jane’s ability to handle the situation, but he was cautious about Freda.
He held Jane’s hand and said very seriously, “Alright, take care of yourself. If anything happens, let me know promptly.”
“Okay, I got it.” Jane leaned her head on Patrick’s shoulder, looking very sweet. Patrick smiled, and most of the unease in his heart dissipated. However, he quickly warned Jane again.
“I trust you, but you should keep your distance from Osborn, or you might end up facing some consequences.”