The smell of cigarettes in the room was too strong.
Amidst the smoke, Juelz’s look of surprise was faintly discernible in Dorothy’s vision.
Dorothy saw Juelz’s expressions clearly. There was a slight look of shock mixed with guilt on his face, and she felt a bitter feeling in her heart.
Juelz had always been a carefree man. When had he become so cautious and humble?
“Juelz, I’m sorry, I should have come earlier.”
Taking into consideration that the cigarette smoke was bad for Belle, Dorothy didn’t bring her in. She asked Sontha to play with Belle instead.
Out of nowhere, Sontha took out a large stack of Belle’s favorite comic books. He placed them on the sofa, and there was almost not enough space for them to sit.
“Wow, thank you, Daddy Juelz. Thank you, Mr. Lanes.”
Belle was particularly happy. She sat on a small chair obediently and read the comics happily.
Sontha turned around and explained with a smile, “Miss Fisher, Mr. Sherman was the one who prepared these books. We were wondering when you would bring Belle over for a visit.”
When Juelz heard that, he coughed heavily a few times and cast Sontha a cold glance. “You are quite talkative.”
After being lectured by his boss, Sontha’s smile stayed on his face, but he didn’t speak anymore.
As a loyal assistant, this was the only thing that he could do for his boss.
During their interaction, Dorothy obviously understood what Sontha meant, but she didn’t say anything. When she saw Belle reading away happily, she relaxed, then walked over to Juelz’s bedside, saying disapprovingly, “You’re injured, but you’re still smoking so much? Are you deliberately trying to delay your recovery?”
Juelz had always listened to Dorothy’s words. He would listen to everything she said.
He quickly put out the cigarette, but happened to pull on his rib injury. He couldn’t help sucking in a breath of pain. “Dory… I’ll listen to you.”
“This is exactly what you deserve! Smoking even though you’re so badly injured!”
Dorothy was both angry and anxious. She walked around the bed and went to the window. She opened the windows to let some fresh air in so as to dilute the endless smell of tobacco in the ward.
Sontha’s calm yet delighted voice rang out again. “Miss Fisher, Mr. Sherman hasn’t been in a good mood since being hospitalised. He’s already gone through five or six packs, and I couldn’t stop him no matter what I said. You’re still the best at making him give in, Miss Fisher.”
“Sontha, can you shut your f*cking mouth up?”
Sontha was exposing every single embarrassing thing that Juelz had done in front of Dorothy. He wanted to kill him!
However, he was very surprised that Dorothy and Belle would come to visit him on this day.
Back then, he’d chosen to cooperate with Jeremy because he’d lost his mind over his love for Dorothy. However, it had resulted in Dorothy almost getting r*ped by Hugo, and even led to Credence getting badly injured, almost bringing the Scott Group down.
When all of these problems were added together, it made Juelz hate himself. He hated everything he did back then.
He thought that after everything that happened, Dorothy would hold some grudge against him. He did not expect her to come and visit him immediately after running into Sontha. She did not blame him at all, nor did she hate him. She still spoke and looked at him as gently as before.
At this moment, faced with Dorothy’s smiling face, Juelz was both happy and guilty. “Dory, I never wanted to hurt you. I lost my mind, and Jeremy came to me at that time… In the heat of the moment, I agreed to work with him. I’m sorry, I just…”
He just didn’t want to give up so easily!
Credence had hurt her so deeply, almost to the point of no return, but she was still so deeply in love with him.
“Juelz, I don’t blame you for that matter. It is all over now. You don’t have to worry about it anymore.”
After she said that, Dorothy lowered her eyes, and she sighed.
She understood what Juelz meant, but since she’d decided to start afresh with Credence, then she couldn’t lead Juelz on. She didn’t want him to waste his whole life on her.
“Dory, you may be generous enough not to blame me, but I can’t just bury my conscience and pretend that nothing happened.”
Juelz pursed his lips tightly and looked directly at his beloved Dorothy. A bitter smile formed on his lips. “Dory, I’ve been bored out of my mind, just lying here for the past few days. I couldn’t help thinking everything over repeatedly.”
“I came to a bitter conclusion, for me, that is. I have to admit that, just based on the fact that Credence was willing to sacrifice the entire Scott Group as well as his life for you, he’s definitely more outstanding compared to me. He’s more worthy of your love than I am.”
After a pause, his smile turned bleak. “I admit my defeat at his hands, truly! If it were any other man who had your heart in his hands, I’d do anything to snatch you away from him.”
Dorothy was taken aback. She hadn’t expected Juelz to speak his mind before she could even say her part. She looked at him and said, “Juelz, I know that you were doing everything for my benefit. I’ve always seen you as my older brother, and both you and Germaine are my best friends and closest family.”
“However, the only thing I can’t give you is my love. I can’t respond to your feelings.”
“I’m sorry. I thought that if I could move my feelings for Credence to you, then I’d be able to forget all about him.”
Dorothy took a deep breath and smiled bitterly. “However, I’ve been proven wrong.”
“In this world, we can find a substitute for everything, everything except for the person we love the most. No one can replace that person.”
“Dory, stop. I know what you mean,” Juelz sighed. He averted his gaze from hers and stared at the ceiling unblinkingly. “Just like how no one can replace you in my heart.”
He lay on the bed motionlessly. The lights reflected on his face, making it look like there was a sheen over it. It was a little hard to discern his exact expression.
A sense of sadness and coldness surged in his eyes.
“Juelz, you get some rest. I’ll bring Belle to see you again when we have time.”
After that, Dorothy fell silent. She accurately picked up on his bad mood and thought of turning to leave when Juelz suddenly said hoarsely, “Dory, can you give me a kiss? Just as a prize for all my years of loving you.”
“After this kiss, I will try to forget you.”
At his request, Dorothy was slightly taken aback. After a long while, she said softly, “Okay.”
She turned back around, meeting Juelz’s gaze. He stared at her, seemingly conveying a thousand different things with his eyes.
At this, Dorothy’s heart skipped a beat. She quickly averted her gaze and slowly leaned into him, her lips pressing to Juelz’s cheek.
At the same time, she sighed, “Juelz, please forget about me. You’re a wonderful man, and you deserve someone much better.”
Her words were completely eradicating any chances of the two of them getting together.
Juelz felt like a sinister fire was burning in his heart, burning his reason and rationality away.
He’d loved Dorothy for so many years, but she’d still left him for Credence Scott. She’d disregarded his feelings for her and married Credence ten years ago, and the only thing she’d gotten out of it was pain and suffering.
A decade later, she was still disregarding his feelings and choosing Credence over him again…
He could not accept it, he really couldn’t!
A desperate light flashed in Juelz’s eyes, and he used all his strength to grab hold of Dorothy’s head. He pressed his lips to hers viciously.
Caught off guard, Dorothy didn’t manage to break away in time, and she was so panicked that her face turned pale.
“Juelz, don’t…”
In her anger, Dorothy vaguely heard Belle’s delighted cheers and Sontha blocking someone from entering. She didn’t know what was going on.
Then, she saw the door being kicked open, and the tall figure of a man appeared at the entrance. His face was dark and frosty.