Chapter 65
Oscar’s got a thing for me, I can tell. Maybe young boys were more impressionable, more easily smitten.
Suddenly I felt a pang of guilt. What if Oscar’s feelings for me deepen? What would I do then? I asked myself. I didn’t fancy his pursuit, nor could I reciprocate the way he wanted. I just wanted to use his attention to balance my inner chaos. If he was willing to play this game with me, killing time together, I might consider it. But if he got truly emotionally invested, I’d be totally out of it.
I was deep in thought, my mind a chaotic mess, when Neil came back from his shower. He was in a black bathrobe, exposing some muscular contours, looking quite tempting.
I withdrew my gaze, tucked my phone under my pillow, and pretended to sleep.
After a while, I felt the mattress sink a bit. Neil had lain down beside me. He smelled of a mix of shower gel and shampoo, a scent I found appealing.
“Why don’t you sleep in the guest room?” I asked hirm, my back turned to him, sounding as ift didn’t care.
“I own half of the master bedroom too, Neil responded coldly.
“Why did you use my bathroom then? And my shower gel and shampoo?” I turned around to face him. “I thought you said you didn’t like the scent?”
Once a woman started doubting, her questions became sharper.
Neil’s face was close to mine. His expression as flawless as ever, he turned to look at me. “Irene, do you even know what you’re talking about?”
We stared at each other for a while. I felt somewhat powerless and turned around to sleep. “Forget it. I won’t fuss about it.”
The next second, he grabbed my shoulder and forcefully turned me around. I let out a cry of pain.
“Ouch! Neil, what the hell are you doing?!” 1 shrieked, tears welling in my eyes.
Desire filled Neil’s eyes as he looked at my face, his gaze stopping at my lips. Just as I realized something was off, he harshly kissed me, silencing my outcry. He kissed me until I was almost out of breath. Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through my lips, and then Neil let go of me. There was a trace of blood on his lips, which he carelessly wiped off.
“Neil, have you gone mad?!” I also touched my painful lips, and sure enough, there was blood. I immediately got angry and tried to slap him.
But he caught my hand, rendering me immobile.
Neil moved in to kiss my injured lips again. Just as I was about to curse him, he shut me up again. We tussled in the bed. I tried resisting him, but his dominant teasing left me breathless. He tried to be gentle but grew angry and forceful every time I fought back.
In the end, I was dripping with sweat and Neil’s bathrobe was gone, his back glistening with sweat. He got up from the bed, glanced at the mess of sheets and pillows, then went out to the balcony shirtless and lit a cigarette in the falling snow.
I tidied up my sweat–soaked hair, took a deep breath, and muttered to myself, “Freeze
Today I was determined. I successfully fended off Neil’s advances with
- in.
my good
death, will you?”
figure, and although my skin was covered in marks, at least I didn’t give
After finishing his smoke, Neil closed the door. His eyes were filled with determination, but there was a faint smile on his lips. “Come on, let’s continue.” “Fuck off!” I threw a pillow at Neil. He caught it in stride, threw it on the floor, then quickly came to the side of the bed, grabbing my hands to stop me from throwing anything else.
“I never knew you had such a foul mouth,” Neil said, then didn’t give me any chance to
resist hi
Three minutes later, I admitted defeat in my heart.
I had planned not to stay up late, but every time Neil passionately made love to me, I had no chance of getting to bed on time.
What was worse, the next day was the birthday of my mother–in–law, Faith, and I had to drag my tired body out of bed. When I finished showering and sat in front of the vanity mirror, I was shocked by my own reflection. I looked pale, with dark circles under my eyes, and my neck was covered in love bites and bruises. It was as if I had been tortured.
Neil walked in, impeccably dressed in his usual elegance. By comparison, I looked even more haggard.
“Get dressed and come downstairs. We’ll leave after breakfast,” Neil said, as if he wasn’t the one who had been wild last night. He had quickly returned to his usual self.
I didn’t want to engage with him and just got up to pick clothes in the closet.
Ryan and Faith liked it when I dressed elegantly. So, I chose a white coat, a beige turtleneck sweater, and trousers, simple yet sophisticated, which could cover the hickies on my neck. Then I carefully did my makeup to hide the fatigue on my face, making myself look energetic. Finally, I picked up the birthday gift had prepared in advance and went downstairs. Neil was already having breakfast. Seeing me come down, the servant quickly set a hot breakfast for me.
After breakfast, Neil and I left together. As we passed a snowman, he asked me, “Why did you only put a nose on it and not eyes?”
“I did, but I was in a bad mood, so I gouged them out.” I didn’t know why I was in a bad mood, maybe because my legs were still sore, and Neil seemed energetic, which made me uncomfortable. Suddenly, I pulled out the snowman’s nose and threw it into the snow, giving him a glare.
Neil didn’t react to my action at all. If it had been in the past, he would have thought I was trying to get his attention again and would have been annoyed. He even picked up the fallen carrot and put it back on the snowman.
Outside, the car was covered in a layer of thick snow. It would be too much trouble to clean it up on the spot, so Neil called for a driver to handle it, then went to the underground garage and took out another car. After waiting in the cold weather for a while, the car slowly stopped beside me.
I opened the passenger door and got in, ready to head to Neil’s parents‘ place. When we drove past Zion Chemical Plant again, I saw that the old neighborhood where Bonnie and her family used to live had been demolished. The area was filled with dust, the sound of excavators echoed everywhere
12:22
and the rumbling noises were omnipresent.
Where were Bonnie and her family living now? I was a bit curious because Ada had once invited me to her house for dinner. I genuinely remembered that and planned to go whenever I had the chance.
Chapter 66
