Zack was stumped for words.
Nervous, he moved his gaze to Serena.
Serena looked back at him.
“Seren, we talked about keeping our marriage a secret… That was why I didn’t let Ms. Stone know that I had a wife.”
Serena stared at him without a word.
Since she had already given Zack a piece of her mind, there was nothing more she wanted to say to him now.
“Elisa.”
Jasmine gave Elisa a tug and waited until Elisa cast her a glance before whispering,” Can I have a word with you?”
Elisa followed Jasmine out of the shop.
Serena had no idea what was said between them out there. Her settled mind was all over the place following Elisa’s accusations of Zack.
She took a seat behind the cash register and picked up where she left off with her crafting. Serena said, “You should leave, Zack. You’ll only make Elisa mad by being here.”
Scowling, Zack blurted in rage, “Serena, do you care more about Elisa than me? Are you going to dump your husband just because she’s angry?”
She was kicking him out because of Elisa!
Serena lifted her gaze to meet his eyes.
Alas, Zack had turned away and walked off.
She stared blankly as Zack took large strides away. The hurt sneaked up on her.
Serena had no idea whether it was because of him or herself.
Jasmine and Elisa were talking about something outside when Zack came out of the shop with a grimacing look. Without looking at the girls, he made a beeline to his usual ride–the Rolls Royce.
Zack had gotten rid of his security team, but the chauffeur stayed behind in case Zack needed a ride.
Seeing that Zack was out, the chauffeur got out of the car and opened the door for him.
Zack, together with the Rolls Royce, disappeared out of Jasmine and Elisa’s sight in no time.
Elisa and Jasmine were left staring at each other.
The girls immediately turned on their heels and rushed back into the shop.
Serena was not behind the cash register. Her crafting tools sat quietly on the cash register with trails of blood all over the surface. There were also traces of blood on the scissors.
Was Serena hurt?
“Seren.”
“Seren.”
Jasmine and Elisa called out to her while waltzing deeper into the room.
Serena was in the loo.
Zack switched to an angry tone with her out of the blue, but by the time she looked at him, he had stormed out.
Distracted, Serena cut her finger with the scissors. The cut was deep enough to draw blood. She grabbed her go–to ointment, bandage, and antiseptic solution from the drawer to stop the bleeding. With a cotton bud, she applied the antiseptic solution and poured the ointment over the injury before wrapping gauze around her finger.
Blood got all over the table and her fingers, so she went into the loo to wash the blood off her hands.
“I’m here.”
Serena responded as she came out of the loo.
“Are you hurt?” Jasmine uttered with concern. “Let me see.”
Showing off her bandaged finger, Serena acted like nothing ever happened and said, “I accidentally cut myself with the scissors sometimes. No biggie. It’s bleeding a little, but I’m fine.”
Jasmine held Serena’s finger up as she examined it carefully. Although the finger was bandaged, blood was oozing through the gauze. She said in distress, “It’s still bleeding. The cut must be deep. You need to go to the hospital to get it checked out.”
“It’s fine. I applied some ointment to stop the bleeding. The bleeding should stop in a bit.”
Serena withdrew her arm and waltzed away, remarking, “I’ll just redress my wound.”
Her two best friends followed behind her.
Returning to her seat behind the cash register, Serena grabbed a fresh roll of gauze and swathed it around her finger.
“Seren, get your wound checked out and redressed in the hospital. You should get a tetanus shot too.”
The bloody scene made Elisa queasy as she was afraid to see blood.
“I’m fine. There’s no need for that. I often get cuts on my finger, and this is how I handle it. The cut will heal in a few days.”
Jasmine told her off, “It has been many years since you got a cut. What did Zack say or do to you? You nearly cut your finger off.”
“It has nothing to do with Zack. I cut myself by accident.”
Acting like everything was okay, Serena said to Elisa, “Elisa, the thing about me and Zack…”
“I don’t blame you, Seren. You don’t have to explain or apologize to me. It’s not like we just met. I’m only furious that Zack lied to both of us. He made a monkey out of us cousins.”
Moments ago, Jasmine had told Elisa the whole story about Serena finding out Zack’s identity. Elisa’s heart went out to her cousin who was fooled the whole time.
“Seren, I gave up on Zack a long time ago. I got over Zack the moment I found out he was married. I feel more at peace after I backed off and stopped thinking about him for a while. Don’t let me come in the way of your decision. Lying aside, he’s someone you can spend the rest of your life with.
“Of course, since he played you like a fiddle, I hope you take your time in forgiving him. At least, make him suffer for a bit.”
Now that Elisa thought about it, she was the older cousin–in–law to Zack now. Elisa could straighten Zack out for her cousin.
“That’s what I think, but I won’t interfere with what you think or how you want to deal with the matter.”
Elisa picked her injured finger up for a careful inspection. “The bleeding doesn’t seem to stop. Let’s get you to the hospital. You’re looking a little pale too.
“I’ll drive you to the hospital.”
Serena refused even though her finger was hurting like hell.
The scissor really drilled deep into her finger. It was a good thing her finger was still intact.
“I’m your cousin, older at that too. You have to listen to me.”
Not taking no for an answer, Elisa dragged Serena out.
Jasmine was on Elisa’s side, convincing Serena to clean and redress her injury at the hospital.
Serena gave in to her best friends‘ persuasion and let Elisa drive her to the hospital.
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.