Icily, he asked her, “What difficulties do you have?”
When she heard Credence’s familiar yet cold voice, her body gradually stiffened.
Her flustered heartbeat came to a halt, suffocating her.
Turning around, she saw Credence standing around two meters away from her, his dark eyes filled with indifference. Devoid of expression on his good-looking face, he walked towards her. He did not even raise his eyebrows, and the only mask on his face was of loath and disgust.
Dorothy’s face turned uncontrollably pale as she said nervously, “I must apologize, but I’m not at liberty to tell you the real reason, but please believe me. If I didn’t have no other choice, I would not have come back to disturb you and your happiness…”
“Do you think that I will believe those lies of yours?”
Credence silently stared at her for a little while. At the trembling yet feigning conscientious woman in front of him, he let out a cold smile. He took big strides, passing by Dorothy and towards Rosalie. He spoke, “I happened to pass by and saw you in here, so I came in to take a look. If you don’t want to be here, I can send you home. After all, I am free right now.”
At first, Rosalie had been shocked at Credence’s sudden gentleness and tenderness, but she soon turned overjoyed. She stood up and looped her slender, pale arms around his strong and sturdy ones. She smiled softly and said, “Credence, I don’t want to go home yet. Can we go shopping together, hmm?”
“Alright, as you wish.”
Credence leaned down, his thin lips landing on Rosalie’s fair and smooth forehead, giving her a chaste kiss. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Dorothy’s pale and frail face, and a strange yet elated feeling came from within him.
There must be something wrong with him, for he actually liked to watch Dorothy’s look upset.
Before they left, Rosalie stealthily turned around and looked at Dorothy, flashing a provocative smile.
Then, she mouthed the words ‘Belle Fisher’.
At that moment, Dorothy was flooded with a sense of panic. She felt like she had been soaked in the ocean, feeling so utterly cold that she started trembling.
How did Rosalie know that Belle was her plight?
Did she know that Belle was Credence’s daughter?
However, how did she find out about something that not even Credence knew? Where did she get her information from?
Juelz had waited in the car for about an hour, but Dorothy still had not come out from the coffee shop yet. Instead, he saw Rosalie holding Credence’s arms, as if she wanted to meld herself into his embrace, smiling happily.
Disgust washed over him, and he cursed and spat in their direction. He opened the door and rushed into the coffee shop to find Dorothy.
“Dory, why did they look for you?”
Juelz carefully took a tissue and wiped the cold sweat off her face, “You look really pale. Do you wanna rest here before we go back to the company?”
“Rosalie and Credence think that I have an ulterior motive for coming back here. I told them that I have a problem that I can’t explain, but they didn’t believe me.”
Dorothy came to her senses and waved at Juelz with a smile, “No, I’m fine. Juelz, there are still several important meetings for you today. Let’s not delay the company’s operations because of my personal affairs.”
During this period of time, in order to help her, Juelz had rejected many deals. Due to that reason, he had lost hundreds of millions of dollars. She had already wasted a great deal of Juelz’s time, energy, and money. She could no longer selfishly get him involved in her private affairs with Credence.
Juelz shook his head as if he did not care about those things. He noticed that whenever Credence was mentioned, she would show a melancholic and sad expression, and he grew truly jealous. Juelz’s heart was full of envy as he retorted, “What’s so important about the company? To me, nothing is more important than you, Dory.”
Goodness gracious, this guy was going to start proposing to her once more.
Dorothy felt extremely helpless, and she lowered her eyes slightly, “Juelz, before Belle recovers completely, I don’t want to think about any of my personal issues.”
Juelz smiled bitterly, “By all means. You can start to consider me once Belle recovers.”
He raised his hand and gently patted Dorothy’s shoulder, “Dory, relax. I won’t give you any pressure.”
“I love you to the moon and back, till my heart pains. How could I bear to force you into doing something you’re reluctant to?” he thought to himself.
After listening to Juelz’s sincere words, Dorothy felt a faint twinge of guilt in her heart.
She felt that she was a despicable woman. On one hand, she needed Juelz’s unconditional help. On the other, she could not give him the relationship he sought.
She only wanted Juelz’s help, yet she could not reciprocate his adoration.
Perhaps Juelz would be completely disappointed in her once he understood how selfishness sat at the core of her very being.
Dorothy closed her eyes and leaned back on her chair quietly. She was apologetic and too embarrassed to say anything to Juelz.
…
After Rosalie took Credence’s arm and left the cafe, the two of them went to a branded store nearby.
It sold men and women’s clothes, shoes, bags. Whatever one could think of, the store had it.
After swiping his card to pay Rosalie’s bills full of expensive items, they then had dinner at an elegant Italian restaurant. By the time he sent Rosalie to the villa that he had gifted her upon their engagement, it was already half past ten at night.
Apart from not being able to fight Rosalie’s tender coaxing, Credence himself felt really fatigued and extremely tired. So, he followed her into the villa and thought about resting there for the night in the guest room. He would leave the next morning.
Entering the guest room, Credence threw the clothes Rosalie had chosen for him at the mall away. Instead, he took out the spare clothes from his car and walked into the bathroom.
Half an hour later, he came out. He realized that the door was ajar, and there was only one bedside lamp shining with a dim light. A strong smell of incense infused the air, making his throat feel uncomfortable.
“You’re here?”
Credence was asking for Rosalie, but no one answered.
He frowned. He had once picked up this sweet, cloying scent from Rosalie before, and there was no reason for his nose to misguide him.
Had she come in here and left again?
Soundlessly, Credence pursed his lips and walked to the door. Just as he was about to lock the door, a fragrant and supple body leaped out from behind the door and threw herself onto his back. Two soft and gentle arms were wrapped tightly around his waist.
He could clearly feel that she was wearing only a thin silk nightgown, and her delicate face seemed to be rubbing against his back. The strong fragrance was radiating from her body, but his eyes turned as cold as ice.
“Rosalie, don’t ever try to challenge my patience!”
As he said that, his voice grew a little dull and husky, and it felt like there were icy shards wedged in it.