“Dory!”
Dorothy heard the sound of hurried footsteps coming from behind her. Juelz’s anxious voice sounded, “Dory, stop. Don’t go inside. Come back with me, okay?”
Dorothy was stunned. She had never expected Juelz to come here so fast.
On the phone, he had asked her where she was, but she had replied that she was going shopping nearby. She had not expected him to locate her whereabouts so soon.
She asked, “Juelz, why are you here?”
She stood at the door of the room with no intentions of backing out of her plan.
She finally got a chance to reconcile with Credence, and there was no way she could give up.
If she failed to show up this time, then how serious would the consequences be? Dorothy could not imagine how serious things would unfold.
Juelz ignored Dorothy’s question. His tired and bloodshot eyes flashed as he walked towards her, stretched his hand out, and grabbed her shoulders. After that, he turned her around, trapped her between himself and the wall, and spoke in a hoarse voice that was laced with disappointment, “Dory, Credence is inside alone, isn’t he? Why are you meeting him alone?”
“Juelz, stop getting so anxious. Will you listen to me?”
For the past few days, Juelz had been under tremendous pressure. He had lost a lot of weight, and dark circles could be seen under his eyes. He was extremely fatigued and haggard.
He was supposed to be the most carefree man in Talco City!
However, for her and Belle’s sake, for them to live a normal life without financial burden. He had pulled himself up from the ground and became a businessman. He did the things he detested the most every day and slowly but surely, he became the person he hated the most.
The better he treated her, the more she was unable to repay him. Gradually, she felt a deep sense of guilt.
She really couldn’t continue to be so selfish as to hide in the cocoon of happiness that Juelz had created for her. She could not just push all her burdens on him and let him shelter her from the wind and rain forever.
Belle was her daughter, her responsibility. What rights did she have to let Juelz shoulder everything?
Dorothy slowly raised her head and looked at the tenderness in his eyes, an unspeakable feeling of pain re-surging in her heart.
The stinging pain made her throat choke and her eyes filled with tears, “Juelz, listen to me. Belle is my daughter. She’s not related to you in any way. Now, she is ill and I need to save her. It’s my business on how I’m going to save her. Don’t get involved in this anymore, alright?”
“You’ve already done so much for Belle and me. I can’t watch the company that you’ve built with your blood and sweat go down because of me and get destroyed by Credence!”
“Moreover, I don’t want you to be hated by Credence because of me, I don’t want…”
She no longer wanted him to have to sacrifice his own life for her!
Apart from Germaine, he was the only person in the world who could give her warmth. How could she have the heart to push him to the edge of danger?
Dorothy raised her head and closed her eyes harshly to keep the tears from flowing out.
She must not show weakness in front of Juelz as that would only make him feel even more worried, and he would only grow more reluctant to let her go and find Credence by herself.
When Juelz saw how brave and calm she was, he felt a sharp pain in his heart, as if he had been pricked by needles.
He suddenly pulled her into his arms and looked at her pale face with tenderness in his eyes. They were bloodshot red and filled with dejection and defeat.
“Dory, it’s not like that. I just want you to be happy. The company means nothing to me. My own life is worthless!”
“But, Juelz, I really care about you!”
Dorothy’s eyes were filled with tears, but she was determined. She gently pushed Juelz away and smiled at him gratefully and gently, “When I successfully get pregnant and cure Belle of her illness, and you still won’t mind me being a divorced woman with two children, then I will definitely agree to your proposal.”
For Juelz, this was the moment that pulled him up to the heavens from hell.
His body, which seemed to have been drained of blood and flung around in a whirlpool of desperation, suddenly revived and reverted to full energy when he heard that Dorothy would agree to his proposal.
He held Dorothy in his arms as he was too excited to even speak coherently, “Dory, that’s nonsense. How could I hate you? Are you serious? Are you telling me the truth?”
“Wait, let me think, how will I propose to you? I promise that I will buy you the most expensive diamond ring, the most beautiful of flowers and even the best wedding dress. I will make every woman in the world envious of you!”
Oh my… His imagination was already going crazy.
Dorothy was rendered a little speechless. She broke away from Juelz’s arms and pretended to be angry, “Alright, I’m going in now. Let’s talk about this when I return to the company.”
“Alright then, I’ll watch you go in.”
Juelz gave a gentle ‘Mm’ and looked at her slender and enchanting figure walking into the private room, disappearing out of his sight.
He leaned back against the hard wall, planning to wait for Dorothy to come out.
Gradually, his left eyelid twitched violently, and a terrible premonition appeared in his heart.
However, he dared not continue thinking about it. He tried his best to suppress the bad feeling in his gut and waited for Dorothy calmly.
…
The room had two sections, an exterior one and an interior one.
Dorothy closed the door and looked around. She could not see Credence under the dim light.
She felt really tense as she slowly walked into the brightly lit room.
When she got closer, Dorothy realized that the man was sitting on a European-styled sofa with his back to her, his long legs crossed, and a cold and frightening aura surrounding him. The scene looked exactly the same as the one from many years ago.
She walked over and stood in front of him warily. “Credence, I’m sorry. Last time, I was the one who asked him to harm you in that competition.”
“I will accept every punishment you throw at me without fighting back.”
“It doesn’t matter if you want to humiliate or take revenge on me. Leave Juelz and his company out of this, alright?”
He never even looked at her, as if he could not see her at all. He only lowered his head and gazed at the empty wine glass on the coffee table.
Dorothy immediately understood his meaning.
She quickly went over and picked up a bottle of red wine that had long been prepared on the table. She quickly poured it for him.
Due to how nervous she was, her whole body was trembling. She accidentally splattered some red wine on the coffee table and left some red stains on there.
Dorothy felt a little flustered upon noticing the stain.
“Be careful when you’re pouring the wine.”
Credence glanced at the red wine stains with his eyes and saw her pale, terrified face. He took a deep drag from his cigarette and suddenly leaned over to her, making an unimaginable move.