Chapter 331
“Why are you getting all worked up?” Russel asked me quietly once I stopped ranting. “Is it because it reminds you of your thing with
Neil?”
He was intentionally asking me something he already knew. He knew all about me and Neil.
I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down and separate Russel in front of me from Neil in my memory. “Maybe I’m relating a bit too much to my own story, but Chloe has been really good to you. She hasn’t done anything wrong.”
Russel just smirked and said, “The person who convinced me to break free was her. If it wasn’t for her help, my parents wouldn’t have thought about doing it. They were afraid I would hate them.”
He had been under house arrest for a while, and Chloe had approached me, asking me to break up with him in exchange for some documents.
I couldn’t believe this was Chloe’s idea.
My impression of Chloe got a bit more complicated. Even though her feelings for Russel were similar to my feelings for Neil, I had never resorted to such measures.
I would never intentionally set up a trap for Neil.
“I don’t want to talk about your issues.” Finally, I ran out of things to say and simply responded.
Russel ordered all my favorite dishes. He had been very thoughtful during our relationship.
But I didn’t have much of an appetite right now, so I only took a few bites and didn’t continue eating.
Russel was the same. He didn’t meet up with me today just to have a meal.
“Is there really no chance for you and Neil anymore?” He asked me.
“Do you really need to ask about that?” I kept my head down, not looking at Russel, and gave a vague answer.
Russel started laughing, and his laughter made me feel uneasy.
I couldn’t help but look at him again.
He took off his glasses, put them on the table, and crossed his hands, staring at me.
-“Didn’t you guys do all this just to get close to Ethan Foster?” As soon as he said that, all my suspicions became reality.
Russel was right on the money. He knew about my relationship with Neil.
“Why would you think that?” I tried to keep my cool and asked him back.
“You guys can trick everyone else but not me. Neil has never given up on you. How could he be with Bonnie? But the fact that he could get close to Bonnie and Ethan Foster for you did surprise me.” Russel said slowly.
I just looked at him, frowning, without saying a word.
Russel chuckled self-mockingly, “Looks like he really regrets how he treated you before. Now, he’s willing to go to this extent for you. He could’ve just confronted Ethan Foster directly. You stopped him, didn’t you?”
Indeed, I did stop him. I did want Neil’s help, but I didn’t want him to pay a huge price for helping me. It would be troublesome when I had to leave.
I couldn’t tell Neil about this, let alone Russel.
“Did you invite me to dinnér just to say all this?” Despite feeling extremely uneasy, I somehow managed to calm down. I should have seen this coming. I couldn’t avoid Russel.
Either we were together as lovers, or we were enemies. Only now did I start to believe this.
Russel shook his head, “No, not at all. I just missed you. I wanted to have dinner and talk to you.”
His eyes softened, and his tone returned to the Russel I knew.
I couldn’t reciprocate his feelings. Before, I wanted to try with Russel because he was so good to me and maybe he could help me overcome my emotional turmoil, but I didn’t think that way anymore.
He was a good guy, but I couldn’t develop that romantic feeling for him.
Maybe my heart was still with Neil, and I just thought I had moved on.
This might make me seem pathetic, but I was beginning to realize that sometimes, love could be pathetic. If it was rational and clear, it might not be love at all.
“So you’ve seen me now. We’ve chatted for a while. Is it okay now?” I didn’t want to stay any longer, so I asked.
“I already told you that the condition for me to talk to Chloe was for you to have dinner with me. Only I can decide when it’s over.” Russel reminded me.
Of course, I didn’t forget. But it seemed like there was nothing left to talk about between us.
Russel poured me a glass of wine and asked, “Can we have a drink together?”
Looking at the glass of wine, I couldn’t help but be cautious.
The last time, Ethan Foster drugged the wine. This low-down trick was simple and direct and could hurt a person.
No matter how high his status was, the method he used was just as despicable.
“I don’t feel like drinking right now.” I refused Russel.
“Don’t worry, I’m not Ethan Foster,” Russel said with a bitter smile. “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to do that last time. Ethan Foster probably wanted to help me. He knew about us.”
“He didn’t just want to help you. He also wanted to confirm whether Neil was over me or not while helping.” I responded with a poker face.
Whenever I think about that day, I feel very uncomfortable.
Russel looked at me in silence. After a while, he nodded, “You’re not wrong, but you should believe me; I wouldn’t do that.”
With that, he handed me a glass of wine, “Have a drink with me. Maybe after some drinks, we won’t be so distant.”
His words were filled with sincerity, but it was not because of his sincerity that I decided to drink the wine, but because I felt that if I didn’t, this dinner seemed to never end..
I took the glass of wine and gulped it down.
“Don’t drink so fast; it’s not good for your health.” Russel reminded me.
“You don’t need to worry about that.” I responded with a slight smile, but my tone was a bit stiff.
The warmth in Russel’s eyes cooled down instantly. He kept quiet and drank the wine in his glass like me, then the second glass, then the third…
Watching Russel drinking heavily in front of me, I felt at a loss because if he got drunk, I might have some problems to deal with.
I couldn’t believe he didn’t do anything else; he just kept on boozing until he was almost out of it. I had no choice but to help him up and get ready to bail from this place.
