Rylee glared menacingly at me. “Ms. Stanhope, since when did you become such a busybody?”
“Go home and argue!” Anthony broke in icily. The steely look that he fixed on Joe was frightening. “You may think nothing of these women, but spare a thought for the Featherstone and Quinn Corporations.”
Joe gritted his teeth, palpably displeased. “Enough. Can’t I even eat in peace now? Damn it!” He shook off Kristina’s hands violently, then immediately got up and stalked out of the room.
The others around the table had been shrinking down in their seats ever since the conflict began. Subdued, they now quietly filed out and dispersed. Rylee had dashed out in chase of Joe, whereas Kristina alone remained in the private room.
I tugged at Anthony’s sleeve and fretted for a moment, then turned to Kristina. “Don’t get Joe riled up. You know better than anyone why he allows you to get close to him.”
Having dispensed that word of warning, I then made to leave with Anthony. Kristina’s next question, however, halted me in my tracks. “Why are you helping me?”
I glanced over my shoulder at Kristina, then replied, “I’m not helping you. It was meant to be a reminder.” Joe’s feelings for Rylee weren’t to be sniffed at. No matter what had happened, Joe had remained steadfast by Rylee’s side without considering anyone else. It was obvious that Joe was making ruthless use of Kristina to make Rylee jealous.
At that moment, Kristina’s smile looked more like a grimace. “It doesn’t matter,” she said bitterly. “Money is all that matters to me. Whatever happens between Joe and Rylee is none of my business.”
I shrugged, then replied shortly, “Good luck, then.”
It was none of my business either. As a matter of fact, I had done more than my part in even mentioning the facts of the matter. Whether Kristina was receptive towards what I’d said was no longer my concern.
After all that drama, Anthony and I walked out of the private room and back to our table. John must be wondering what on earth we’ve been up to! I mused inwardly.
“Jared sent Summer to a factory in the suburbs. You can check, but I don’t suppose Jared was planning on that child surviving. I don’t know what he did to her there. Who knows what kind of scars that experience left behind?” Kristina’s voice rang out from behind us.
A shiver ran down my spine. I whipped around immediately, but Kristina was already strolling off into the distance, bag in hand.
Then I turned to Anthony, distressed. “When you found Summer back then, did you notice anything strange?”
Anthony shook his head. “I’ll send someone to investigate. Don’t worry.”
I nodded, but there was already a tumult of uneasiness stirring up within me.
Meanwhile, John saw that Anthony and I had slowly approached the table and slide back into our seats. Pursing his lips, he complained, “What on earth were the two of you up to? Didn’t you come here to eat with me? Was the lack of intimacy really that unbearable?”
Anthony ignored him. Taking stock of the empty plates on the table, he asked me apprehensively, “Is there anything else you’d like to eat?”
I shook my head. “I’m not hungry. We should leave soon.”
John, on the other hand, was outraged at having been ignored. “Can the two of you stop tormenting me like this? Is there a need to hurt my feelings in this manner? Didn’t you come out to chat with me? Or am I here to serve as an audience for your relationship?”
Frustrated, I turned to John and shot back, “What’s going on between you and Hannah?”
John lowered his gaze, then muttered thickly, “Nothing much.” He clearly wished to evade both my question and the topic.
After that, I instantly turned back to Anthony and said briskly, “Let’s go home then.”
Just as the two of us had gotten to our feet, John clamored noisily for us to sit down. “Hey, are the two of you even sincere about meeting me? Shouldn’t you behave as if you’re interested in me, at least? How can you just get up and walk off like that? Both of you look like you just came here to do your business and left!”
I was a little offended by John’s choice of expression. Somberly, I told him, “Mr. Stanhope, can you be a little less crude?”
John chuckled. With a resigned air, he said, “Fine, I’m tired of watching the two of you act all lovey- dovey anyway. I’m going back home to sleep off my meal.”
With that, Anthony and I hurried off in haste. Kristina’s announcement had unsettled me, and I was terrified of something happening to Summer. Ever since she had returned to K City, Summer seemed to be in a state of near-constant illness.
“Do you think Jared would really hurt Summer?” I asked Anthony. I didn’t think anyone could bear to hurt their own child, but Kristina’s accusations had taken root in my heart.
At that time, Anthony was paying the bill for our meal. When he was done paying, he replied slowly, “Let’s wait for the results of the investigation. We can bring Summer to the hospital for a thorough examination in the meantime.”
