Juelz’s sorrowful gaze and voice made Dorothy’s heart ache. She looked at him with an indiscernible gaze for a long while.
She knew that it was the best chance for her to settle their relationship once and for all. Their continued ambivalence would only lead to an even more awkward relationship.
She did love Juels. However, she only loved him as a brother, not as a lover.
Dorothy stared at the haggard man as her heart ached but still chose to tell him the truth, “Juelz, I’m really sorry. You should leave that diamond ring for someone else who truly deserves you.”
Juelz’s expression grew more bitter, however, his gaze sharpened eventually, and spoke with furrowed brows, “Dory, let’s not talk about that first. Look, you already knew from the very beginning that I’ve never loved you as a sibling. I see you as more than that. Tell me, do you feel the same?”
“Juelz, you have always been a good man. You are kind-hearted, good-looking, and you even own a gradually prospering corporate enterprise. A lot of women will surely be attracted to you because of how outstanding you are, but I…”
“It’s okay, Dory, go on. I’m listening.”
Juelz urged in a hoarse voice. He wanted to hear what Dorothy had to say, even though what she was about to say would pierce his heart over and over again, he still wanted to hear the rest of her speech.
Dorothy took a deep breath. She knew that she had to tell him all about her love-hate relationship with Credence. Otherwise, not only would Juelz not give up on her, she would end up despising herself too.
She knew she couldn’t provide Juelz with what he truly wanted from her. However, she had also greedily accepted his selfless help. She felt like she was turning into one of those shameless women who had affairs with other men just for the benefits.
“Juelz, scold me if you want to. You can slap me if you feel like it. It’s fine, I know that I’m a cheap and shameless woman. I’m worthless.
No matter how deep Credence had hurt me, and how miserable he made me, deep down, I cannot forget about him. I love him too much to let go of him. All I’ve ever wished for was for him to love me back.
Now that Rosalie is out of the picture, or any other woman for that matter. He asked me to give him a chance to amend his wrongdoings. He even said he wanted to take good care of me and my daughter…”
Juelz, you weren’t there to hear his promises, but he said them in such a wonderful way. Even if he had been lying, I would be willing to take the risk.
Perhaps… I’ll be bound to him for the rest of my life.
Juelz, he’s the only one I love. I’m sorry, but there’s no more room for anyone else in my heart.”
The more she spoke, the sadder she got. She scolded herself for being shameless and irrational. Even though Juelz was a man that loved her for years, in the end, she decided to return to Credence’s side.
Juelz’s body stiffened as his fists trembled. Even so, his face looked extremely calm. He raised his eyebrows and said with a smile, “Dory, I’m glad that you’re willing to speak your heart out. It’s fine that you only think of me as a brother, it’s fine that you don’t have any intimate feelings for me!
On the bright side, I’m a little younger than Credence. I can afford to wait until his demise.”
Dorothy observed him carefully. Juelz seemed to be joking with her which meant that he was not that angry.
She heaved a sigh of relief and asked softly, “Juelz, have you had lunch?”
“Oh, I actually ate before coming here.”
Juelz lowered his head, took out his phone, and pretended to have received an emergency call. He waved with one hand and patted Dorothy’s head with the other and he said, “I have something urgent to attend to in the company. I’ll leave first.”
Dorothy nodded, “Okay, do what you must.”
Juelz turned around and walked out of the ICU. No matter how hard he tried to control his strength, there was still resentment in the way he closed the door. A gust of wind caused the door to slam shut loudly.
Juelz felt depressed as he walked out of the hospital. He had just been blatantly rejected by Dorothy. He could only watch her walk into Credence’s arms and wish her well. Apart from suffering by himself, there wasn’t anything that he could do.
Juelz had initially wanted to go back to the company, but on the way, he changed his mind and made a turn to Talco City’s most flirtatious bar.
There were rumors that there was a strong backer behind this bar. The main attraction was that it was packed with hot ladies that were willing to accompany men all day and night.
As long as one could afford to spend money there, anything was possible. Their needs would be satisfied.
The bar in the afternoon was just as busy as it would be at night. Countless men and women were already affected by the strong alcohol and were dancing wildly to the music.
Once Juelz arrived, he squeezed past a group of enchanting women and found the most remote corner to settle into. He snapped his fingers at a bartender and coldly ordered, “A bottle of vodka, thanks.”
Soon, the waiter served him vodka and some snacks. They placed them on Juelz’s table and smiled politely. “Sir, enjoy.”
Juelz waved his hand to dismiss him, then he picked up the strong liquor with one hand, tilted his head and gulped down nearly half a bottle in one go.
However, the alcohol was too strong. The moment he started swallowing, Juelz felt his stomach cringe in pain, as if he was being stabbed by knives. The pain made his forehead sweat.
Through his blurry vision, he saw the figure of a man flash by and sat opposite him. He also ordered a bottle of vodka, slowly poured himself a glass, and drank with him.
