My words hung in the air, and the atmosphere instantly froze.
Jacob felt a pang of pain in his chest. He looked down, his jawline tightening.
Steven's eyes turned a shade colder, but his handsome face remained as impassive as ever, as if my words couldn't stir any emotion in him.
Verna's face flushed with embarrassment, her fingers clenching into a fist as she struggled to contain her anger.
"What, can't I say things I don't mean when I'm angry? You don't need to stir up trouble. I've already explained everything to Mr. Lancaster. And you have no room to mock me. I was just talking. You're the one who's married yet flirts with other men everywhere you go, stealing other people's boyfriends!"
My pink lips curved into a seductive arc. "Oh, so while we were still legally married, you privately accepted a house from him, along with the implication that it was a marriage proposal, and now you're just brushing it off as something you said in anger? You academics are really something else, turning black into white."
"As for me, there's nothing shady between Jacob and me, no questionable financial exchanges. You can check any platform you want. You, on the other hand, have accepted gifts from Steven more than once, and that's all publicly verifiable. You should be grateful I've been patient and haven't demanded you return our shared marital assets, instead of being the pot calling the kettle black."
If I hadn't just learned that Steven had given the Jones family over a billion dollars in the past year—which clearly wasn't out of respect for my father, but for my sake—my words wouldn't have been so mild, and I wouldn't be in the mood to argue with her.
I would have just used my fists.
After living two lives, my patience had worn thin. If she kept running her mouth, I was going to lose it.
Steven, however, lazily lifted an eyelid. The person who should have been the angriest seemed completely unfazed.
Verna's eyes, on the other hand, turned red with fury, or perhaps desperation.
"It's not like that at all! I hate being the other woman more than anything! I may be poor and don't have rich parents to look after me, but I have my pride. I may be poor, but I have integrity. Don't you dare question or slander me with your condescending tone and baseless assumptions. I have never done anything inappropriate with Mr. Lancaster!"
"I'm not as resourceful as you. I can't just look up people's financial records to find your so-called evidence. I'm just an ordinary doctor. All I know is how to treat patients and attend endless seminars. But I am certain of one thing: you've taken things from me, more than once! It's always you, every single time!"
VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABEL
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: I Walked Away And He Lost His Mind (Zephyra and Steven)