I nodded feebly. Then, a thought struck me like a bolt of lightning. “Should we visit the prison and ask Jared himself?”
Anthony didn’t speak. Instead, he fixed me with an unfathomable gaze, his dark eyes seeming to pierce through me almost.
Upon his burning gaze, I looked away. However, I chanced upon John drawing himself up in the distance. He’d clenched the two hands that had been hanging by his side into fists. The man looked absolutely incensed.
“John…” I was about to call out, but Anthony silenced me with a sharp yank. He motioned for me to keep silent and follow after him as he stepped forward.
I only noticed the pair facing John when we arrived next to him. I recognized the woman even though a considerable amount of time had elapsed since I’d last met her. She wore a pink jacket with leopard prints that contrasted nicely with her creamy skin.
“Hannah!” I shrieked. I fastened my gaze on the man she was clinging to. He was tall and attired in a black down jacket. That man wasn’t exactly handsome, but his height and confidence imbued him with a magnetic aura.
The five of us engaged in this stand-off without anyone speaking for a while. I sneaked a peek at John and noticed that his face had grown thunderous and his eyes wild. After a long while, John spluttered, “How long has it been?”
Hannah looked unaffected as she casually replied, “A few months.” Those words, and all the enormity of their meaning, hung in the air between us.
John suddenly gave a loud snort. Flashing her a scornful look, he asked, “Why?”
“There’s no reason why, John. All relationships must come to an end somehow,” Hannah said breezily. Her manner seemed entirely frivolous.
Hearing her response, John hung his head. He seemed to be laughing at the sheer absurdity of the situation as his shoulders shook uncontrollably. Undoubtedly, he was unable to restrain himself any further as his emotions swelled within him and burst out in a torrent.
Without hesitation, John lunged forward and punched the other man hard in the face. Due to the pure impulse of his move, however, John’s blow did not land as well as he had probably hoped it would.
I expected Hannah to cry out in indignation or beg for mercy, but she remained unflappable. She merely crossed her arms and retreated. It was as if she was a mere spectator of the fight rather than its motive.
Meanwhile, Anthony drew me behind him protectively. We, too, watched on without intervening.
It was only when it seemed that John was on the verge of beating the other man to death that Hannah finally spoke.
“Let him go, John. If you’re still mad, take it out on me. He doesn’t know what’s going on at all,” she said with an aggravating coolness.
John paused and looked at her savagely. His eyes were bloodshot. However, he simmered down and slowly walked over to Hannah. “What do you want?” he asked with difficulty.
I had always known that John was in love with Hannah. He had his demons, and to him, Hannah had always been a place of refuge from the rest of the world. I suppose John had always firmly believed that Hannah would never leave nor betray him. In his mind, Hannah was the lighthouse that would always be waiting patiently back at the shore for him to sail home.
Yet John had forgotten that people were terribly fickle beings. He had made Hannah wait for him for too long a time. She was a woman, after all, and needed a man to love and care for her. After some time, Hannah had finally grown weary of being left out in the cold.
Hannah looked at John. She either did not notice the melancholy in his eyes or merely refused to see it. Exhaling deeply, Hannah said, “Kiki belongs to the Stanhope family, so I won’t take him with me. The villa and the car are both under your name, so I’ll return them to you. As for everything else, let me keep them. I’ll take them as a reward for staying by your side all these years.”
Hannah let out a deep breath, then laughed mournfully. “There isn’t much else. Other than Kiki, we don’t have any other common possessions. At least the legal side of things won’t be too complicated. If you don’t have time or energy to care for Kiki, I will. However, you’ll need to pay child support. I won’t ask for anything else from you.”
It was heartrending to see a relationship reduced thus to the stark, bare-bones of assets and payments. There was nothing left to say between John and Hannah. Even goodbye felt redundant.
John’s emotions had gradually subsided. He then merely replied, “We’ll talk about it when we get back.”
Without waiting for Hannah’s response, John walked heavily towards his car. He started it and drove off without a second glance at anyone else.
Anthony and I remained where we were. As for Hannah, she watched as John’s car gradually vanished in the distance, then turned towards the man sitting on the ground. “Are you all right?” she asked nonchalantly.
The man softened and patted Hannah’s arm reassuringly. “I’m fine.”
I stared at them, lost for words. After a while, we simply turned and walked away.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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