Juelz fixed his eyes on the man in front of him and his face darkened when he realized who it was, “Why are you here?!”
“Why can’t I be here?”
Jeremy took a glance at Juelz, who looked obviously defeated by love. He continued impassively, “If you want to get the woman you love, then go and take her! Do everything you can to get her into your arms instead of hiding out in a corner like this, drowning your sorrows by drinking. Are you a f*cking man or not?”
His men had been keeping an eye on Germaine, therefore, it was natural that they would take note of Juelz’s actions.
Jeremy was particularly happy when he learned that Dorothy and Belle were inside that normal-looking building that was actually a top-notched hospital with the best facilities.
He had searched high and low for their location, and he was finally able to find them by sheer luck.
“Shut the f*ck up, Jeremy!”
Juelz tilted his head upward and took another big gulp of vodka. He thought that his life was a joke.
He thought that it would be easy enough to have Dorothy in his arms like he had always wanted yet the woman he loved had returned to Credence’s side at the blink of an eye.
He had thought that Jeremy was destined to be his rival, that they would fight amongst themselves towards the end. However, the man in question was actually accompanying him for a drink when he was at his lowest point.
He put down the empty bottle and stared at the man with a cold smile and barked out, “Jeremy, you seized the Sherman family’s business, caused my grandfather to suffer a stroke and become paralyzed and you’ve even killed my parents. How dare you show yourself in front of me? What makes you think I won’t kill you now?”
“Do you really think that I was the one behind everything that happened to the Sherman family? Juelz, you’re too naive.”
Jeremy sneered then made a phone call to Wilson, “I’m at Sakura Bar. Bring me all the information you’ve gathered right now.”
Wilson was very efficient. Within 15 minutes, he had already placed all the documents on the table and laid them out in front of Juelz in three stacks.
Jeremy looked at Juelz’s confused face and smiled coldly as he said, “We’ll talk after you’ve read all of them. Don’t go around blaming the wrong person like a dumb*ss.”
Juelz did not want to read at first as he did not want to submit to Jeremy. After all, who knew what kind of evil intentions he was hiding.
However, in the end, his curiosity prevailed.
Juelz could not help but pinch the sore space between his eyebrows as he pulled the three piles of documents closer to him and flipped through them.
Apart from confessions, there were also photos and videos. The evidence supplied did not seem to be fake.
After he looked through most of it, Juelz finally understood the origin of the Sherman family’s misfortune. Apparently, his own parents had always wanted to kill his uncle.
It was because his grandfather thought that his uncle was more capable than his ruthless father. Therefore, he thought that his father would not be suited to take over the Sherman family’s huge business empire.
For that reason, his father had attacked his uncle, and his mother was considered an accessory culprit.
However, with Jeremy’s help, Yezoo managed to escape from danger and death several times. However, through his daily meals, he had ingested chronic poison as Juelz’s father had managed to bribe a servant into drugging him.
The amount of drug used each time was too little to be noticeable, however, after some time, it would cause Yezoo to develop muscular dystrophy. In the end, the man’s legs became paralyzed and he had to rely on a wheelchair to move at all.
No matter how great of a temper Yezoo had, he was livid to have such a ruthless brother. In the end, he decided to go with Jeremy’s plan to tamper with his brother’s car, causing Juelz’s parents to die in the car accident. Their bodies were burned beyond recognition.
At that moment, Juelz wished that he had never read any of the information.
He found it impossible to believe that his parents had tried to kill his uncle for money, but the evidence in his hands was irrefutable. Even if he poured all his wealth down the Talco River, he would not be able to clear their name.
Juelz had been holding his vodka bottle tightly the entire time which made his palm ache. After learning such news, he nearly broke down and shouted, “No, that’s not true! You made all that up. Jeremy, you are nothing but a despicable villain. You’re just trying to deceive me, aren’t you?”
It was just an ordinary afternoon, but his world had been irrevocably changed forever. There was no way he could return to the past.
Evil plots schemed by his own family, the rejection of his love… All of this made him doubt his entire existence.
The world had been turned upside down. At that moment, he wondered if there was anything in this world he could trust in anymore.
Would I resort to such elaborate lies to trick someone as simple-minded as you?”
Jeremy sneered, “Juelz, if you are a man, then f*cking pull yourself together! What I aim to do now is to swallow up all of Scott Group and disparage Credence. I want him to feel the pain of falling into the abyss. You, on the other hand, should aim to win Dorothy over.”
“So, how about we work together to bring Credence down? What do you think?”
Juelz remained silent for a long while and merely looked at him.
However, Jeremy did not mind it at all. He was confident that as long as Juelz was courageous enough, he would eventually want to cooperate with him, be it sooner or later.
Because envy was the same as hatred. They were both aphrodisiacs that would bring out the primal nature of man.
“Alright then, I’m heading off now. I hope to hear from you as soon as possible.”
After watching Jeremy’s retreating figure disappear, Juelz buried his head in his hands. He shivered and let out a beastly howl.
“Ah!”